Don GIOVANNI
No Remorse
production
Cast + crew
Michael Adams
Don Giovanni
Yulan Piao
Donna Anna
WooYoung Yoon
Don Ottavio
Alessandra Di Giorgio
Donna Elvira (Miami 1/30, 1/31, 2/2)
Vladyslav Buialskyi
Leporello
Catherin Meza
Donna Elvira (Broward 2/18, 2/20)
Ingrid Kuribayashi
Zerlina
Alex Ilvakhin
Masetto
George Andguladze
Il Commendatore (Miami 1/30, 1/31, 2/2)
Louis Otey
Il Commendatore (Broward 2/18, 2/20)
Alek Shrader
stage director
American stage director and tenor Alek Shrader is celebrated for his lyric vocalism and expressive characterizations, having appeared with leading companies including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, and the Bayerische Staatsoper, as well as the Salzburg and Glyndebourne festivals. His wide-ranging repertoire spans bel canto and Mozart to musical theater, including Alfredo in La Traviata, Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, and Tony in West Side Story.
A frequent concert and recital artist, he has performed with orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony, and has been presented by Carnegie Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall. He has also branched into stage directing, making his debut with Dido & Aeneas for Green-Wood Cemetery’s “Concerts in the Catacombs,” and co-wrote/co-directed Mercy, a film based on La Clemenza di Tito.
A 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winner and San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, Shrader was a member of the Atlanta Opera’s Company Players for the 2020/21 season.
synopsis
Director's Notes
Revealed in Shadow
Don Giovanni unfolds in juxtapositions: comedy beside horror, beauty beside violence, Enlightenment beside debauchery. Its mixture of levity and the ominous reflects the late-eighteenth-century fascination with chiaroscuro—the dramatic opposition of light and shadow that makes a scene at once beautiful and sinister. Such stark contrast also allows us to explore contradictions within the human psyche.
Mozart’s extraordinary achievement is that the proximity of comedy and tragedy serves to illuminate both. Laughter throws terror into sharper relief; darkness gives depth to moments of beauty. Like a chiaroscuro painting, Don Giovanni demands that we embrace the shadows as an aspect of the light.
I also found inspiration in film noir and early horror movies. The similar aesthetic conveys psychological and moral implications in stories of desire, deception, violence, and fate. Retrospectively, there are many easy comparisons to make, and a few revelations, too.
As the affable villain, Giovanni is invincible and irresistible, but his charisma is inseparable from destruction as he pursues pleasure without a care for consequence. His pleasant, graceful charm only enhances his darkness. Yes, he is a sexual predator, but his lust is motivated by the privilege of absolute freedom, defiance of limits, and the belief that other human beings are disposable objects to temporarily satiate his appetite… all while smiling. He’s the perfect noir villain: affable, magnetic, socially fluent, sexually charismatic, morally empty, and (initially) impossible to hate.
Elvira resembles a failed femme fatale: the wronged woman out for revenge… but the moment Giovanni appears, her anger becomes vulnerable longing. Her emotions present their own chiaroscuro: fury and tenderness, strength and vulnerability, hope and humiliation. She is desperate for the story to have another ending but ultimately withdraws, finally accepting that Giovanni just doesn’t care. And tragically, she likely loves him still.
Throughout, we see a social class distinction in which the upper class are bound by patriarchal rules. When Anna is attacked, it’s also an assault upon aristocratic decorum and honor. Where Giovanni represents appetite without boundaries, Ottavio represents order. Anna’s grief seeks justice, but Ottavio hesitates to take action. He cannot fully comprehend or heal Anna’s trauma, so his response is frustratingly ineffective.
Conversely, Zerlina and Masetto inhabit the lower class and exhibit baser emotions: temptation and anger. Their ordinary lives are quickly endangered by the invasion of the sophisticated villain. Temptation imperils fidelity; anger turns to impotence. Giovanni’s seduction offers Zerlina romance paired with upward mobility. He crosses every class boundary, but society protects him, even though his guilt is apparent.
Noir typically treats guilt as inescapable; when revenge is abandoned, justice avoided, and society is unable or unwilling to address inflicted crimes, a supernatural consequence must deliver the ultimate retribution. The Commendatore, returned as the Stone Guest, is the revenant—the dead man who returns to resolve the crime. Seen this way, Don Giovanni becomes almost a prototype of the noir universe.
Last (but appearing first) is Leporello, the actual antihero of the story. In film noir, the flawed, compromised protagonist is entangled in a world they neither created nor fully understand. But they are never able to walk away. Leporello complains about Giovanni’s behavior, yet he continues to participate. He is simultaneously employee, accomplice, witness, and victim. Can we regard him as innocent merely because he complains about the crimes?
