Opera Summer Belvedere

Don Giovanni, a Strizzi from Vienna!

Fiery Don Giovanni in front of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna(Bild: ANNA_STOECHER)

For the first time, the Vienna Opera Summer Belvedere took place against the magnificent backdrop of Prince Eugene's summer palace. A well-made, effective spectacle in which Mozart's Don Giovanni was transformed into a "Viennese tale" - including a fiery ride to hell!

A new festival designed to bring an event to Vienna, which is "opera-less" in July: Conductor Joji Hattori launched his 1st Vienna Opera Summer in front of the Upper Belvedere. Dominik Am Zehnhoff-Söns is directing the production. Manfred Waba provides the entertainment, building curved staircases with statues in front of the Belvedere's postcard facade and unleashing lavish baroque visual and fire magic with light and projections with a real hellish ride. However, Florian Stank and Zehnhoff-Söns turn Mozart and Daponte's dramma giocoso into a "Viennese tale" in which Giovanni does bad business with a René (Benko). As a white ghost, the murdered Commendatore provides profeminist commentary on every scene. Why?

Mozart's finale "This is the end of him who does evil" is deleted. Hattori leads the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the singers from an adjoining building about 100 meters away in a spirited and nimble manner. Which is not ideal. Thomas Tatzl's hearty Giovanni is a Viennese strizzi with lots of jargon in the dialog. Solid Andreas Hörl (Commendatore), Nathalie Peña-Comas (Anna), Johannes Bamberger (Ottavio), Martina Neubauer (Elvira), Alexandre Breuchat (Leoporello), Juliette Khalil (Zerline) and Felix Pacher (Masetto).