Green and a stellar Mozart cast triumph over deadly visuals in Met’s “Don Giovanni”
The Metropolitan Opera’s revival of Don Giovanni opened Wednesday night with two big questions: how would Ryan Speedo Green do as the title character? And would Ivo Von Hove’s 2023 production seem as bad the second time around?
The answer to both was similar: Green exceeded all expectations, and the production is even worse than remembered.
Green was at the center of what might be the finest possible cast of contemporary Mozart singers. Paired with the bass-baritone was Adam Plachetka as the Don’s doppelgänger Leporello; sopranos Federica Lombardi, Janai Brugger, and Hera Hyesang Park sang Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, and Zerlina; and tenor Ben Bliss sang Don Ottavio. In this opera, every role is essential, and basses Adam Palka (in his debut), and William Guanbo So were terrific as the Commendatore and Masetto. Met music director Yannick Nézet- Séguin conducts the first series of performances.
That Green makes an exceptional Don is really no surprise. He has a rich, articulate, fluid voice that is always full of characterization. Even in small roles, Green can be counted on to make every moment natural and dramatically complex, with clear ideas about what he’s singing. And there are few opera roles that demand so much of those qualities.
Don Giovanni is a villain, a rapist and murderer—even a gleeful one— as well as a psychopath and libertine with no impulse control. He’s proud of everything he does which makes him also, strangely, a trickster, which is the sense of his dual nature expressed through Leporello. Green was charismatic in voice and movement, a grin on his face and a gleam in his eye, crooning one moment, mocking his adversaries and Leporello the next. His “Là ci darem la mano” was graceful and soulful, believably seductive. The “Champagne” aria was agile, strong, edged with threat.
He and bass-baritone Plachetka were fabulous together, with almost sparking chemistry. There was added amusement to how the two could pass as each other in the Act II subterfuge, but they came off as brothers from another mother, the same person extending themself into two complementary ways of expression. The trio scene with Donna Elvira was musically and dramatically excellent, the two men truly singing as one.
Plachetka sang the “Catalogue” aria with masterful pace, clear and a slower pace (while the tempo was still a good allegro). This gave him space for little personal gestures of the kind that define a character. Leporello is always reacting to the Don, and Plachetka established a clear center while following his master’s mercurial lead.
The sopranos delivered one jewel-like line after another, and were ideally cast. Lombardi had similar bearing as when she sang Countess Almaviva last season, with a wounded reticence from being attacked by the Don and the fortitude to maintain a regal presence. Her voice had a mix of youthful color and weight of maturity and experience, and her “Or sai chi l’onore” was lovely and had the force of pride.
The relationship between her and Bliss, as Ottavio, was palpable, beyond the dated clichés of the 18ᵗʰ century that force them into a contextually odd chastity. As he grows older and his voice darkens, Bliss’s Mozart singing grows more graceful; and the shape of “Dalla sua pace” in Act I and “Il mio tesoro” in Act II were marvelous. With a balance of presence between the two, Lombardi’s “No mi dir” in Act II was touching.
An equally fine singer, Brugger had a great dignity to her characterization, pulling off the difficult task as a woman devoted to the Don who somehow hides from his true nature, and then accepts it, without ever seeming exploited. Her key aria, “Mi tradi,” had an elegance and simplicity that felt dramatically right. Presenting Elvira plain and clear gave the character strength
Park’s silvery, youthful voice is perfect for Zerlina. She’s an ingenue without being wan, with a remarkable vocal quality of purity, presence, and weightlessness. She was sweet but not cloying or exaggerated, scared one moment, confident the next. She and So were a fine pair, and she was the glue and bridge in the important passing moments with Green, which were some of the most vivid and real of the performance.
Nézet-Séguin, fresh off the season-opening The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, took a while to get his footing. The fast section of the Overture had uncertain rhythms and some smeared, uneven phrasing. The music making for most of Act I felt a little undercooked, missing that Mozartian spring and nerve.
Act II was crisp and strong in all the right ways, but Van Hove’s production has a disruptive, at times enervating effect on the performance. His staging actively works against the drama by channeling all the action into a confined space dominated by boring gray facades, like a prison cell. The result diminishes excitement and makes it difficult for intense moments to build. The climactic fall of the Don is both overwrought and amateurishly staged.
Superficially, this is a kind of man/woman/monoliths Randian scenario, playing out in monotonous gray. It’s not that the idea is obscure, it’s that it’s so obvious it doesn’t even exist. As the scenery shifts, there are intriguing glimpses of De Chirico geometry, and how fascinating a Don Giovanni that might be if the Met would replace this atrocious staging.
Don Giovanni runs through November 22. From November 6, the cast is Kyle Ketelsen, Tommaso Barea, Guanqun Yu, Anita Hartig, Paul Appleby, and Andrea Carroll, with Daniele Rustioni conducting. metopera.org
Posted Sep 25, 2025 at 12:57 pm by Lil S.
Did we hear a different Ryan Speedo Green last night? He was audibly struggling all throughout the show, musically, melodically, and dramatically. Maybe the least attractive Don G I’ve heard there since an aged Thomas Hampson.
It’s not a great sign for his many upcoming Met assignments.
Posted Sep 26, 2025 at 2:59 pm by Marc Roth
I agree with George Grella that the singing was superb but disagree with the production being a drawback. It was fascinating to see the walls slowly close in on the Don.
I found Green’s interpretation not only beautifully sung but felt the sexual attraction that made his seductions believable. I especially loved Brugger as Elvira and Bliss as Ottavio but the entire cast was about as good as it gets.
Posted Sep 28, 2025 at 11:29 am by Abby
I feel like I saw a completely different production than Grelia. I’m a classical musician, and I’ve seen “Don Giovanni” about 20 times now — it is far and away my favorite opera, and it never ceases to pull me in. Until last night. Granted, I had the great pleasure of seeing the perfect performance two years ago (Ivo von Hove’s production — which I find rather brilliant) with Peter Mattei as the lead at the helm of a remarkable cast.
Last night’s performance was dreadful. I’ve never left a production of this great opera early, but I had to leave after the first act, lest it ruin my memories of the beautiful productions I’ve experienced. There was no electricity or energy or synergy in the cast or the orchestra, the acting was embarrassingly bad, Ryan Speedo Green was musically off multiple times — he could not keep in time with the orchestra, and it showed.
Park sang so quietly at times (for extended periods), one couldn’t even determine if she was actually singing. While I love expressive singing, one should project enough to be heard. Lombardi’s voice was exquisite, though the acting was weak. Plachetka was the only redeeming part of this production, but that was not enough to keep me there.
Green was a great disappointment, but the lack of electricity, energy and synergy was the greatest disappointment. This was not up to the Met’s standards.
Posted Sep 28, 2025 at 1:58 pm by Peg Ryan
I think Ryan Speedo Green is one of the most talented, gifted and humble opera singers of this century. I have seen him a number of times and he never disappoints. So looking forward to seeing him again.
It is a sad commentary on the Met Opera, other opera companies and America that it has taken well over 100 years for an African-American to sing the lead in Don Giovanni. I thought we were better than that.
May Ryan Speedo Green continue to blaze trails and sing beautifully for many years. Bravo!!!!