Greek National Opera Presents DON GIOVANNI

Eileen Bozok collaborated with Fulgamesas co-director, Dick Byrd on the production's scenery.

By: Stephi Wild Mar. 05, 2021

Greek National Opera Presents DON GIOVANNI Image

The Greek National Opera is streaming Don Giovanni through July 31, 2021.

Don Giovanni by Mozart is the first international co-productions of the National Opera, which was programmed to create and premiere in Athens and then to travel and bring the other two opera houses participating in the co. Due to the pandemic, the production was not presented to the public and is presented in the first world broadcast by GNO TV. The production of Don Giovanni and GNO TV were realized with the support of the donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (ISN) [ www.SNF.org] to enhance the artistic extroversion of the National Opera.

One of the most important landmarks of the operatic repertoire, Don Giovanni is a challenge for both the opera singers and the creative team that is called to perform it on stage. Mozart's extremely ingenious music captures all aspects of the course of man who puts himself with God and takes fate into his own hands and manages to connect the world of the nobles with the comic characters in an unprecedented way. In this emblematic work nothing is as it seems, since the ambiguity permeates the poetic text but also the music. The case concerns the love affairs of the ungodly Spanish nobleman Don Giovanni. In one of them, he tries to rape Donna Anna. Trying to escape, she kills her father, who returns from the underworld to seek revenge. As Don Giovanni does not repent for what he has done, he is led to Hell.

The sets and costumes of Don Giovanni 's new production were created entirely in the construction workshops of the National Opera, rehearsals took place in October and November 2020 in the rehearsal rooms of ELS and the show was videotaped in mid-December at Stavros Hall N. The video of the production was made with an octa-camera system of the latest technology and a special cinematic direction, in order to offer a high viewing and listening experience to the viewer. The show is presented on GNO TV with the possibility of choosing subtitles in Greek, English and French.

The musical direction of the production is signed by the Australian chief musician Daniel Smith , the direction by John Foultzeims , involving the Orchestra and Chorus of the National Opera and the leading roles meet the distinguished Greek soloists Voltage Christogiannopoulos, Royal Karagiannis, Giannis Christopoulos Petros Magoulas, Anna Stylianakis, Tasos Apostolou Nikos Kotenidi and Chrysa Maliamani .

O John FoultzeimsHe is the Artistic Director of the Royal Opera House of Denmark, and has been the Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Opera House in London and the Founder and Artistic Director of the pioneering British artistic group The Opera Group. He has directed in the biggest lyric theaters in the world, such as La Scala in Milan, Covent Garden, Real Madrid, Lyceum in Barcelona, a??a??Satle in Paris, etc. The director, who places the action of the opera in a modern hotel, in the microcosm of a city where the private becomes public and the residence time is short , notes: " The Don Giovanni it is an opera that lasts over time because it is multifaceted; it has a lot of humor and great theatrical scenes, all embedded in a dark mystery story about a seducer who must be stopped. It is a work about how we live together in society and, as always with opera, about how we deal with death. Its culmination lies in the long-awaited death of Don Giovanni himself, as he prefers death, even Hell, to denying who he is. "His death is an expression of the order that reaffirms its power over the unbridled freedom he represents ."

For the impressive stage performance of the play, Eileen Bozok collaborated with Fulgamesas co-director, Dick Byrd in stunning scenery depicting all aspects of a city hotel, Anmari Woods in contemporary costume design, Maxine Bryam in choreography, Fabiana Pizzoli in lighting and Will Duchamp and Dan T- design video projection programming.

It was videotaped in the Stavros Niarchos Hall of ELS on December 10, 12 and 15, 2020.

Learn more at https://tv.nationalopera.gr/opera/don-giovanni/.