DON GIOVANNI | Wiener Staatsoper

Barrie Kosky’s Don Giovanni returns to Vienna as it has every season for the past four years, and its grip on the repertoire remains unshaken. The staging feels manic, almost delirious, pulling the drama inward and exposing the fractured core of its protagonist. It is tense, claustrophobic, and brutally coherent — a vision that still provokes and fascinates.

Mattia Olivieri steps into the title role with striking authority. We discover him here despite his growing experience with the part, and it is a discovery worth noting. His lighter baritone brings clarity and bite, carving through ensembles with precision and unleashing a Champagne Aria that brims with control and swagger. One looks forward to hearing him again — and soon. Philippe Sly remains a Leporello of rare distinction, vocally immaculate and theatrically sharp, never lapsing into caricature.

Adela Zaharia confirms she is among the finest Donna Annas on the international stage. She builds on her coloratura foundation, keeping the suppleness of the sound while adding a richer flush that lends the role new weight and urgency. Bogdan Volkov offers a Don Ottavio of elegance and poise, his two arias shaped with refinement and a tenor line that breathes Mozart’s grace. Tara Erraught restores Elvira’s nobility, too often sacrificed to naïveté. Here, she is wounded yet dignified, one of Mozart’s deepest and most touching characters.

Anita Monserrat makes a Zerlina to remember — bright, fearless, and vocally pristine. We look forward to hearing her again, and in other repertoire. Masetto, sung by Andrei Maksimov, brings the right mix of grit and warmth. Tareq Nazmi dominates as the Commendatore, a voice of granite and an authority that electrifies the penultimate scene. The contrast between the three bass-baritone roles — in the opening confrontation and again before the final sextet — is one of the evening’s most compelling dramatic threads, and the orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper under Christoph Koncz amplifies that tension with a sound world of richness and bite.

A revival that proves its relevance: sharp, hypnotic, and uncompromising. Don Giovanni here is not a libertine’s romp but a descent into darkness — and Vienna embraced every second.

CAST

Don Giovanni

Komtur

Donna Anna

Don Ottavio

Donna Elvira

Leporello