San Francisco Opera announced that they will present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s comic drama Don Giovanni in a new production premiere at the War Memorial Opera House.
The cast of singers includes Lucas Meachem, Ellie Dehn, Serena Farnocchia, Kate Lindsey, Topi Lehtipuu and Marco Vinco. Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus, and Italian film and theater director Gabriele Lavia directs this new San Francisco Opera production with sets designed by Alessandro Camera and costumes by Andrea Viotti.
Leading the ensemble cast in the title role is former Adler Fellow Lucas Meachem, who starred as Count Almaviva in last fall’s Le Nozze di Figaro. The American baritone has previously appeared as Don Giovanni at New Orleans Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Santa Fe Opera. Meachem made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2007 as General Rayevsky in War and Peace and returned last season as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette.
Soprano Ellie Dehn, who made her Company debut last year as Countess Almaviva opposite Meachem, is Donna Anna. The American soprano has previously appeared as Countess Almaviva with Houston Grand Opera and as Donna Anna with Opera Pacific and at the Ravinia Festival.
Italian soprano Serena Farnocchia appears at San Francisco Opera for the first time in a role she has previously performed in Geneva—Don Giovanni’s scorned lover, Donna Elvira.
American mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey makes her San Francisco Opera debut as Zerlina, a role she recently performed opposite Lucas Meachem at the Santa Fe Opera.
Tenor Topi Lehtipuu, a native of Finland, makes his United States debut as Don Ottavio, a role he has also performed in Toulouse.
Italian bass Marco Vinco makes his United States debut as Leporello in this production.
San Francisco Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus in this production. Additionally this season he leads Puccini’s Turandot, Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s Attila, and two special performances with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in concert co-presented with Cal Performances in Berkeley.
Celebrated Italian film and theater director Gabriele Lavia makes his United States directorial debut this season with this new production of Don Giovanni. He returns in June 2012 to direct a new co-production of Attila, which received its premiere at Teatro alla Scala in June 2011. Lavia partners with set designer Alessandro Camera and costume designer Andrea Viotti for both productions. As an actor, Lavia has had roles in nearly thirty films and television programs. He is best known in the United States for his appearances in a number of horror films, including Beyond the Door (1974); Dario Argento’s Deep Red (1976), Inferno (1980), and Sleepless (2001); and Pupi Avati’s Zeder (1983), in which he starred.
DON GIOVANNI
San Francisco Opera
DON GIOVANNI by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
NEW PRODUCTION PREMIERE
October 15 (8 p.m.), 18 (8 p.m.), 21 (8 p.m.),
San Francisco Opera production 23● (2 p.m.), 26 (7:30 p.m.), 29● (8 p.m.);
November 2● (7:30 p.m.), 5 (2 p.m.), 10 (7:30 p.m.), 2011
