MOZART FESTIVAL OPERA
DON GIOVANNI
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
Artistic Director/Stage Director..............GIORGIO LALOV
Conductor.........................................KRASSIMIR TOPOLOV
Harpsichord........................................IVAYLO IVANOV
Sets/Costumes.....................................VALENTIN TOPENCHAROV
Light designer...................................GUEORGUI BOYUKLIEV
DISTRIBUTION
Cast is subject to change without notice
DON GIOVANNI...................................Stefano De Peppo
A young, licentious nobleman
LEPORELLO.............................................Hristo Sarafov
The Don's servant
DONNA ANNA.................................................Melliangee Perez
A noble woman, daughter of the Commendatore
DONNA ELVIRA..................................................Elena Razgylyaeva
A noble woman from Burgos, abandoned by Don Giovanni
DON OTTAVIO.........................................Benjamin Brecher
Betrothed to Donna Anna
ZERLINA................................................Viara Zhelezova/Snejana Dramcheva
A peasant girl
MASETTO................................................Hristo Sarafov
A peasant man, the fiancee of Zerlina
COMMENDATORE........................................Mikhail Kolelishvili
Father of Donna Anna
Chorus of Peasants and Servants
(There will be a 20-minute intermission after Act I)
About the Artists
DON GIOVANNI: Bass-Baritone, Stefano DE PEPPO
Born in Italy, he began his musical career as a soloist with the Children's Chorus of the
Teatro alla Scala. He continued his training with vocal studies at the Civic School of
Music in Milan. He opened the 1997-1998 Bellas Artes Season as Leporello in DON
GIOVANNI and sang Leporello in Jerez, Spain that season. He made his Canadian debut
in 1998-1999 as Mustafa in L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI with Opera Hamilton and sang
Osmin in Mozart's THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAIL in Spain. He returned to
the USA in 2000 for Bartolo in BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA with Palm Beach Opera after
singing Dulcamara in Tenerife, and made his NY debut as Don Magnifico in LA
CENERENTOLA at the American Opera Center at Lincoln Center. He made his
Minnesota Opera debut in 2001 with 'BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA' and also appeared with
Opera Orchestra of NY in 'LES HUGUENOTS' and Connecticut Grand Opera as Alfonso
in 'COSI FAN TUTTE'. He has also appeared with Portland Opera Repertory Theatre as
Figaro in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO. Additional engagements have included Mustafa at
Bellas Artes Theatre in Mexico City, The Sacristan in TOSCA for Lyric Opera of Kansas
City, Leporello in DON GIOVANNI at the Teatro Argentina in Rome with Renato
Bruson as the Don, which was filmed by RAI and taped for commercial DVD release,
and the role of Betto in GIANNI SCHICCHI at Los Angeles Opera with Samuel Ramey
in the title role. He has also appeared with the BBC at Royal Festival Hall in London, and
with the National Symphonic Orchestras of Mexico and Puerto Rico in Oratorios.
Recently he obtained a great success in New York as Annibale Pistacchio in Donizetti's
funny one act opera IL CAMPANELLO (The Bell). He just made his debut at
Washington National Opera in GIANNI SCHICCHI invited again by Placido Domingo to
take part to the successful production by William Friedkin with Sam Ramey in the title
role. He has recently sung Leporello in Prague, Milan, Mexico, Guatamala, and will soon
perform the role in Spain and in Japan. Papageno in Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE is
another role that Mr. De Peppo has performed in Mexico, Italy and in the USA with
Mozart Festival Opera.
DONNA ELVIRA: Soprano, Edelina KANEVA
Kaneva received her musical education at the National Conservatory of Music in Sofia.
She is currently a principal soloist of the Sofia National Opera and has performed as a
guest soloist with other opera companies in Eastern Europe and Germany. She has
performed the roles of Leonore in Verdi's Il TROVATORE and the title role of Puccini's
TOSCA with Teatro Lirico D'Europa in the US on previous tours and recently performed
the role of Donna Anna in DON GIOVANNI at the Summer Music Festival in Varna,
Bulgaria.
DONNA ELVIRA: Soprano, Elena RAZGYLYAEVA
Russian soprano Elena Razgylaeva is a principal soloist of Opera Rostov na Dom where
she performs leading soprano roles in the Lyric and Spinto fach. She made her U.S. debut
in winter 2006 with Teatro Lirico D'Europa as Mimi in LA BOHEME to outstanding
critical acclaim and returned to the U.S. in season 2006-2007 with Teatro Lirico as Ciocio-san in MADAMA BUTTERFLY and Liu in TURANDOT. During Teatro’s 2007-
2008 season, she performed the title roles of both TOSCA and MADAMA
BUTTERFLY. She returned again to the U.S for season 2008-2009 to perform the title
role in AIDA, Mimi in LA BOHEME and Nedda in Teatro’s new production of I
PAGLIACCI. This season she will perform Donna Elvira in DON GIOVANNI with
Mozart Festival Opera as well as Mimi in LA BOHEME with Teatro Lirico and she will
perform many different roles at her theatre in Russia.
DONNA ANNA: Soprano Melliangee PEREZ
Perez graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Voice Performance, from the Puerto
Rico Conservatory of Music where she studied with the famous Puerto Rican bassbaritone Justino Diaz. Perez won the Puerto Rico District Metropolitan Opera National
Council Auditions while still in college. In 2005 and 2008, she finished as a semifinalist
at the International Singing Contest in Barcelona, Spain. In addition, she has taken master
classes with highly acknowledged singing teachers and coaches such as Mme. Renata
Scotto, Anna Moffo, Jennifer Larmore, Benton Hess, Sherill Milnes, Joan Dornemann,
Diana Soviero, Charles Riecker, Ruth Falcon, Teresa Berganza and Frank Corsaro
Her experiences as a soloist include many concerts, galas and recitals in Puerto Rico, the
United States, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Venezuela.
She has performed operatic roles such as Donna Elvira in DON GIOVANNI, the
Countess in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Lauretta in GIANNI SCHICCHI and Euridice in
ORFEO ED EURIDICE. She has also performed in Zarzuelas and she is an active
concert singer. In 2008, Ms. Perez received an UNESCO Award as “Soprano of the
Year.” On the 2009-2010 Teatro Lirico D’Europa tour she will sing the Countess in LE
NOZZE DI FIGARO, Donna Elvira in DON GIOVANNI, Mimi in LA BOHEME and
Micaela in CARMEN.
ZERLINA: Mezzo-soprano, Viara ZHELEZOVA
Zhelezova graduated from the Bulgarian National Conservatory of Music in 1985 and
joined the roster of the Bulgarian National Opera, where she has performed leading
mezzo soprano roles alongside such singers as Ghena Dimitrova, Nicolai Giuselev, Anna
Tomova Sintov and others. She has appeared as a guest artist with opera companies
throughout out Western and Eastern Europe and has been a principal soloist with Teatro
Lirico D'Europa since 1992. She will perform the role of Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI
SIVIGLIA with Baltimore Opera Theatre in November 2009.
ZERLINA: soprano Snejana DRAMCHEVA
Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Dramcheva graduated from the Dobrin Petkov Music School
where she studied voice with Ivanka Michaylova. She also graduated from Pancho
Vladigerov Music Academy in Sofia where she studied Prof. Karnobatlova-Dobreva. She
made her artistic debut in 1984 with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by
Dobrin Petkov. In 1990, she made her first appearance on the operatic stage in Mozart's
DIE ENTFUHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL (THE ABDUCTION FROM THE
SERAGLIO) with the Sofia National Opera and Ballet’s Opera Studio. During 19911993 she completed several European tours with the German touring company "Schlotte"
as Gilda in RIGOLETTO, Violetta in LA TRAVIATA and Musetta in LA BOHEME.
Awards include the second place prize at the Francesco Vignas competition in Barcelona,
Spain, the Grand-Prix in Pamplona, Spain, the first-prize in Pavia, Italy, and the
Audience-Grand-Prix at the Giuseppe Verdi Competition in Parma, Italy. She was a
finalist in the Belvedere International Opera Competition in Vienna, Austria and has
participated in the program of a numerous international festivals and concerts. Snejana
Dramtcheva has made recordings for the Bulgarian National Radio and for companies in
other countries. Her repertoire includes soprano roles in operas by Verdi, Bellini,
Donizetti, Mozart, Puccini and others. In recent years she has been a frequent guest artist
at opera stages in Milan, Barcelona, Bilbao, Lille, Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris, Munich,
Tokyo, Valencia, Zurich, and other major European cities. Last season in the US, she
performed the role of Valencienne in MERRY WIDOW with Czech Opera Prague and
Violetta in LA TRAVIATA with Teatro Lirico. During season 2008-2009 she performed
the role of Pamina in DIE ZAUBERFLOTE with Mozart Festival Opera as well as
Musetta in LA BOHEME and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana with Teatro Lirico. During
season 2009-2010 she performs Gilda in RIGOLETTO, Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI
SIVIGLIA, and Musetta in LA BOHEME with Teatro on its twelfth major consecutive
US tour!
DON OTTAVIO: Tenor Benjamin Brecher
American tenor Benjamin Brecher has gained great acclaim with his many performances
on the opera and concert stages. Mr. Brecher has performed with numerous Opera
companies including: New York City Opera, Opera de Montreal, Opera Theatre of Saint
Louis, Central City Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Lyric Opera of
Cleveland, the Harrisburg Opera, Toledo Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, Berkshire Opera,
Arizona Opera, Anchorage Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Skylight Opera Theatre, the
Glimmerglass Opera, the Aspen Opera Theatre, and the Ohio Light Opera.
He has performed over ten roles with The New York City Opera since 1997; appearing in
their productions of Il VIAGGIO A REIMS, IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, DIE
ZAUBERFLOTE, CARMEN and many others. Other engagements include: LA
SONNAMBULA, I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI and OTELLO with Opera Orchestra
of New York. On the concert stage Mr. Brecher has performed a wide range of repertoire
with worlds finest symphonies, including the orchestras of: Chicago, Chautauqua,
Mexico City, Rome, Budapest, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis,
Knoxville, Ft. Worth, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Seattle, Florida, San Antonio, Jacksonville,
Detroit, Naples, Toledo, Omaha, Evansville, Baltimore, Seattle, Green Bay, Portland,
Toronto, Buffalo, Ft. Wayne, Edmonton, Ft. Myers, Milwaukee, Columbus, Elgin,
National Arts Orchestra Ottawa and the National Symphony at Kennedy Center. He has
also recorded IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA with The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra.
During the 2009-10 season he will perform, the world premiere of Stev Swartz’s first
opera SEANCE in Santa Barbara, the Benjamin Britten Serenade for tenor, Horn and
Strings in Wisconsin, Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the Belle Isle Festival in France, and
concerts with The Naples Philharmonic. In April of 2009 he sang the National Anthem at
Camden yards for opening day. He is a graduate of The Juilliard Opera Center; New
England Conservatory of Music and Bowling Green State University. He and his family
live in Santa Barbara California where he is the Head of the Voice Area at University of
California - Santa Barbara.
COMMENDATORE: Bass, Mikhail KOLELISHVILI
Russian bass Mikhail Kolelishvili is a member of the Kirov Opera. He was born in
Moscow on February 22, 1974 and graduated from the V. Saradzhishvili State
Conservatory of Tbilisi, Georgia, with a master's degree in vocal performance. In 1997 he
became a soloist at the Tbilisi State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet. Two years
later he was a Laureate of the Republic Vocal Competition "Georgia-Tbilisi" and the next
year he joined the Young Opera Singers' Academy of the Mariinski Theater. He won first
prize at the Rimski-Korsakov Fifth International Competition for Young Opera Singers in
2002 and was a top prize winner in the Third International E. Obraztsova Competition for
Young Opera Singers in 2003. In 2004 he won the Monyushko Competition in Warsaw,
Poland, as well as the Adamo Didur Prize for Bass. The following year he was a finalist
in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in the United Kingdom. His
repertoire includes all the bass roles in the Mozart and Verdi operas as well as Khan
Koncha in Borodin's PRINCE IGOR, King Rene in Tchaikovsky's IOLANTA and the
Tsar in Rimski-Korsakov's THE TALE OF TSAR SALTAN.
LEPORELLO: Baritone, Hristo SARAFOV
Sarafov has been active on the stage for his entire adult life as a soloist in operetta, opera
and as an actor. The talented baritone graduated from the National Academy of Music in
Sofia and was immediately engaged by the Sofia National Opera for the role of Bartolo in
Rossini's BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA. He has performed numerous roles with Teatro
Lirico D'Europa, world wide, since 1990.
MASETTO: Baritone, Plamen DIMITROV
Dimitrov has performed various roles with Teatro Lirico and Mozart Festival Opera on
tour in the US for the last 7 seasons including Shaunard in LA BOHEME, Morales in
CARMEN, and PING in TURANDOT, Sharpless in MADAMA BUTTERFLY and
Germont in LA TRAVIATA.
CONDUCTOR: Krassimir TOPOLOV
Topolov, who received his musical education in Vienna, Austria, is the principal
conductor for Teatro Lirico D'Europa and Mozart Festival Opera. In addition to
conducting hundreds of performances for Teatro Lirico and Mozart Festival opera on tour
in central Europe and the US, he is a guest conductor with the many state opera
companies in Bulgaria and other Eastern European countries.
STAGE DIRECTOR: Giorgio LALOV
General Manager and Artistic Director of both Mozart Festival Opera andTeatro Lirico
D’Europa, Lalov also serves as stage director for MOZART FESTIVAL OPERA.
Gueorgui Lalov (Giorgio) was born in Telesh, Bulgaria, in June, 1958. His father, "Lalo",
a doctor, and his mother, Stoiyanka, an elementary school teacher and Bulgarian folk
singer, were educated patrons of the arts. When Lalo Lalov died, Giorgio was only 9
years old but because he was an excellent student, he had the good fortune to be accepted
at an elite boarding school in the capital city of Bulgaria where all the lessons were taught
in French. When he graduated from high school in 1976 he was fluent in French and
English. That fall he entered the Bulgarian National Academy of Music and went on tour
throughout Italy with a choir from the University. While in Milan, he auditioned for the
famous International School for Young Opera Singers at La Scala. He was accepted, and
went on to make his operatic debut at La Scala at the age of 25. After living in Italy for a
short time, Lalov became fluent in Italian. In 1986, while on tour with an opera company
in France, he met his future business partner, Yves Josse, a former ballet dancer who was
booking opera and ballet tours. Lalov had many resources. He spoke several languages,
he was able organize the creation of sets and costumes in Bulgaria and he put together an
excellent orchestra and chorus. He also knew many fine opera singers in Bulgaria, central
Europe, and the USA. By 1988 Josse and Lalov were collaborating on what was to
become the most successful opera touring company in Europe. At the time of Josse's
death in 1995, Teatro Lirico completed over 250 performances a season throughout
Europe. In 1990 Lalov established the Sofia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Since that
time, it has been the orchestra and chorus for all of Teatro Lirico D'Europa's productions
worldwide and for all Mozart Festival Opera productions. In 2003 Giorgio Lalov and his
wife Jenny Kelly established a new opera touring company dedicated to presenting the
operas of MOZART in a traditional and tasteful manner using American and European
soloists. The popular company has enjoyed a great success in the US.
SYNOPSIS OF THE OPERA
ACT I: Seville, 1600s. At night, outside the Commendatore's palace, Leporello grumbles
about his duties as servant to Don Giovanni, a dissolute nobleman. Soon, the masked Don
appears pursued by Donna Anna, the Commendatore's daughter, whom he has tried to
seduce. When the Commendatore himself answers Anna's cries, he is killed in a duel by
Giovanni, who escapes. Anna now returns with her fiance, Don Ottavio. Finding her
father dead, she makes Ottavio swear vengeance on the assassin. At dawn, Giovanni flirts
with a high-strung traveller outside a tavern. She turns out to be Donna Elvira, a woman
he once seduced in Burgos, who is on his trail. Giovanni escapes while Leporello
distracts Elvira by reciting his master's long catalogue of conquests. Peasants arrive,
celebrating the nuptials of their friends Zerlina and Masetto; when Giovanni joins in, he
pursues the bride, angering the groom, who is removed by Leporello. Alone with Zerlina,
the Don applies his charm, but Elvira interrupts and protectively whisks the girl away.
When Elvira returns to denounce him as a seducer, Giovanni is stymied further while
greeting Anna, now in mourning, and Ottavio. Declaring Elvira mad, he leads her off.
Anna, having recognized his voice, realizes Giovanni was her attacker. Dressing for the
wedding feast he has planned for the peasants, Giovanni exuberantly downs champagne.
Outside the palace, Zerlina begs Masetto to forgive her apparent infidelity. Masetto hides
when the Don appears, emerging from the shadows as Giovanni corners Zerlina. The
three enter the palace together. Elvira, Anna and Ottavio arrive in dominoes and masks
and are invited to the feast by Leporello. During the festivities, Leporello entices Masetto
into the dance as Giovanni draws Zerlina out of the room. When the girl's cries for help
put him on the spot, Giovanni tries to blame Leporello, but no one is convinced. Elvira,
Anna and Ottavio unmask and confront Giovanni, who barely escapes Ottavio's drawn
sword.
ACT II:
Under Elvira's balcony, Leporello exchanges cloaks with Giovanni to woo the lady in his
master's stead. Leporello leads Elvira off, leaving the Don free to serenade Elvira's maid.
When Masetto passes with a band of armed peasants bent on punishing Giovanni, the
disguised rake gives them false directions and then beats up Masetto. Zerlina arrives and
tenderly consoles her betrothed. In a passageway, Elvira and Leporello are surprised by
Anna, Ottavio, Zerlina and Masetto, who, mistaking the servant for his master, threaten
Leporello. Frightened, he unmasks and escapes. When Anna departs, Ottavio affirms his
confidence in their love. Elvira, frustrated at her second betrayal by the Don, voices her
rage. Leporello catches up with his master in a cemetery, where a voice warns Giovanni
of his doom. This is the statue of the Commendatore, which the Don proposes Leporello
invite to dinner. When the servant reluctantly stammers an invitation, the statue accepts.
In her home, Anna, still in mourning, puts off Ottavio's offer of marriage until her father
is avenged. Leporello is serving Giovanni's dinner when Elvira rushes in, begging the
Don, whom she still loves, to reform. But he waves her out contemptuously. At the door,
her screams announce the Commendatore's statue. Giovanni boldly refuses warnings to
repent, even in the face of death. Flames engulf his house, and the sinner is dragged to
hell. Among the castle ruins, the others plan their future and recite the moral: such is the
fate of a wrong doer.
JUSTICE AND RETRIBUTION
By Mary Jane Phillips-Matz
Hailed by many as the greatest of all operas, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's DON
GIOVANNI is high drama, but it is also a pithy morality play. Looming over it is Don
Juan of Seville, the opera's Don Giovanni, a man of charm, but wicked, with a monstrous
ego. Like many aristocrats of his time, the Don is thoroughly corrupt, as is shown by the
opera's original title: “Il dissoluto punito, o sia il Don Giovanni.” Here is a clear
statement about his nature, because "dissolute" means he is a libertine, debauched and
licentious. Even from the first scene, he is determined to seduce or rape women; he
murders an old man; he thrives on deceit and lies; and he feels no remorse. Mozart gave
the world premiere of DON GIOVANNI in Prague on October 29, 1787, at a moment
when he was wildly popular in that city. Successful from the start, DON GIOVANNI
triumphed in part because the composer devoted so much time to the rehearsals, working
with the orchestra, making corrections to the written score and conducting the opera. He
also coached his cast himself, because they were so young. Surprisingly, the first baritone
to sing the title role was only twenty, the leading soprano slightly older.
DON GIOVANNI came gradually to be recognized as a masterwork of unparalleled
beauty and profound moral substance. Its brilliantly balanced libretto is by Mozart's
trusted collaborator, Lorenzo da Ponte, who was also the poet of The MARIAGE OF
FIGARO and COSI FAN TUTTE. The plot is based on a mix of ancient legend,
historical fact and earlier librettos. Perhaps the first widely known version of the Don's
tale was a drama written in 1630 by Tirso de Molina, a Spanish monk. Called THE
TRICKSTER FROM SEVILLE and THE STONE GUEST, it shows the Don as a lawless
nobleman who forces himself on women and kills on a whim. As in the opera, he
arrogantly issues a dinner invitation to a Stone Guest --- not a living man, but the tomb
statue of the man the Don has murdered.
Both the librettist and the composer marvellously depict the characters in Mozart’s DON
GIOVANNI. First there is the title role, the Don who so often dominates operas, dramas
and ballets, simply because his story makes for exciting theatre. In this opera he looms
larger than life, aristocratic and elegant, sophisticated, genial, urbane, witty, arrogant and
truly evil --- a man running wild through the world around him. No longer just the
trickster from Seville, as in the early tales, the Don is a serial rapist.
Mozart also brought the four other serious characters to life. They power the plot. Donna
Anna, the valiant noblewoman, fights off the Don when, wearing a mask, he breaks into
her bedroom intending to rape her. Anna's father, the Commendatore, tries to defend his
daughter and is killed by Don Giovanni. Then Anna, determined to identify the murderer
and her would-be rapist, perseveres until she finds that the Don was the man who
attacked her. Anna's fiancé, Don Ottavio, is the typical noble suitor of period opera; but
in Donna Elvira, one of Don Giovanni's many conquests, Mozart and his librettist created
something more subtle: a penetrating psychological portrait of a tormented woman. The
comic characters are Leporello, Don Giovanni's valet and henchman; Zerlina, a
vulnerable peasant girl, and Masetto, her fiance.
For sheer horror, nothing matches the dinner scene in the last act of DON GIOVANNI
First the rake is enjoying a meal and listening to his musicians play popular tunes. Elvira
bursts in, begging the Don to repent, but he laughingly rebuffs her. She leaves. We hear
her screams and Leporello's cries of terror, as the statue, the Stone Guest, enters. He
wants nothing to eat, he says, but he invites the Don to dine with him. "I will go," the
Don says, as he grasps the statue's icy hand. "Repent!" the statue warns. But when the
Don refuses, the statue cries, "Your time has run out." He drags the sinner down to Hell,
and Justice is done at last. ####
ABOUT MOZART FESTIVAL OPERA
Mozart Festival Opera, the sister company of Teatro Lirico D'Europa made its U.S. debut
in November 2003 with a full scale production of DON GIOVANNI that received high
critical acclaim for its outstanding cast of singers as well as the excellent stage direction
and attractive sets and costumes. Since its debut in 2003, the company has toured the US
every season with productions of DON GIOVANNI, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and DIE
ZAUBERFLOTE to outstanding critical acclaim. In 2009-2010 the company will be on
its 6th season of major US tours Hailed by many as the greatest of all operas, Mozart's
DON GIOVANNI is based on the true-life escapades of Don Juan of Seville, an
aristocratic serial rapist who lived during the 1600s! The full-scale, traditional production
features beautiful sets and costumes and a cast of soloists who are excellent actors as well
as professional opera singers from Europe and the USA.