Don Giovanni Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Ninth Met Opera Production

Summary: Don Giovanni was Franco Zeffirelli’s ninth Met Opera production, debuting in the 1989-1990 season as his only Mozart opera at the opera house.

Franco Zeffirelli directed and designed the sets for the 1989-1990 Met Opera season's new staging of Wolfgang Mozart’s Don Giovanni: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli, via Facebook March 22, 2019

Don Giovanni was Franco Zeffirelli’s ninth Met Opera production, which debuted in the 1989-1990 season as the only Mozart opera staged by the Italian designer and director at the Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera debuted Franco Zeffirelli’s Don Giovanni on Thursday, March 22, 1990, in the opera house’s 388th performance of the comic, melodramatic and supernatural opera about a serial seducer’s fateful forays by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). The new production received nine performances in the 1989-1990 Met Opera season.

Franco Zeffirelli (Feb. 12, 1923-June 15, 2019) directed and designed the sets for the only Mozart opera that he staged at the Metropolitan Opera. His production team comprised Italian costume designer Anna Anni, American theatrical lighting designer Gil Wechsler (born Feb. 5, 1942) and Canadian choreographer and Metropolitan Opera Ballet director Norbert Vesak (Oct. 22, 1936-Oct. 2, 1990).

James Levine (born June 23, 1943) conducted all nine performances of Zeffirelli’s Don Giovanni during the production’s debut season. The Metropolitan Opera’s second music director had conducted all eight performances of Zeffirelli’s seventh Met Opera production, Turandot by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924), during the new staging’s debut season, 1986-1987. He conducted opening night and 16 of 20 performances in the 1981-1982 debut season of Zeffirelli’s fourth Met Opera production, Puccini’s La Bohème.

Two basses sang the title role in the production’s debut season. American operatic bass Samuel Ramey (born March 28, 1942) sang in the debut season’s premiere and the next four performances. Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto (born May 16, 1949) assumed the title role for the season’s last four performances.

Two basses shared the role of the Commendatore, whose murder brings about Don Giovanni’s downfall. German operatic bass Kurt Moll (April 11, 1938-March 5, 2017) sang on opening night and the next five performances. Finnish operatic bass Matti Salminen (born July 7, 1945) appeared in the role for the last three performances.

Two sopranos shared the role the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna. American lirico-spinto soprano Carol Vaness (born July 27, 1952) sang on opening night, the next six performances and closing night. American operatic soprano Marilyn Mims (born Sept. 8, 1954) sang Donna Anna in the debut season’s penultimate performance.

Two sopranos share the role of Donna Elvira, one of the seducer’s seduces. Finnish operatic soprano Karita Mattila (born Sept. 5, 1960) made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the role on opening night and sang in the next four performances. American soprano Ashley Putnam (born Aug. 10, 1952) sang Donna Elvira in the debut season’s last four performances.

The Metropolitan Opera staged seven revivals of Zeffirelli’s Don Giovanni in the 13 seasons since the production’s 1989-1990 season debut. The production skipped six seasons in the interim.

The Metropolitan Opera immediately followed the production’s debut season with two successive revivals, in seasons 1990-1991 and 1991-1992. No revivals were offered in the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 seasons.

The third and fourth revivals were staged successively in seasons 1994-1995 and 1995-1996. No revival was offered in the 1996-1997 season.

The fifth revival took place in the 1997-1998 season. No revivals were offered in the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 seasons.

The production’s sixth revival occurred in the 2000-2001 season. No revival was offered in the 2001-2002 season.

The seventh and last revival was staged in the 2002-2003 season. The final performance of Zeffirelli’s production of Don Giovanni took place Feb. 15, 2003, during the seventh revival.

The final performance numbered as the production’s 88th performance and as the opera house’s 475th performance of Don Giovanni. From debut to final performance, Zeffirelli’s Don Giovanni remained in Met Opera’s regularly performed repertory for 12 years 10 and three-fourths months.

