Stellar Cast Set For Don Giovanni

OSWEGO – For the first time in its 41 year history, Oswego Opera Theater will present Mozart’s famed and beloved opera, “Don Giovanni” on Saturday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 17 at 2 p.m.

Although often linked with the composer’s other two famous comic operas, “Cosi fan tutte” and “The Marriage of Figaro,” which this company performed in 2011 and 2016, respectively, the librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, called it a “dramma giocoso” (jocular drama).

This means it is one in which character types from serious 18th century operas appeared alongside the standard characters of comic opera.

And that is very true of this plot that brilliantly combines comedy and tragedy, sung by characters who show Mozart’s uncanny ability to make the audience identify with them as real people and to characterize each individual singer with a musical style that reflects his or her identity and social class, all set to beautiful music.

Heading the cast as Don Giovanni (a nobleman who is a notorious ladies’ man and misogynist) is baritone Eric McKeever, whose “voice of darkness and clarity” has been acclaimed in opera companies throughout the United States.

His servant Leporello, who follows the antics of his master with appropriate and often amusing arias, is played by Benjamin Spierman, baritone from NYC who also serves as stage director and is a favorite with Oswego audiences.

Donna Anna, Don Giovanni’s first possible conquest in the opera, is sung by Julia Ebner, soprano, who has earned an impressive reputation with appearances in Syracuse Opera and numerous other American opera companies.

Her fiancee, Ottavio, is sung by tenor Marcus Jefferson, a graduate student at the Manhattan School of Music, who has performed in many operas and concerts.

Donna Elvira, another of Don Giovanni’s conquests, but one who genuinely cares for him, is portrayed by soprano Amanda Joseph.

A graduate of SUNY Oswego and SUNY Potsdam, she has performed in several regional operas and serves as cantor at St. Jerome’s parish in East Rochester.

The third female involved in Don Giovanni’s escapades, is Zerlina, a peasant whom he tried to seduce during her wedding celebration with Masetto. Angela Russell, a SUNY Oswego graduate who sings in operas and directs musicals, has the role of Zerlina, and Alan Martin (baritone), a SUNY Oswego faculty member and experienced opera singer, is Masetto.

The Commendatore, father of Donna Anna, who arrives to protect his daughter from the masked Don Giovanni’s advances and is killed in a duel with him in the first act, appears later in the opera as a statue (the stone guest) who invites Don Giovanni to a fateful dinner.

This role is played by Eric D. Johnson (bass), an internationally known vocalist on the faculty at Syracuse University.

The production is directed by Juan Francisco LaManna, artistic director of Oswego Opera Theater and director of orchestras at SUNY Oswego, and will be performed in English.

Oswego Opera Theater was recipient of a CNY Arts Decentralization Grant in April 2019 and a Richard S. Shineman Foundation Capacity Building Grant in August 2019.

Tickets are available at the Tyler Hall box office by calling 315-312-2141 or online at tickets.oswego.edu. Admission is $35 for adults, $25 for senior citizens, and $10 for students

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