Don Giovanni

Seducer, boundary-breaker, free spirit: The myth of Don Juan is one of the most powerful narratives in European cultural history. In Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the character finds perhaps his most radical musical embodiment. Since its premiere in Prague in 1787, the opera has captivated audiences as a multifaceted portrait of a man who crosses every moral, social, and emotional boundary. It is no coincidence that E. T. A. Hoffmann called the work “the opera of all operas.”

Don Giovanni lives the moment to the extreme. Driven by lust, a will to power, and a contempt for death, he relentlessly pursues new conquests—he does not even shy away from violence and murder. His claim to freedom is radical, ruthless, and destructive. Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte paint this portrait with a unique balance of comedic confusion and abysmal tragedy. 

In one of the greatest scores in opera history, Mozart composed music that becomes the driving dramatic force, deriving its form from a dynamic of constant boundary-pushing. Virtuoso ensembles, sharply drawn characters, and abrupt shifts in mood make Don Giovanni a musical theater piece of electrifying energy. 

Director Anna-Sophie Mahler, known for her profound theatrical productions, makes her debut at the Tiroler Landestheater with this work and approaches the archetypal seducer from a decidedly feminine perspective. The musical direction of this masterpiece is in the hands of Principal Conductor Gerrit Prießnitz.