Bangladesh, Oct. 16 -- The Metropolitan Opera has revived Ivo van Hoves austere 2023 production of Mozarts Don Giovanni. Van Hoves unforgiving approach strips away the baroque ornamentation typically associated with this opera; and opts instead for a set that is bleak, monochromatic, and architecturally brutalist. Indeed, the influence of brutalist architecture is unmistakable in the stern concrete monoliths, the impersonal edifices, shaping not just the visual identity but the psychological core of the production. The architecture itself becomes a metaphor for isolation, alienation, and powerlessness.

From the very opening of Mozarts overture, Yannick Nézet-Séguins sense of tempo, dynamics, and orchestral coloration sets a ton...