Guardian's Stuart Jeffries asks: "Don Giovanni – hero or villain?"

Randal Turner as Don Giovanni

In the Don Giovanni that has just opened in Paris, the eponymous hero has become an irredeemable sex pest of a businessman. Too much power and sex has corroded his soul. Perhaps you work with him. Perhaps you are him. At the end, in his nocturnal office, Giovanni is stabbed through the heart by the co-worker he sexually assaulted in act one, thrown through a window by a crowd of downtrodden cleaners, at least one of whom he tried to grope, and then accompanied to hell by the rotting corpse of the CEO he murdered at the outset. Twenty-first century moral? Don't stay late at the office.

Markus Werba as Don Giovanni

The desperate Don's comeuppance, though, strikes me as unfair. As Kierkegaard noted in Either/Or, Don Giovanni is the opera's erotically animating presence. "His passion resonates everywhere; it resonates in and supports the Commendatore's earnestness, Elvira's wrath, Anna's hate, Ottavio's pomposity, Zerlina's anxiety, Mazetto's indignation, Leporello's confusion. As the hero in the opera, Don Giovanni is the denominator of the piece." Take him away and you're left with the bourgeois moralising of the opera's epilogue – an epilogue that any director worth their salt would cut were it not for Mozart's music.

Duncan Rock & Richard Crichton talk to Gaydar's Neil Sexton and Debbie Ryan

In Carlos Saura's 2009 film Io, Don Giovanni about the life of Mozart's librettist Da Ponte, the hero becomes a projection of the librettist's desire. In Claus Guth's 2008 succès de scandale in Salzburg, the mortally wounded heroin user – Giovanni – is imagined as the creation of the desires of all three women (Zerlina, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira) he usually spends the opera mistreating. Women want him, men want to be like him. In Guth's treatment, the usually pious Donna Anna kills herself because she can't have him. No matter that he killed her dad. [Read entire article HERE]

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Hot New Promo Pictures of Duncan Rock as Don Giovanni

Duncan Rock: A Don Giovanni that makes the Catalogue aria believable

We recently posted about barihunk Duncan Rock being cast in "Don Giovanni: The Opera" at Heaven in London, England.

The opera opens on April 15 and has created a lot of buzz, which you can read about in our previous post. Part of the chatter was that Google Ads had declined the company's advertising because it was too provocative. The production has created lively debates about whether performances like this are good for opera, or not. The opera is not for "purists," but for those who want a fun, frolicking, sexy night of entertainment with the music of Mozart, then you may want to jump online and get tickets.

Behind the scenes rehearsal shot

When we saw the promotional photos for the performance with Duncan Rock, we had to share them with readers. In this production, there is some role switching and the Don pursues men as well as women. One thing is certain, after seeing these pictures, Leporello's "Catalogue Aria" where he sings of his master's conquests will suddenly become quite believable.

Here's the original text in English translation. We suspect that there will some adjustments.

My dear lady, this is a list
Of the beauties my master has loved,
A list which I have compiled.
Observe, read along with me.

In Italy, six hundred and forty;
In Germany, two hundred and thirty-one;
A hundred in France; in Turkey, ninety-one;
But in Spain already one thousand and three.

Among these are peasant girls,
Maidservants, city girls,
Countesses, baronesses,
Marchionesses, princesses,
Women of every rank,
Every shape, every age.

With blondes it is his habit
To praise their kindness;
In brunettes, their faithfulness;
In the white-haired, their sweetness.

In winter he likes fat ones.
In summer he likes thin ones.
He calls the tall ones majestic.
The little ones are always charming.

He seduces the old ones
For the pleasure of adding to the list.
His greatest favourite
Is the young beginner.

It doesn't matter if she's rich,
Ugly or beautiful;
If she wears a skirt,
You know what he does.

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A "Don Giovanni" So Sexy It Was Banned By Google Ads

Duncan Rock (L & R) and Opera Poster Banned by Google Ads

If you think opera hasn't caught up with movies, films and the theater in terms of raw sex appeal, then you haven't heard about "Don Giovanni: The Opera." The production, which will open at London's famous nightclub Heaven on April 15 is a modern retelling of Mozart's classic tale of sexual pursuit set in the heyday of the Eighties club scene and inspired by New York's legendary Studio 54.  "Don Giovanni" is still a lecherous playboy and licentious nightclub owner, who pursues men as well as women.  In this production the sopranos become tenors and baritones become mezzos (except for the Don).

  

This production was originally seen on the Main Stage at Trafalgar Square for London Pride in 2009 and was huge success. After the run at Heaven, the opera will be shown at the 2012 World Pride celebration. 

Barihunk Duncan Rock (photo by Daniel Swerdlow)

The production is already causing waves in London three months before their opening. First, Google Ads rejected the producers ad [see top photo], because it was deemed too racy. Then they snagged one of the hottest young talents in England (in terms of looks AND voice), the sexy strawberry blonde Duncan Rock. Tickets will be available at Ticketmaster. 

Duncan Rock sings Billy’s aria from Britten, Billy Budd:

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