Don Giovanni

“Lust, sleaze, revenge, heartbreak; these are just some of the high-wire emotions entwined through Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Combined with some of opera’s most memorable tunes, the result is a production that’s as relevant to our lives today as it was when it was written more than 200 years ago… For anyone new to opera, daunted by the high art of Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House, judging by this show, Hampstead Garden Opera could prove an ideal introduction. It’s neither high-budget nor slick as they come, but you couldn’t really call this an amateur production, so professional were the performers. Special mention should be made of Fraser Grant’s inventive and pacey direction, Sarah Blood for her indignantly fiesty Elvira, and the 12-piece Dionysus Ensemble’s orchestral reduction led by Robin Newton. Eccentric costumes mixing opulent ballgown with neon futurist punk dispel any last notion of opera as stuffy. The full house that turned up to see this production certainly knew what they were in for.”