‘Don Giovanni’: Chicago Lyric Opera’s Outstanding Production

CHICAGO—The legend of Don Juan first appeared in 17th-century Spain in the play “El Burlador de Sevilla y Convidado de Piedra” (“The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest”). Since then, there have been many dramas and films made about the fictional lover, but none are as dazzling and captivating as Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni,” especially now in a breathtaking production at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte follows Don Giovanni, an arrogant, wealthy, immoral rake who breaks into the home of Donna Anna to seduce her. When her father, the Commendatore, fights to stop him, Giovanni kills him in a duel and escapes with his servant Leporello.

There is a day of reckoning, though. When dining at his house, Giovanni ridicules a lifelike stone statue of the deceased Commendatore. The inanimate figure comes to life and demands that Giovanni repent for his life of violence and abuse. When Giovanni refuses, there is a riveting and amazing reprisal.

Like “The Marriage of Figaro,” Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” criticized the flagrant power of the autocracy. The opera includes many humorous moments, but the comic aspects aren’t meant to make light of Giovanni’s crimes. They are designed to highlight the farcical nature of humanity and entertain the audience while teaching a moral lesson.

The Lyric’s Production

Robert Falls, who directed the Lyric’s 2014 production of “Don Giovanni,” returns to masterfully direct this extraordinary presentation. Set in 1920s Spain, scenic designer Walt Spangler has created a landscape of towering gray buildings and wrought-iron balconies. Ana Kuzmanic’s costume design accentuates the class divide between the elites and the common folk. The opera’s most stunning scene is highlighted by Duane Schuler, who uses stark white lighting to envelope Don Juan as he plummets into the abyss.

The ensemble handles Giovanni’s comedy and vulnerability with perfect pitch, song, and portrayals.

The role of Giovanni is traditionally sung by a baritone, but the bass-baritone Christian Van Horn brings a stronger, more commanding vocal weight to the anti-hero. Rather than playing him as a flawless, ageless playboy, Van Horn’s Giovanni is an aging, declining womanizer.

Soprano Nina Solodovnikova soars as the tragic Donna Elvira whom Giovanni seduced and abandoned. She’s at her best when she alternates between furious rage and frantic desperation. As Donna Anna, soprano Mané Galoyan is compelling as she witnesses her father’s murder in the opening scene. Although bass David Leigh, who plays the Commendatore, is on stage for only a short period, his is the most imposing presence as the ultimate moral anchor.

Enhanced by conductor Enrique Mazzola and the Lyric Orchestra, the delicious arias are one of the significant reasons for the opera’s acclaim and popularity. The aria “Fin ch’han dal vino” (The Champagne Aria) is chilling as Giovanni orders Leporello to throw a celebration that will lead to more notches on his belt of conquests.

“Madamina, il catalogo è questo” (The Catalogue Aria), in which baritone Tommaso Barea as Leoporello makes a list of women’s physical attributes, is a comic showstopper. Van Horn’s duet with soprano Anna El-Khashem is another remarkable aria. Here, Don Juan tries to entice the peasant girl Zerlina to come to his villa. And, by introducing the supernatural Commendatore and plunging the protagonist into a perdition of fire and brimstone, Mozart took a common myth and turned it into an epic cosmic battle between good and evil.

“Don Giovanni” is a masterpiece not to be missed! Opera doesn’t get any better than this.

‘Don Giovanni’
The Lyric Opera of Chicago
20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago
Tickets: 312-827-5600 or LyricOpera.org
Runs: 3 hours, 25 minutes (one intermission)
Closes: Nov. 1, 2026

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