Don Giovanni at Joan Sutherland Theatre

He’s mad. He’s bad. He’s dangerous. But damn him to hell, his serenades are divine.

It’s the last day of Don Giovanni’s life, but he doesn’t know that.

For opera’s own Casanova, it’s just another day of pleasure seeking. Seducing a bride on her wedding day. Breaking into a woman’s bedroom in the dead of night. Killing her furious father.

Even before the curtain rises, Mozart reveals Don Giovanni’s fate. An earthshattering chord from the orchestra signals the gates of hell clanging open. The scoundrel’s debauched days are at an end.

When he hears a voice from beyond the grave, warning of impending punishment, Don Giovanni has no fear. Half-mocking, half-earnest, he invites the statue of the man he’s just killed to dinner.

Sir David McVicar’s production reveals the darkness in opera’s most compelling anti-hero. His Don Giovanni is a psychological thriller on a grand scale.

Monumental sets place the story in a gothic underworld inspired by the catacombs of Vienna. Monochromatic period costumes feature stunning embroidery. Can the characters keep their morals as tightly buttoned?