Don Giovanni at Komische Oper Berlin

Don Juan is not just a name, it’s a commitment! A commitment to passion, sensuality and desire. Nothing can stand in his way - not a dismayed father who would rather lose his own life than the honour of his daughter; not the warning of a lady who has already been taught a lesson and still can't hold herself back; not the gentle innocence of a bride on her wedding day, nor the wild jealousy of the cuckolded bridegroom. In the end they are all after him.

Don Juan can't get enough of love and life… although these days things aren't quite what they used to be. In fact, on his restless tour d’amour he can't even manage to sing properly. But he is still prepared to stop at nothing for the sake of his wild passion. Even if it means his own death in the end.

No other work of Mozart's demonstrates in such consistent fashion his frontal attack on every convention – not only in terms of content, but also as regards form. New characters tumble onstage with such abandon that nothing links them apart from the constantly fleeing main protagonist. The first act sees a finale with murder in the air. And the ensemble at the happy ending arrives so unexpectedly that the eyes and ears strain with disbelief. A deadly serious game cloaked in the playful, lascivious peak of Mozart's music. Herbert Fritsch‘s directorial debut at the Komische Oper marks the beginning of a new chapter in its Mozart cycle.