Metropolitan Opera Live in HD airs tragicomedy 'Don Giovanni' in Whitefish

“Don Giovanni,” an opera based on the legendary fictional libertine Don Juan, will be shown at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center May 20 as part of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD program.

Deceit, charm and wronged women determined to avenge, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Italian opera about pathological liar and serial womanizer Don Giovanni could hardly seem more contemporary. Sung in Italian with subtitles the opera combines drama, comedy and supernatural elements to capture the downfall of pathological liar and serial womanizer Don Giovanni.

In Act 1, Giovanni has instructed his attendant Leporello to stand guard outside while he attempts to creep into the bedroom of Donna Anna. Upon her scream, Anna’s father, the Commendatore, comes to her assistance and a duel ensues, resulting in Don Giovanni stabbing him to death with a dagger. Anna mourns her father while her fiancé, Don Ottavio, pledges to avenge his death.

The next morning, with no remorse, Giovanni attempts to make a move on another woman passing on the street. However, this woman turns out to be his former lover, Donna Elvira, who has been seeking out Giovanni for betraying her. Realizing her identity, Giovanni makes a quick getaway, leaving Leporello to explain to Elvira that she is just another one of Giovanni’s many conquests.

The scene then changes to a wedding where village girl Zerlina is marrying farmer Masetto. Giovanni sends the wedding party to his home while he tries to seduce Zerlina on her wedding day. Anna, Ottavio, and Elvira have since appeared at the party in masks, aiming to expose Giovanni for the villain he is. Upon hearing Zerlina scream, the wedding party rushes to rescue her. Anna, Ottavio and Elvira remove their masks and confront Giovanni, however, Giovanni blames Leporello and manages to escape.

In Act 2, Leporello threatens to leave his master but Giovanni convinces him to stay. Switching clothes with Leporello to avoid being caught, Giovanni serenades Elvira’s maid while Leporello, dressed as Giovanni, diverts Elvira. Giovanni, still disguised as Leporello, meets Masetto, who is leading a vengeful posse in search of Giovanni. Giovanni tricks Masetto into giving him all his weapons and makes a quick exit. Later on, Leporello, who is still believed by Elvira to be Giovanni, is confronted by Anna, Ottavio, Zerlina and Masetto who think they’ve caught Giovanni. A panicked Leporello reveals his true identity before escaping. Ottavio reasserts his intention to avenge Anna, while Elvira, left alone, laments her betrayal by Giovanni.

After fleeing, Leporello meets Giovanni in a cemetery where they encounter an effigy of the slain Commendatore. Giovanni demands that Leporello invite the statue to dinner, and, to Leporello’s horror, the figure accepts. At the dinner banquet, Elvira appears and begs Giovanni one last time to change his life and marry her, but he dismisses her. A loud scream sounds as the statue of the Commendatore arrives at the banquet to ask Giovanni to repent. Giovanni refuses and is thus consumed by flames. The others appear in an epilogue warning the audience that evildoers must meet the terrible end they deserve.

Baritone Peter Mattei stars as the magnetic Don Giovanni alongside the Leporello of bass-baritone Adam Plachetka. Sopranos Federica Lombardi, Ana María Martínez, and Ying Fang make a superlative trio as Giovanni’s conquests — Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, and Zerlina — along with tenor Ben Bliss as Don Ottavio and bass-baritone Alfred Walker as Masetto. Ivo van Hove, Tony Award–winning director of Broadway’s “A View from the Bridge” and “West Side Story,” makes his Met debut, while Maestro Nathalie Stutzmann also makes her Met debut conducting a star-studded cast. Erin Morley hosts the presentation with exclusive behind-the-scenes access during the intermissions.

The live onscreen performance begins at 10:55 a.m. with an approximate runtime of three hours and 40 minutes that includes a 30-minute intermission. Food and beverage will be available for purchase during the performance. Tickets are sold only at the door which will open at 10:30 a.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students, paid by cash or check. Ten student scholarships are available.

For more information, visit www.whitefishtheatreco.org or call 862-5371.