Brott Music Festival presents

Mozart’s Don Giovanni

Fresh from the Archives, a free performance for you to enjoy.

It was a groundbreaking virtual production which gained national media attention: First, it was conceived, directed, rehearsed, performed from the living rooms of its cast and crew. Secondly, director Anna Theodosakis gave the plotline of Mozart’s masterpiece a modern, feminist twist — the women stepped out of their roles to voice their stories and refused to be victimized by Don Giovanni’s lecherous behaviour and objectification of his female conquests.

“This provided me a great opportunity to insert monologues performed by the three women of the story. Our production emphasizes a survivor first narrative and having subjective narration from the female characters enhances this concept.”

The result was what critic David Perlman called “really effective, driven by the characters’ eyes all the time.”

He said “A lot of the virtual stuff being generated right now that tries to be a “reasonable facsimile” of live, leaves me cold. What struck me about [BrottOpera] is you have made the medium a huge asset.

In the words of cast member Stephanie di Ciantis: “BrottOpera decided to do something innovative – they took the small screen, tiny productions that some individuals and smaller companies have decided to test out and they figured out a way to bring that into a full scale, high-quality production. They have done something that no other company in Canada has done, which is to put on a full opera while keeping all its artists healthy.”

Performers
Anna Theodosakis, director
Boris Brott, conductor
National Academy Orchestra

The National Academy Orchestra of Canada was founded in 1989 by conductor Boris Brott and is primarily based in Hamilton, Ontario. It is recognized as a Canadian National School for professional training, and each winter over 450 potential applicants audition from across Canada for a position in the orchestra.

Since its inception, the NAO has been the orchestra-in-residence for the acclaimed Brott Music Festival, Canada’s largest orchestral music festival. Each season features guest concertmasters and mentors from across the country, guest conductors, and internationally-renowned soloists, with performance opportunities ranging from full orchestra, to opera, and chamber.

Philip Addis, Don Giovanni
Simon Chalifoux, Leporello
Jamal Al Titi, Masetto
River Guard, Don Ottavio
Stephanie DeCiantis, Donna Elvira
Shantelle Przybylo,Donna Anna
Marie-Andree Mathieu, Zerlina
FEATURING:
John Fanning as the Commendatore

Free on-demand streaming until August 2, 2021
To enjoy Don Giovanni visit: www.brottmusic.com