Mozart makes that question comic, but the underlying situation is bleak. Leporello’s famous catalogue aria exemplifies the contrast: moral horror is converted into comic spectacle, and Mozart refuses to let us settle comfortably on either side. Humor therefore becomes a defense mechanism to make the unbearable bearable while Leporello maintains moral discomfort. He claims to know better but continues to do bad things. And we keep wishing he’ll find a way out. But having lived so long in Giovanni’s shadow, he discovers that the shadow belongs to him as well.
Synopsis
Seville, Spain, Late 1940s
Act I
Scene 1. Dawn, outside the Commendatore’s palace following a masked ball. Leporello, Don Giovanni’s servant, is pacing and grumbling about his master’s ingratitude. The masked Don Giovanni bursts in pursued by Donna Anna as she calls for help. The commotion awakens her father, the Commendatore, who, after challenging the Don, dies in the ensuing duel. Don Giovanni and Leporello escape, and Donna Anna and her betrothed, Don Ottavio, return to discover the corpse. They swear vengeance on the murderer.
Scene 2. The piazza, early morning. Don Giovanni and Leporello encounter Donna Elvira, whom the Don had seduced and abandoned. When she recognizes him, he escapes, leaving Leporello to explain that she is but one in a list of 2,065 conquests. She swears revenge. A group of young people arrive celebrating a wedding. The Don, taken with the bride-to-be, Zerlina, invites the party to his villa. Masetto, Zerlina’s intended, is suspicious, but Zerlina reassures him. Left alone together, the Don begins to work his charm on Zerlina, promising marriage. As her resistance folds, Donna Elvira appears and rescues her.
Scene 3. The cathedral of Seville, following a mass. Don Ottavio and Donna Anna enlist the Don’s help in discovering her father’s killer. Donna Elvira returns and, astonishing the congregation, accuses Don Giovanni of betraying her. The Don questions her sanity, but Donna Anna suddenly recognizes him as the murderer. She demands vengeance from Don Ottavio, who expresses his love for her and vows to discover the truth.
Scene 4. A fountain. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive, and the Don orders a magnificent celebration.
Scene 5. Evening, outside Don Giovanni’s villa. Zerlina tries to reassure Masetto of her faithfulness. At the Don’s approach, Masetto hides, alarmed to see the Don try to seduce Zerlina. He confronts them, and the Don reproaches him for having left her alone. He escorts them inside. Three masked figures arrive: Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, and Don Ottavio. Leporello, sensing potential amusement for his master, invites them to the party.
Scene 6. Evening, Don Giovanni’s villa. At the party, the Don spirits Zerlina off. When she screams, the guests decide to break down the door, but the Don appears, dragging Leporello and accusing him of the attack. No one believes the lie, and the guests turn on their host. The Don, undaunted, forces his way out.
Act II
Scene 1. Night, outside Donna Elvira’s lodgings. Leporello tries to quit. Instead, the Don persuades him to exchange clothing in order to seduce Donna Elvira’s maid. When Donna Elvira herself appears on the balcony, the Don lures her down into the arms of Leporello, whom she mistakes for him. When they are gone, Don Giovanni serenades the maid, but before she can come down Masetto appears with a band of friends in search of the Don. Disguised as Leporello, the Don sends them off in a false direction. He detains Masetto and gives him a thrashing. Zerlina comforts him.
Scene 2. Later, in a street. Leporello tries to escape from Donna Elvira, but Don Ottavio, Donna Anna, Zerlina, and Masetto intercept him. They are dismayed to discover he is not the Don. He quickly escapes. Donna Anna leaves. Don Ottavio asks the others to comfort her while he goes to avenge her.
Scene 3. In front of a statue of the Virgin Mary. Donna Elvira laments her betrayal.
Scene 4. After midnight in a cemetery. Don Giovanni and Leporello hide, but the Don’s laughter is interrupted by the sepulchral voice of the statue of the Commendatore. The Don orders the terrified Leporello to invite the statue to dinner, and the statue accepts.
Scene 5. Donna Anna’s palace. Donna Anna is in despair at the turn her relationship with her fiancé is taking.
Scene 6. Don Giovanni’s villa, before dawn. The Don tries to divert his attention from the imminent arrival of the stone guest. He is interrupted by the arrival of Donna Elvira, who urges him to mend his ways. He refuses, but she disdainfully leaves, screaming in terror at what is approaching. The fearless Don opens the door and admits the Commendatore’s statue. The statue requests Don Giovanni to dine with him, asking his hand to seal the bargain. The statue seizes his hand, demanding that he repent, but Don Giovanni will not, and is dragged unrepentant into Hell.
Epilogue. When the others learn of the Don’s fate, they conclude it was well deserved.
Sevilla, España, finales de los años 40
Acto I
Escena 1. Amanecer, fuera del palacio del Commendatore, después de un baile de máscaras. Leporello, sirviente de Don Giovanni, deambula y se lamenta de la ingratitud de su amo. Don Giovanni, enmascarado, irrumpe en pos de Donna Anna mientras ésta pide ayuda. La conmoción despierta al padre de Donna Anna, el Commendatore, quien desafía al Don y muere en el duelo.
