Across the boards of the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House we saw rise and fall of this world’s life amidst torn American flags, lascivious human erotic appetites, and people following orders and impulses to keep the frame whole. Even so-called advancing technology hasn’t changed these fundamental impulses. Although each production stands on its own, the resulting trilogy gives a thoughtful expression to the arc of history and the sameness of human appetites. The creative team of set designer Erhard Rom, costume designer Constance Hoffman, and lighting designer Jane Cox, molded the three works into Cavanagh’s vision of one unified story. Its purpose is to show one narrative about the decline and fall of the world we live in through its dynamic period events. The aim? To show America over a 300 year time span with the same American house as the set for the three productions. This third part of the Mozart-DaPonte Trilogy at San Francisco Opera, created by director Michael Cavanagh, brought what it started in 2019 with “The Marriage of Figaro” set in colonial times, continued with “Cosi fan Tutte” in 2021 (set in the 1930s), to its conclusion, here with “Don Giovanni”in 2022, set in 2080.

San Francisco Opera’s summer production of Mozart’s dark comedy “Don Giovanni” gives us so much more than we could ever ask for from this operatic gem.įrom the opening downbeat, conductor Bertrand de Billy led us through the variant plot twists and turns with the only questions being – Will we cheer for the great libertine’s demise? Or will we regret the loss of all that vitality? Will we brood with the women who were foiled by his foul play? Or will we say were you just too polite not to play?

The metropolitan opera don giovanni