Unseduced: Don Giovanni opens the Budapest Festival Orchestra season

Andrè Schuen (Don Giovanni) and Luca Pisaroni (Leporello)

Don Giovanni

Krisztián Cser (Commendatore) and Andrè Schuen (Don Giovanni)

By Orsolya Gyárfás, 10 September 2025

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“sizzling chemistry and a symbiotic sleaziness”

Reviewed at Müpa: Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest on 9 September 2025

Mozart, Don Giovanni

Dance ensemble of Ádám Fischer's Opera Company

Iván Fischer, Conductor, Director

Andrea Tocchio, Set Designer, Lighting Designer

Anna Biagiotti, Costume Designer

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Andrè Schuen, Don Giovanni

Luca Pisaroni, Leporello

Maria Bengtsson, Donna Anna

Miah Persson, Donna Elvira

Giulia Semenzato, Zerlina

Bernard Richter, Don Ottavio

Krisztián Cser, The Commendatore

Daniel Noyola, Masetto

Students of the University of Theatre and Film Arts

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Frank Kuznik, 23rd April

A vintage opera at the National Theatre offers charming adventures for children and musical sophistication for adults.

*****

Women take over: Future Dance Festival at New York's 92nd Street Y

Carla Escoda, 17th April

Two evenings of live dance and a full program of dance films from young choreographers yielded much to admire and be amused by at the Future Dance Festival 2026.

****1

Regents Opera’s Salome lands a knockout punch at York Hall

Mark Pullinger, 10th April

Mark Ravenhill directs a brutal, bloody Salome at the spiritual home of British boxing, York Hall.

****1

Ensemble Masques opens “Cembalomania” at the Elbphilharmonie

Mengguang Huang, 12th December

Ensemble Masques brings French Baroque to life at the Elbphilharmonie, with Olivier Fortin’s radiant harpsichord, spirited strings and vivid interplay revealing the expressive richness of Couperin, Rameau, Forqueray and Corrette.

****1

La bohème as escapist epic at LA Opera

Néstor Castiglione, 22nd November

Puccini's tale of bohemian love lives on at the Dorothy Chandler as LA Opera launches its 2025-26 season.

****1

John Neumeier’s Liliom: A Prague triumph

Graham Watts, 23rd October

Czech National Ballet scores a hit in John Neumeier’s masterpiece Liliom, with back to back performances and multiple casts.

*****

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Orsolya Gyárfás

A university student in Budapest, currently pursuing a degree in Aesthetics, Orsolya is an opera fan, particularly interested in the works of Mozart and Wagner.