DON GIOVANNI - Bank of Valletta

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THE PERFORMERS (continued) 1732 TEATRU MANOEL DOMENICO BELLANTONE, twenty year old tenor, hails from Reggio Calabria where while still a youngster he began his vocal studies. Apart from his first choral experiences in operas such as Menotti's Amahl or Mozart's Così Fan Tutte, his first solo appearances include Liszt's Missa Choralis, Bach's Wachet auf and Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine. He has frequented masterclasses with Romolo Gazzani (voice) and Gary Graden (choral). He is currently a student at the University of Palermo D.A.M.S. in musicological studies. LYDIA CARUANA, lyric soprano, made her operatic debut as Musetta opposite Cecilia Gasdia’s Mimì in La Bohème in 1995. She has since performed extensively overseas, and has sung the title roles in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Isouard’s Jeannot et Colin. In Spring 1997, as part of the bi-centenary celebrations of Gaetano Donizetti, she sang Norina in Don Pasquale. In 1999 she performed at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, Scotland, in a concert featuring Mozart, Handel and Bach at St Giles Cathedral. That same year she sang the title role in Carmelo Pace’s I Martiri at the Malta Opera Festival and was then invited to sing for the Millenium celebrations. In November 2001 she sang for the United Nations at the WIPO Centre in Geneva. She has also sung for the ‘Accademia Internazionale di Scienza e Cultura’ in tribute to celebrated tenor Giuseppe di Stefano, and at a SPAK Puccini Gala Night opposite tenor Antonio Ordionez. LORENA SCARLATA, mezzosoprano, made her debut in 1994, aged twenty, in Traetta’s Miserere, debuting two years later as Fidalma in Cimarosa’s Matrimonio Segreto. But her first major assignment was in Eliodoro Sollima’s Due Cantate which the composer himself conducted. In 1997 Gian Carlo Menotti selected her as Mrs.Nolan for Operalaboratorio’s production of The Medium. The following year she was a finalist in the Di Stefano International Singing Contest in Trapani, the understudy of Suzuki for the Michigan Opera Theatre’s Madama Butterfly, and made her professional debut for Teatro Massimo in Henze’s Pollicino. This was followed by La Sonnambula, Cenerentola, and, for Teatro Garibaldi, La Finta Parigina. Last year she had an important debut in Verdi’s La Traviata in Busseto with Placido Domingo conducting and Franco Zeffirelli as stage director. Recently she sang in a production of Fioravanti’s Le Cantatrici Villane in Lecce under artistic director Katia Ricciarelli. VINCENZO TAORMINA, baritone, studied voice under Parride Venturi in Bologna and interpretation under Carlo Bergonzi and has since attended numerous masterclasses. He made his opera debut in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria in Nurnberg, followed by a Canadian concert tour, in collaboration with the ‘Istituto Italiano di Cultura’, that took him to Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa. He debuted for Palermo’s Teatro Massimo in their Scarlatti Festival in the oratorio Davidis Pugna et Victoria and last year won the 56th European Singing Competition at Spoleto. As a result he debuted for Spoleto in Gnecco’s La Prova di un’Opera Seria in Budapest, and has also played Malatesta in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Lescaut in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. Foreword by BOV Chairman It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the fourth edition of the BOV Opera Festival. I am pleased that Bank of Valletta has contributed to make this event a mainstay in Malta’s cultural calendar. The success of the BOV Opera Festival can be assessed from the ever-increasing audience of Maltese and international opera lovers it attracts year after year. Bank of Valletta is committed to be a leading patron of local art and culture. The Bank has built a reputation of being at the forefront in supporting Maltese artists. Apart from our sponsorship of the BOV Opera Festival, our contribution to arts and culture in Malta includes the organisation at our Head Office of a bi-annual retrospective art exhibition featuring Maltese artists, the financing of restoration projects and support to Maltese artists to exhibit their works. This year’s BOV Opera Festival featuring the two prestigious operas “Lucia di Lammermoor” and “Don Giovanni” together with the Concert by the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre should prove to be another success. In this regard, I congratulate the Manoel Theatre Management Committee for its efforts and valuable work to sustain the prestigious quality of performances staged during this festival. I take this opportunity to wish you all a most pleasant and enjoyable evening at the opera. Joseph F X Zahra Chairman Bank of Valletta p.l.c. TEATRU MANOEL 1732