The Metropolitan Opera immediately replaced Zeffirelli’s Don Giovanni with a new production in the next season, 2003-2004. Marthe Keller (born Jan. 28, 1945) debuted her new staging March 1, 2004, with 15 performances. The Swiss actress and opera director’s production experienced three revivals (2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2008-2009) over the next five seasons. The last performance, April 24, 2009, in the third revival numbered as the production’s 39th.

Three seasons passed before the opera house debuted a new production in the 2011-2012 season. British theatre director and producer Michael Grandage (born May 2, 1962) debuted his staging of Don Giovanni on Oct. 13, 2011. The opera received 17 performances.

The first revival of Grandage’s Don Giovanni took place in the following season, 2012-2013. The second through fourth revivals have claimed alternating seasons, with staging in seasons 2014-2015, 2016-2017 and 2018-2019. Thus far, over five seasons of play, Grandage’s Don Giovanni claims 62 performances.

The takeaways for Franco Zeffirelli’s Don Giovanni as his ninth Met Opera production are that the opera about an outwitted seducer is the only Mozart opera in Zeffirelli’s Metropolitan Opera portfolio and that the Italian designer and director’s production experienced seven revivals, obtained 88 performances and remained in Met Opera’s active repertory for 12 years 10-plus months.

Franco Zeffirelli designed the sets for his new Met Opera production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which debuted in the 1989-1990 season: Ensemble OrQuesta @EnsemblOrQuesta, via Twitter May 22, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Franco Zeffirelli directed and designed the sets for the 1989-1990 Met Opera season's new staging of Wolfgang Mozart’s Don Giovanni: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli, via Facebook March 22, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/a.521465231522293/835144606821019/

Franco Zeffirelli designed the sets for his new Met Opera production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which debuted in the 1989-1990 season: Ensemble OrQuesta @EnsemblOrQuesta, via Twitter May 22, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/EnsemblOrQuesta/status/866605878346215424

For further information:

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“Debut: Ferruccio Furlanetto.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 260620 Don Carlo {117) Metropolitan Opera House: 02/26/1980.
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“Debut: Karita Mattila.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 299770 New Production Don Giovanni {388) Metropolitan Opera House: 03/22/1990.
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“Debut: Marilyn Mims.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 291160 Die Fledermaus {142) Metropolitan Opera House: 01/13/1988.
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“Debuts: Ewa Podles, Carol Vaness.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 275450 Rinaldo {7} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/14/1984.
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“Debuts: Kurt Moll, Richard Kness, Kenneth Anderson.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: Tannhäuser {403} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/18/1978.
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“Debuts: Luigi Alva, Leonard Bernstein, Franco Zeffirelli.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 197440 New Production Falstaff {67} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/6/1964.
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“Debuts: Samuel Ramey, Mario Bernardi, Frank Corsaro, Mark Negin, Eugene Collins.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 275180 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Rinaldo {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/19/1984.
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“Debuts: Sandro Sequi, Anna Anni, Marcel Escoffier.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 228510 New Production La Fille du Régiment {42} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/17/1972.
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Ensemble OrQuesta ‏@EnsemblOrQuesta 22 May 2017 More Starting Don Giovanni rehearsals this week! So, to get you inspired -- Zeffirelli's sketches for Don G. at Metropolitan Opera House, 1990 . . .” Twitter. May 22, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/EnsemblOrQuesta/status/866605878346215424

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli. “Il 22 marzo 1990 va in scena al The Metropolitan Opera di New York il Don Giovanni di Mozart con la direzione di James Levine, i costumi di Anna Anni, la regia e le scene di Franco Zeffirelli. È un successo di pubblico e critica: “Don Giovanni è davvero un’opera impossibile da decifrare: come un enigma o un rompicapo. Anche dopo averla messa in scena tante volte, per me continua a rimanere un mistero; proprio quando credi di averla in pugno, ti scivola via dalle mani” FZ Alla scoperta delle produzioni di Zeffirelli, sabato 30 marzo ➡https://bit.ly/2Rjeqif.” Facebook. March 22, 2019.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/a.521465231522293/835144606821019/

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