Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Lyric Opera has assembled a first-rate cast for this revival, starting with baritone Lucas Meachem, who is completely convincing as Giovanni both vocally and dramatically. (Davide Luciano takes over the part in December.)"
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Lyric's outstanding creative team made Mozart's masterpiece shine and thrill with every little element and detail. Impressive musical artistry is demonstrated by acclaimed American conductor James Gaffigan, who is hailed for the natural ease of his conducting and the compelling insight of his musicianship."
Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended
"...Whatever may be said of Falls' take on the main man, the director's theatrical concept of the opera and its characters altogether is compelling, sharply drawn and empathic. Just as conductor James Gaffigan fashions an appealingly integrated and stylish musical whole, Falls likewise constructs a dramatically credible unity. Both objectives are well served by an engaged and vocally capable cast. This "Don Giovanni" is very good theater."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...For this revival of Don Giovanni, Lyric has assembled an outstanding cast that is even better than the previous one in 2014. Yet, while the production and story remain the same, the times have not, rendering this opera a difficult one to stomach. In this sense, any future productions would need to be handled differently, if at all. There definitely are many questionable operas in the standard repertoire; some marred by racism, others by Orientalism and misogyny. Don Giovanni is undoubtedly one of them. Is it time to scrap these and update the operatic canon..?"
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Falls might have done things differently if he was starting from scratch, but the production’s ambiguities, difficulties, and imperfections remain rich territory for each audience member’s own interpretation."
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...Set designer Walt Spangler has an imagination ideally scaled to operatic extravagance. And while the grand architecture and spectacular gardens he has conjured for this production feel more Italian than Spanish, the beauty and invention of everything he has put on stage, from a banquet table to a cathedral interior is magic. So are Ana Kuzmanic’s character-defining costumes and Duane Schuler’s lighting, including a surprise final effect (no doubt devised along with Falls), that suggests an all-powerful divine intervention has occurred in the name of justice."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Don Giovanni is no Don Juan. Far from some charming rogue, we meet him in the opening attempting to rape a woman and killing her father when he attempts to intervene. And this, believe it or not, is a comedy. Punctuating the dark moments are scenes of Giovanni’s butler, Leporello listing his employer’s conquests or getting roped into a case of mistaken identity. It’s a tonal shift that can seem strange to modern eyes. The Lyric’s production doesn’t attempt to paper over that contrast, and in the hands of a talented cast, the show remains beautiful and compelling."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...The production soars on the vocal and acting brilliance of Amanda Majeski (Donna Elvira), Rachel Willis-Sorensen (Donna Anna), and Ying Fang (Zerlina). I especially liked Majeski, who is able to convince the viewer that her Elvira can both love and hate Giovanni. It’s a complex role, Elvira’s strength of character at war with her passion for the despicable Giovanni. Willis-Sorensen’s Anna must operate in a narrower emotional range, her character consumed with grief for the loss of her murdered father and obsessive hatred for his killer. But her soaring fulsome voice was a show-stopper."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...Goodman’s treasured director Robert Falls directs the Lyric Opera’s new production of Don Giovanni, the tale of that lustful, destructive Spanish sexual predator, Don Juan. Falls has wisely exercised restraint in this production, letting the sumptuous music of Mozart prevail. The musical high points will be familiar to anyone who has seen the movie or listened to the soundtrack Amadeus."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...The cast, from top to bottom, was remarkable and memorable. The vocalists are world-class. And given the bold characterizations and wrenching emotions of this piece, the acting was a match for the singing. From the ominous opening phrase of the overture, the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by James Gaffigan, did well by the master Mozart."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...If it is true that the healing from PTSD takes forever and then longer, the ghosts of generations upon generations of women who could not defeat their inhuman circumstances should never allow us to rest in our collective lifetimes. Bring your newest understanding to the theater and measure it against this tale told by a Spanish monk in the 1600s. Let’s not give up the music. Let’s revel in Mozart’s genius while seeing Don Giovanni for who he truly is, so we can more readily recognize him at the lunch counter or on the train platform."
