The greatest of the operas, Mozart's Don Giovanni, returns to the stage of the Novosibirsk Opera 60 years on, and this event cannot be overestimated. On March 23, 1963, Mozart's opera masterpiece first appeared on the stage of the Siberian Coliseum thanks to the creative union of the theater's chief stage director Emil Pasynkov, chief conductor Mikhail Bukhbinder and chief artist Ivan Sevastyanov. This performance featured a brilliant cast of stars from the Novosibirsk Opera: Andrey Fedoseyev, Nikolay Dmitrienko. Alexey Levitsky, Vladimir Kirsanov, Galina Chizhova, Ariadna Gracheva, Rimma Zhukova. Nikolay Logutenko and others.
The production team of the new Don Giovanni, headed by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev, the theater’s Chief Stage Director, not only returns this opera to the Novosibirsk stage, but also continues NOVAT’s Mozartiana (the theater’s playbill presents the premieres of 2021-2022, beloved by the audience - The Magic Flute and Le Nozze di Figaro).
Don Giovanni is one of the most complex opera characters, vitally real and symbolic. G. Macchia outlined the complex conjugation of the character's personality as: "Freedom, carelessness, love for the present moment - and the frightening emptiness of eternity"...
A few words about the history of the creation of Mozart's Don Giovanni. After the huge success of Le Nozze di Figaro in Prague (May 1786), Mozart received an order from the Prague theater for a new opera. The composer's choice fell on the plot of Don Giovanni. He began composing music in May 1787, and premiere was held in Prague on October 29 of the same year. For the Vienna production (May 7, 1788), the author made some changes to the music of the opera. The libretto, written by L. da Ponte (1749-1838) in Italian, is kept in a comedic way. However, Mozart's music takes the opera beyond the comedy. The composer created a remarkably deep work, full of great passions and sharp clashes of characters.
The plot is based on an old legend about Don Giovanni, a daring adventurer, a brave and dexterous seducer of women. Originating in medieval Spain, this legend became widely known in many European countries. The plot was first developed by the Spanish playwright Tirso de Molina (1571-1648), subsequently attracting many writers, including Moliere and Goldoni. In the 19th century, Byron, Hoffmann, Pushkin, Merimee, and others referred to the image of Don Giovanni. The musicians also repeatedly used this theme - in 1761 Gluck's ballet Don Giovanni was staged in Vienna; a number of operas on the same plot are also known. In these works, the legend of Don Giovanni received different interpretations. In some of them, which have a religious and instructive coloring, Don Juan is characterized as a criminal, rude voluptuary who receives a well-deserved retribution. But oftentimes other, attractive features were emphasized in his image - fearlessness, a sense of honor, wit, the eternal search for an ideal, a brave rebellion against dilapidated moral norms.
