What you need to know
A new production of Don Giovanni, staged by the Royal Opera House director Kasper Holten, has opened at Covent Garden to positive reviews. Mozart's 1787 opera with a libretto in Italian is based on the legends of the fictional seducer Don Juan.
Mozart blends comedy and melodrama in this tale of Don Giovanni's odyssey of sexual conquests across Europe accompanied by his patient servant Leporello. But when the libertine commits murder, he triggers a supernatural revenge. Runs until 12 February.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What the critics like
In Holten's "meticulously" directed Don Giovanni the staging is exceptionally thoughtful, the pace is sure, and the "characterisations and relationships are sharply but subtly drawn", says Rupert Christiansen in the Daily Telegraph. Es Devlin's handsome set and some captivating singing make for an invigorating evening.
Holten's direction is "assured", says Michael Hall in The Independent. There's an atmosphere of French farce to the dizzying to-and-fro of gorgeously-costumed figures passing through virtual-reality doors, but the drama gains steadily in force thanks to the beauty of the singing and the ingenious set.
Holten's new staging of one of the trickiest of all repertory pieces is "a genuine success", says George Hall on The Stage. Visually this is a fascinating evening with a set conjuring an infinity of Escher-like spaces and while not always readily explicable it is invariably resonant and thought-provoking.
What they don't like
Veterans of Don Giovanni should find this production penetrating, though "first-time goers may be as lost in the maze as half the cast are", says Neil Fisher in The Times. This production is so loaded with ideas and imagery that it feels like three shows in one, but like an encounter with the Don it's very hard to forget.
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly TuttleFeature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitionsFeature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
Friendship: 'bromance' comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim RobinsonThe Week Recommends 'Lampooning and embracing' middle-aged male loneliness, this film is 'enjoyable and funny'
-
The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptationThe Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
-
Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
-
The Marriage of Figaro: 'lively' revival of Mozart's comedy 'zings along'The Week Recommends David McVicar's 'ever-fresh' production is back at the Royal Opera House
-
Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
-
Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff GoldblumThe Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'
-
Blink Twice review: a 'stylish and savage' black comedy thrillerThe Week Recommends Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie stun in this film on the hedonistic rich directed by Zoë Kravitz
-
Shifters review: 'beautiful' new romantic comedy offers 'bittersweet tenderness'The Week Recommends The 'inventive, emotionally astute writing' leaves audiences gripped throughout