Escena 2. La plaza, temprano en la mañana. Don Giovanni y Leporello se escapan, y Donna Anna y su prometido, Don Ottavio, regresan para descubrir el cuerpo. Ambos juran vengarse del asesino.
Don Giovanni y Leporello encuentran a Donna Elvira, a quien el Don había seducido y abandonado. Cuando ella lo reconoce, él escapa, dejando a Leporello, quien le explica que ella es apenas una en la lista de 2,065 conquistas. Donna Elvira jura vengarse. Un grupo de jóvenes llega festejando un casamiento. El Don, encantado con Zerlina, la novia, invita a los festejantes a su villa. Masetto, el prometido de Zerlina, se muestra sospechoso, pero Zerlina le asegura que no hay problema. Al quedarse sólo con ella, el Don usa su seducción para atraer a Zerlina y le promete matrimonio. Ésta comienza a ceder su resistencia y aparece Donna Elvira, quien advierte a Zerlina de las intenciones del Don, haciéndola abandonar secretamente el lugar.
Escena 3. La catedral de Sevilla, después de una misa. Don Ottavio y Donna Anna solicitan la ayuda del Don para descubrir al asesino de su padre. Donna Elvira regresa, y para asombro de la congregación, acusa al Don de traicionarla. Éste cuestiona las facultades mentales de Donna Elvira, pero Donna Anna repentinamente reconoce al Don como el asesino de su padre. Exige venganza a Don Ottavio quien expresa su amor por ella y jura descubrir la verdad.
Escena 4. Una fuente. Don Giovanni y Leporello regresan, y el Don ordena una magnífica celebración.
Escena 5. Por la noche, fuera de la villa de Don Giovanni. Zerlina trata de convencer a Masetto de su lealtad. Cuando el Don se acerca, Masetto se esconde alarmado de ver que trata de seducir a Zerlina. Masetto los enfrenta y el Don le reprocha haberla dejado sola. Los acompaña hacia el interior de la casa. Llegan tres personas enmascaradas: Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, y Don Ottavio. Leporello, vislumbrando una oportunidad de diversión para su amo, los invita a la fiesta.
Escena 6. Por la noche, la villa de Don Giovanni. En la fiesta, el Don se lleva secretamente a Zerlina. Cuando ella grita, los invitados deciden echar abajo la puerta, pero aparece el Don, espada en mano, arrastrando a Leporello y acusándolo del ataque. Nadie cree la mentira, y los invitados se vuelven contra el anfitrión. El intrépido Don se escapa.
Acto II
Escena 1. Por la noche, fuera de la residencia de Donna Elvira. Leporello trata de abandonar el lugar. Pero el Don lo persuade para que se cambie la ropa y seduzca a la doncella de Donna Elvira. Cuando Donna Elvira se asoma al balcón, el Don la atrae hacia los brazos de Leporello, a quien ella confunde con él. Se van los dos y Don Giovanni le da una serenata a la doncella, pero antes que ésta pueda bajar, aparece Masetto con un grupo de amigos en busca del Don. Éste, disfrazado de Leporello, los envía en una dirección falsa. Detiene a Masetto y le da una paliza. Zerlina lo consuela.
Escena 2. Más tarde, en una calle. Leporello trata de escapar de Donna Elvira, pero Don Ottavio, Donna Anna, Zerlina, y Masetto lo interceptan, y quedan perplejos al descubrir que no es el Don. Leporello escapa rápidamente. Donna Anna se va. Don Ottavio pide a los otros que la consuelen mientras él se venga.
Escena 3. Frente a una imagen de la Virgen María. Donna Elvira lamenta su traición.
Escena 4. Después de la medianoche, en un cementerio. Don Giovanni y Leporello se esconden, pero la carcajada del Don es interrumpida por la voz sepulcral de la estatua del Commendatore. El Don ordena al aterrorizado Leporello invitar a la estatua a cenar, y la estatua acepta.
Escena 5. El palacio de Donna Anna. Donna Anna está desconsolada por lo que sucede con su prometido.
Escena 6. La villa de Don Giovanni. El Don trata de distraer su atención ante la inminente llegada del huésped de piedra. Él es interrumpido por la llegada de Donna Elvira, quien lo insta a rectificar su conducta. Él se niega y la invita a acompañarlo, pero ella se va, gritando aterrorizada ante lo que se aproxima al palacio. El audaz Don abre la puerta y deja entrar a la estatua del Commendatore. La estatua le pide a Don Giovanni que cene con él y le ofrece su mano para cerrar el trato. La estatua toma la mano del Don exigiéndole que se arrepienta, pero éste no lo hace y su falta de arrepentimiento lo arrastra hacia el infierno.
Epílogo. Cuando los otros se enteran del destino del Don, llegan a la conclusión de que fue bien merecido.