Connecticut Lyric Opera to Stage Mozart's Don Giovanni in Collaboration with Connecticut Virtuosi Orchestra

Lusty Misadventures of Don Juan to be Presented in New Britain, Hartford, New London, and Middletown

Mozart's Don Giovanni, considered to be one of the greatest operatic works in the classical repertoire, will receive a gripping production by Connecticut Lyric Opera (CLO) in partnership with the Connecticut Virtuosi Orchestra. Under the music direction of Maestro Adrian Sylveen and the stage direction of Giorgio Lalov, this lusty Don Juan story will tour the state with performances at three locations in central and southeast Connecticut. Don Giovanni will be a professional production featuring singers who have been seen at The Met, European opera houses, and beyond. The performance schedule is as follows:

Friday, May 5, 7:30 PM

Trinity-On-Main, New Britain (Tickets >>>)

Sunday, May 7, 7:30 PM

Belding Theater, Bushnell, Hartford (Tickets >>>)

Friday, May 12 7:30 PM

Garde Arts Center, New London (Tickets >>>)

Sunday, June 4 4:00 PM

Santo Fragilio Performing Arts Center (Tickets >>>)

Tickets for all performances can be purchased by visiting CTLyricOpera.org or TheVirtuosi.org,

as well as the various venue websites.

Connecticut Lyric Opera and Connecticut Virtuosi present Mozart’s epic opera of seduction and savagery! Don Giovanni is a charming libertine with a scandalous reputation to match. His already-lengthy list of conquests is getting longer, until he tries to force himself on an unsuspecting Donna Anna. Will the legendary Don Juan repent or will he blaze a path to his own destruction in a single day? Don Giovanni features Mozart’s stunning lyricism, genius recitative, and unforgettable arias, all accompanied by the most opera-seasoned orchestra of the state, the accomplished Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. In addition to artists who have performed at The Met and other major opera centers, the audience will be introduced to exciting discoveries from the Virtuosi's Greve Opera Academy program in Italy.

The cast features Robert Garner as Don Giovanni, Nathan Resika as Leporello, Errin Duane Brooks as Don Ottavio, Jurate Svedaite as Donna Anna, Rebecca Almeida as Donna Elvira, Steven Fredericks as Commendatore, Jeremy Griffin as Masetto, and Stephanie Foster as Zerlina. The production will be under the music direction of Maestro Adrian Sylveen, stage direction by Giorgio Lalov of Teatro Lirico d'Europa, and Dara Blackstone acts as chorus master.

The opera will be performed in Italian with English supertitles. Don Giovanni is sponsored by American Savings Foundation, the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development Office of the Arts, CT Humanities, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Tomz Corporation, Community Foundation of New Britain, Polish American Foundation of Connecticut, Farmington Bank Community Foundation, Trinity-on-Main, Carpineto Grandi Vini de Toscano, New Britain Herald, Bodenwein & Loomis Palmer Funds - Bank of America, Hoffman Fund, Moore Foundation, Parker Fund, and Sloper Fund.

About Robert Garner (Don Giovanni)

Baritone Robert Garner received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Alabama. He was a New York City district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Friedrich Schorr Memorial Prize for Vocal Performance, and the Giulio Gari Foundation Vocal Competition. Career highlights include: Marcello (La Boheme) and Ford (Falstaff) for Mississippi Opera; Valentin (Faust) and Germont (La Traviata) for Opera Colorado; Papageno (The Magic Flute) for Fargo-Moorhead Opera; Falke (Die Fledermaus) for Dayton Opera; Ping (Turandot) with Anchorage Opera; Mercutio (Romeo et Juliette) for Opera Carolina and Connecticut Opera. Other roles include: Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, Silvio (Pagliacci), Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos).

Concert highlights include: Carmina Burana for Carolina Ballet, and the Faure Requiem for his Carnegie Hall debut, Honneger’s La Danse des Morts, and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Metamorphoses Orchestra and the Hudson Valley Singers under the baton of Eugene Sirotkin. Current and upcoming engagements: summer opera concerts with Queens Symphony and the role of Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro for his debut at Geneva Light Opera.

About Connecticut Lyric Opera

Connecticut Lyric Opera (CLO) is the state’s leading opera company - performing to thousands across Connecticut in Hartford, Middletown, New Britain, and New London. CLO has earned the reputation as an innovative company that is renowned for its world-class singers, phenomenal concert-quality orchestra, and programming choices that go beyond the well-loved standards of the repertoire to include lesser-performed yet equally compelling works.

Last year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded CLO with a $50,000 grant as part of its Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act allocation. CLO is one of nine arts organizations in Connecticut, and one of only 27 opera companies nationwide, to receive this grant. 

Together with its musical partner, the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, CLO created the Greve Opera Academy and Music Festival in Italy (2015) and the Summer Opera Institute in Farmington. Singers from CLO's celebrated Young Artist Program have gone on to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, the Salzburg Festival and other major companies. More information at ctlyricopera.org.