1732 MOZART AND ‘DON GIOVANNI’ [Opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte based on another opera “The Stone Guest” by Giuseppe Gazzaniga. It centres around the legendary seventeenth century lover Don Juan, and was first performed in Prague on 29th October 1787. The opera was hailed as the world’s greatest opera at the time it was composed. The critic Stephen Williams has written of it,“There is a demonic power in this music that rises high above the formal, tonic-and-dominant framework enforced by the times. There is real terror in it; and the final catastrophe will always be an astounding revelation of what genius can do with limited harmonic resources, and a salutary shock to those who regard Mozart merely as a writer of pretty tunes.” This pretty well ties with the statement made by three men well equipped to pass judgement – Gioacchino Rossini, Charles Gounod and Richard Wagner – namely, that Mozart’s Don Giovanni is “the greatest opera ever written”.] TEATRU MANOEL ACT I Scene 1: Chased out of the house by Donna Anna’s father, the Commendatore, Don Juan engages him in a duel and unwittingly kills him. Don Ottavio, Anna’s bethrothed, swears vengeance on the perpetrator. Scene 2: Don Juan and his faithful servant Leporello overhear a maiden moaning about the lover who has deserted her. It transpires that the faithless lover is none other than Don Juan. Leporello makes fun of her, saying that she is not the only one – not by a thousand! (Madamina! Il catalogo e’ questo…) Scene 3: In the countryside near Don Giovanni’s palace rustics are celebrating the approaching wedding of Zerlina and Masetto. Attracted by Zerlina, Don Giovanni contrives to have Masetto out of the way while he prepares to seduce the willing girl. But the arrival of Elvira, Anna and Ottavio thwarts Don Giovanni’s plans. Anna gets wise to his philandering nature and goads Ottavio to avenge her father’s murder. He vows he will. Don Giovanni’s answer is to hold a lavish banquet at his castle at which all the women of the land are invited. Zerlina returns meekly to Masetto and asks forgiveness for having flirted with Don Giovanni. Scene 4: With the banquet in full swing, the revellers hear Zerlina’s cry for help. Don Giovanni has made his move after all. The crowd, including Elvira, Anna and Ottavio, rush to her rescue, but Don Giovanni manages to escape, brandishing his sword in defiance. ACT II Scene 1: Don Giovanni is back to his old tricks. He disguises himself as Leporello and lays siege to Elvira’s maid. And when Elvira herself appears on the balcony it is Leporello who, in his master’s clothes, takes her off to make love. Scene 2: Anna and Ottavio bring hard evidence to prove to Elvira that Don Giovanni is a murderer. Ottavio renews his pledge to avenge the death of Anna’s father (Il mio tesoro intanto…). Elvira however believes herself to be still in love with Don Giovanni, despite the fact that he had betrayed her. Scene 3: In the early morning Don Giovanni and Leporello stare at the statue of the Commendatore which the citizens of the land had erected in his honour. Don Giovanni mocks him by inviting him to supper. And in the errie moonlight the statue nods his agreement! Scene 4: The promise is kept, and in the midst of another bout of revelry the Man Marble appears. Just like Banquo at Macbeth’s feast. He stretches out his hand, and Don Giovanni impetuously grasps it – realising too late that it is the cold hand of death. In a scene of splendidly overwhelming music, like an echo of the Last Judgement, the Statue calls on Don Giovanni to repent. But the latter is not prepared to go back on his libertine ways, the creed that had guided him throughout his life. In the end, marked by apocalyptic music of sheer grandeur, the devils arrive to lead the unrepentant lover to his deserved doom. THE CAST in order of appearance Don Giovanni Ugo Guagliardo Leporello, his servant Giovanni Bellavia The Commendatore Maurizio Lo Piccolo Donna Anna, his daughter Natasa Katai Don Ottavio, her fiancè Domenico Bellantone/Nunzio Gallì Donna Elvira, a lady of Burgos Lydia Caruana Zerlina, a country girl Lorena Scarlata Masetto, her fiancè Vincenzo Taormina Understudy Ivanna Speranza (Zerlina) Chorus Master Fabio Ciulla Assistant Chorus Master Salvatore Scinaldi Chorus Fiammetta Bellanca, Barbara Burger, Roberta Caly, Oriella Di Noto, Francesca Ferreri, Simona Naso, Giacoma Sgroi, Valentina Uccello, Valentina Vitti, Vincenzo Cuccia, Emanuele Genovese, Giuseppe Esposito, Salvatore Grigoli, Carlo Terzo Artistic director Mauro Avogadro Musical director Michael Laus Orchestra leader Marcelline Agius Production co-ordinator Elizabeth Smith Musical preparation in Palermo Danilo Lombardini Technical director Francesca Pipi Set realisation Massimiliano Pipi Costume design Francesca Pipi Light designer Bruno Ciulli Technical lighting assistant Salvatore Bianco Production director Roberto Spicuzza Production assistant Gioacchino Sorrentino Harpsichord Salvatore Scinaldi Assistant to artistic director Caterina Balistreri Assistant stage director Sara Chiarelli Stage manager Giovanni Vallone Make-up & hair stylist Letizia Tedesco Carpenters Nadia Campanotta, Alice Passalacqua, Alfredo Velardi Property masters Ginevra Tessitore, Gabriella Gallo Stage maestro Clara Capozza Lighting maestro Tiziana Nania Organisation assistants Adriano Fontana, Alice Liberti Stage crew Marco Cusimano, Anello Garofalo, Salvatore Marfia Booking office Michelle Mangion Theatre supervisor Charles Ferò The Management is grateful for the assistance given by H.E. Alvise Memmo, the Ambassador for Italy, and D.ssa Rosanna Cravenna, Director Italian Cultural Institute. With special thanks to Sig. Giuseppe Spicuzza (Teatro Orione), Sartoria Pipi and Teatro Stabile Biondo di Palermo. TEATRU MANOEL 1732
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DON GIOVANNI - Bank of Valletta

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