Don Giovanni by Mozart, Sun 07 Oct 2018, From (2018/2019), Directed by Boris Pokrovsky, Conductor Lev Ossovsky, Vladimir Agronsky, Alexey Vereshchagin, Boris Pokrovsky Chamber Stage of the Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, Russia

"Don Giovanni" by Pokrovsky for more than thirty years Mozart's cult creation about the adventures of the legendary Seville seducer has been awarded the honorary title of "opera of operas" more than once. More than thirty years ago, Boris Aleksandrovich Pokrovsky staged Don Juan on the stage of the Chamber Musical Theatre. By the first festival of Pokrovsky, the performance was restored in the same form in which it was staged by the Master. Boris Pokrovsky, referring to the Mozart score, pays special attention to the author's subtitle. In his preface to the performance, the director writes: “The author defined the genre of the opera dramma giocoso (jolly drama) and concluded in the second half of the opera’s title – “the punished libertine” – the grain, the essence, the quintessence of the work. They tried to “forget” him in the 19th and 20th centuries. Deleted even from the posters. How, it compromised the "bold and resolute" hero, crushing the hypocritical foundations of society, affirming the "rebellious spirit of the human person." This is how the then subversives of theatrical morality began to interpret the image. To such a daredevil as Don Juan, everything is permitted. Moreover, he is a rich and noble DON, that is, he has the feudal right to punish and subjugate, buy and sell. Don Juan is not only a person. It is also a phenomenon that personifies social evil, extreme and cynical selfishness, "joys of life" at the expense of others. He is the sower of suffering, resentment, injustice and vice. He is a pervert who must be punished. And he is punished by Mozart. Punished, but not subdued. Is Don Juan talented? - Yes! Beautiful, elegant? - Yes! Daring, resourceful? - Undoubtedly! The more terrible the phenomenon, the more voluminous and sharper should be retribution. Retribution is not accidental, but natural, not personal, but public. Energy, independence, aggressiveness, determination make a person exceptional. It attracts, fascinates, subjugates, captivates. It has charm and charm. What about the goal? A terrible contradiction: a hero, but... And this "but" is the focus of the idea of ​​Mozart's Don Giovanni. Not Molière's, not Byron's, not Pushkin's… Mozart's!”