Don Juan is one of the most captivating mythical figures in European cultural history as the eternal seducer who ultimately gets his just deserts, yet his character remains a contradictory blend of repulsive and alluring qualities. For this reason, works about him have been received by audiences of every era with a thrilling mix of attraction and disgust. Tirso de Molina’s original Don Juan had already been tackled by several others, among them Molière and Gluck, before Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), but it was the latter’s two-act opera Don Giovanni, first performed in Prague in 1787, that made the figure of the Spanish nobleman a symbol for the ages. A particularly noteworthy feature of this concert-style performance of the dramma giocoso is that the title role is sung by the outstanding Italian baritone Alessandro Luongo, a specialist in Mozart and the Italian repertoire for whom the role of the infamous heartbreaker is a signature triumph. The musical direction is entrusted to the Italian conductor Giancarlo Andretta, who is celebrated throughout Europe, from Stockholm to Graz and from Copenhagen to Granada. The vocal counterparts to the title role will be the excellent Hungarian singers Krisztián Cser, Zoltán Megyesi, Brigitta Kele, Klára Kolonits, Boglárka Brindás, Szilveszter Szélpál, and András Kiss.

Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic