In Conversation

Directors

Director, Don Giovanni

Why does Don Giovanni still matter in 2026?

As offenders like Jeffrey Epstein, with his wealthy and powerful clientele, lead the headlines in 2026, it proves that there has never been a time when Il dissoluto punito, ossia Il Don Giovanni has not mattered. This is an opera by Mozart and Da Ponte about the punishment of the degenerate Don. He is presented as some kind of knockabout playboy is when it has mattered least. The abuse of power and class, misogyny, revenge… Sadly, these are not things which are becoming any less relevant as time goes on.

What is at the heart of your interpretation of this production?

At the heart of my production is the growth of female solidarity, including their male allies, as it becomes clear that justice is coming for Don Giovanni. The three women — Donna Elvira, Donna Anna and Zerlina — with their wonderful music and insightful characterisation are reminiscent of the heroines in an Almodóvar film: women in crisis who develop deep friendships. They are women driven by passion, desire and intense emotions, representing unlikely sisterhoods rather than being pitted against one another vying for the affections of this man.

What should audiences expect from this staging?

Expect the unexpected! Leaning into a period look, we will subvert tradition by breaking down the fourth wall and use the Athenaeum Theatre beyond its stage. The set is designed to echo the theatre, blurring the lines between the performance space and the auditorium. There will be a self-aware theatrical exuberance which is where much of the ‘giocoso’ in this ‘dramma giocoso’ lies. Achieving the balance Mozart and Da Ponte set — moving between the story’s gravity and its downright playful, silly sections — will be a fascinating challenge. Our audiences should be moved and on the edge of their seats!

What makes this cast special?

Melbourne Opera has a long tradition of developing local singers. I am absolutely thrilled to have Christopher Tonkin briefly return from Germany, where he is currently singing with the Landestheater Coburg, to sing Don Giovanni. He sang his first Don Giovanni with Melbourne Opera in 2006. Lee Abrahmsen, singing Donna Anna, is another local singer who has developed into one of the country’s leading sopranos; most of her role experience was gained working with Melbourne Opera. Henry Choo is an incredibly experienced Don Ottavio and I am thrilled to have him as part of this Melbourne ensemble cast. As the director of the Richard Divall Program, I am so thrilled to be working with Henry Shaw (Leporello), Eleanor Greenwood (Donna Elvira), Rebecca Rashleigh (Zerlina) and Stephen March (Masetto), all of whom are past members of the Richard Divall Program.

What do you want audiences to leave the theatre thinking about?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. But seriously, about how this is an opera about women — not a man.

If you had to describe this production in one sentence, what would you say?

Alive!

March 2026

Singers

Lee Abrahmsen, Don Giovanni

What makes Donna Anna one of opera’s most complex women?

Donna Anna is often misunderstood — sometimes seen as distant or unfeeling, particularly in her relationship with Don Ottavio. But she’s one of opera’s most layered women: a young noblewoman whose future has been predetermined, suddenly forced to navigate trauma, guilt, and a fierce drive for justice. Her strength lies in how she holds all of that together while trying to honour duty, family, and her newly unsettled sense of identity. Her life is changed forever.

What surprised you most when preparing this role?

I was genuinely surprised by the sheer scale of this role. Vocally, it’s a major undertaking — not because of flashy top notes, but because of the relentless writing. Donna Anna leads every ensemble high above the stave, has two contrasting and notoriously difficult arias, and sings one of Mozart’s longest and most emotionally charged recitatives. Add the psychological weight she carries, and it becomes a role of remarkable stamina, nuance, and depth.

Is Donna Anna driven more by grief, justice, or something else?

Donna Anna is driven by grief and a fierce sense of justice, but underneath that lie two profound traumas. First, the ambiguous assault by Don Giovanni — an encounter Mozart leaves deliberately undefined in the score — and then the brutal murder of her father by the same masked intruder. Those experiences shape everything that follows, making her even more determined to seek the truth and pursue justice for her father.

Why does Don Giovanni still resonate with audiences today?

Don Giovanni resonates today because its characters are unmistakably human. Their desires, flaws, fears, and emotional honesty feel as real now as they did in Mozart’s time. We still recognise people who live these stories — the charmers, the idealists, the wounded, the vengeful. The only element that steps outside reality is the supernatural ending, but even that gives the drama its thrilling sense of reckoning.

What do you hope audiences understand about Donna Anna after seeing this production?

I hope the audience can understand Donna Anna’s plight – that the character has so many complexities as a human being, and many of these have been thrust upon her within hours of each other. That they can somehow feel compassion and empathy for her, having been through two of the worst traumas someone can experience in a lifetime, and they see her not as cold or rigid, but as a woman struggling to stay steady in the wake of such devastation..

Describe Donna Anna in three words.

Fragile. Courageous. Honour-bound.

March 2026

singers

Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni

Is Donna Elvira a victim, a romantic, or the most honest person in the room?

I don’t think she would see herself as a victim, but I think she genuinely believed her relationship would be long lasting. The Don probably had to woo her a lot in order to win her over in the first place, which may not have been the case with many of his other conquests. In one of the plays the opera is based on, Elvira is a nun at first and he woos her out of the convent, into marriage, only by talking to her through the little chat box in the convent door. So that would have taken a lot of effort and she would have most likely thought he was a very good man. Apart from the challenge of winning over a nun, the Don probably did find something unique and valuable in her, potentially her total acceptance of him, maybe her holiness or strong sense of morality, as he probably didn’t understand it, but maybe it was only ever going to last a short time. For her though, a marriage or the idea of marriage would be for life and she is genuinely devastated by him leaving her.
In terms of the question though, it could be possible to say she is all three of those things. Firstly, she is a victim as she has genuinely been abandoned and her rage is rational under the circumstances. Secondly she is sort of romantic as she loves the Don despite his actions, and thirdly she is honest and wants to warn others of his depravity.

What draws you to playing Elvira?

I think she’s a very strong person, with lots of passion, who loves the Don more than she loves herself. She has sincere religious beliefs and so her concern for his damnation is real, and her belief is that he should reform his ways and come back to her. Her self worth doesn’t depend on him, but he wounds her deeply and she wants to stop him from hurting others in the same way. She is a person with large emotions and she is a whole person who can handle difficulties, express her feelings (quite passionately), whereas he can’t express, or doesn’t actually have feelings for others.
Maybe in comparison to her, he is not a fully formed person. He attached himself to her for a while but then returned to seeking fulfilment elsewhere.

What do audiences often misunderstand about her?

She isn’t just an angry, sad, bitter ex. She’s a complex woman who has enough balls to reclaim her right to her husband whether he likes it or not. She won’t give up on him entirely, just because he’s given up on himself, or fallen away from her, even though she is genuinely hurt by what he is doing.

What about the opera feels most personal to you?

A lot about the opera seems authentic and so it seems to click with me. More specifically, Elvira believes in redemption, forgiveness and decisive love and even if the Don rejects her compassion, she still understands in full, the power of those concepts.

How would you describe Elvira’s relationship with Don Giovanni?

For her, the relationship is forever as they are married under God. Even though he may try to leave her, he may betray her and all of those things hurt her immensely, she isn’t going anywhere. She tries with all that she is to pull him back from the abyss of his actions. She questions herself as to why she still cares so much for him despite his actions, but she keeps on caring. I think it’s possible that he is the only man she’s ever been with or loved.

Why do you think audiences still connect to her story?

I mean I’m not sure, but maybe because some men are still exactly the same as they were in Mozart’s time, lol! More seriously though, she’s a complex person, she comes to realise the Don’s flaws but loves him anyway. She’s a woman in love and will do all she can to see the Don redeemed.

If Elvira lived today, what would she be like?

It’s not entirely from ‘today’, but there’s something about Effie White in Dreamgirls that reminds me of Elvira. They both have fierce determination, passion and they both suffer genuine heartbreak when rejected by the man they love. There is a similar defiance in
their reactions that is very human. I can imagine Elvira singing ‘And I am telling you, I’m not going!’

March 2026

Singers

Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni

What makes Don Ottavio one of opera’s most misunderstood roles?

Don Ottavio is both figuratively and literally dragged into Donna Anna’s story. The resulting imbalance (inversion) in status, story-telling and narrative perspective often leads audiences, and some directors, to pay more attention to Anna’s story and less about Ottavio.
Musically, Mozart’s use of “feminine endings” for Ottavio, compared to the boldness of Don Giovanni, also contributes to the perception that Ottavio is weak and passive rather than strong and considered.
Dramatically, just as “one does not simply walk into Mordor”, similarly Ottavio does not simply accuse a fellow nobleman of heinous crimes without irrefutable proof lest he invites unwanted scandal, disgrace and shame to Anna’s good name.
Ottavio is all about doing what is right by Anna – supporting her through her grief, protecting her honour, advocating for her and others, and taking action in seeking out truth and justice – despite her constant rejection of him. There is much more to Ottavio than meets the eye, and his story is worth telling.

What surprised you most when preparing this role?

I first learned the role of Don Ottavio in 2003 and have performed several productions of Don Giovanni since that time. The surprising aspect comes down to the decisions that I make when playing the character, now, when compared to previous interpretations. With age comes real-world wisdom and a better understanding of oneself that helps to guide the choices that I make on stage as I bring my current version of Don Ottavio to life both musically and dramatically.

Don Ottavio is often dismissed as passive — the tenor who stands aside while the women suffer. Do you think that is fair?

Totally unfair, and inaccurate. Don Ottavio is a gentle man who stands for three main things: duty, compassion and love.
Despite his difficulty in accepting that a fellow nobleman could be capable of such heinous crimes, Ottavio supports both Anna and Elvira in their plan to confront Giovanni at his party, as well as subsequent attempts to apprehend Don Giovanni to answer for his crimes. He is the rock upon which Anna clings in her times of grief, whether these moments of grief are genuine or manipulative.
Ottavio continues his support of Anna despite her constant pushback, even while dealing with his own heartbreak when Anna tells him that she “loved” him (yes, past tense).
These are not the actions of a weak and passive character. A lesser man would likely have left Anna to avoid the scandal of her assault. But not Ottavio. He continually and unwaveringly stands by Anna’s side to protect her honour, uncover the truth, and to bring those responsible to justice.

Why does Don Giovanni still resonate with audiences today?

I suspect that there are many reasons that contribute to the opera’s continued resonance with today’s audience. For example, the motivations of the characters from the popular show Ted Lasso are not dissimilar to those of Don Giovanni.
For me, the story of Don Giovanni serves as an allegory to real-world issues where injustice is fought against through advocacy of those in need, by giving people voice, and doing what is right.

What do you hope audiences understand about Don Ottavio after seeing this production?

Don Ottavio is the moral compass of his world and should therefore be embraced rather than rejected. He is steadfast, loyal, kind, considerate, compassionate, and of gentle nature; character traits that exemplify a person of honour and strength. Ottavio’s compassion and kindness should not be mistaken for weakness of character and I hope that audiences are able to see past the superficial to discover the true strength that his character represents within the opera.
The real-world needs more people like Don Ottavio; those who will stand up for what is right, in the support of others, despite the potential of any personal loss or injury to themselves. It’s a privilege and honour to be able to represent these values on stage.

March 2026

Singers

Leporello, Don Giovanni

What makes Leporello one of opera’s most fascinating supporting roles?

It may just be the ego of the actor, but I don’t see Leporello as a supporting character, which may be why he is so interesting. Don Giovanni is the title character, but in terms of an arc, he’s incredibly steadfast to his morals, he dies rather than change. Leporello opens the show telling the audience he wants to be a master, not a servant, spends the whole show complaining about following Don G around while enabling his bad behaviour, and then is traumatised at the end when his boss gets dragged to hell. His final lines speak of wanting to go into town and find a new master, completely resigned to his current station in life. Leporello is the character who has the most change, a cautionary tale to the audience of enabling the powerful to the exclusion of all others.
Interestingly, in the finale Leporello aligns himself with Zerlina and Masetto, seemingly assigned back to his original position. His talk of aspiration to a higher station is empty, perhaps a mirror of the empty morals displayed by Don Giovanni. Mozart perhaps was not as progressive in terms of class consciousness as we are today, as the lesson learned is to not reach above one’s natural place in the social order. But in that simplicity he reveals a truth about enabling a world of others instead of being true to ourselves. Some may aspire to be Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, but others would rather them be dragged to hell.

What surprised you most when preparing this role?

It’s all in Italian! Who knew!

The Catalogue Aria is one of Mozart’s most famous set pieces and one of the darkest. What is it like to perform it, and what does it actually tell us about Leporello?

It’s interesting, because there is an element of musical voyeurism to the entire piece. Usually a character is singing about what they want, what they feel, or who they are, but here Leporello sings of his boss’s achievements almost as if they were his own. Don Giovanni consumes Leporello’s own identity, to the extent that Leporello’s sense of pride is in another’s achievements. I use the term achievements with some flexibility, “to assault one woman is a tragedy, 1003 is a statistic,” to misquote Joseph Stalin (itself already a misattribution).
In the aria, Leporello sees no issue in the thousands of women on the list, it’s all a game and sport to feed the appetite of his monstrous master. At this point it stops being something that Leporello or Don Giovanni seem to mine any joy from; it’s just the life that they both live, although the Don seems more committed to his crimes than Leporello is. In the aria, Leporello is revelatory in the dehumanisation of women, reducing them to bodies and hair, thinking it’s all very funny that Donna Elvira is so appalled by his revelations. I hope to bring at least some of Elvira’s disgust to the audience, if they’re still completely on board with Leporello by the end of the aria, something has gone terribly wrong.

You came through Melbourne Opera’s Richard Divall Program and now you’re back on the Athenaeum stage in a principal role. What does that journey mean to you?

Much like Leporello, I know my place in the social standing. I may be amongst giants onstage, but I remain a lowly peasant. I like to take each production as it comes, so while my time in the program was preparing me for main stage productions, I don’t see a difference in the job that I’m doing whether that’s in a smaller theatre for a handful of people or a main stage. I was once in a play where some nights the people on stage outnumbered the audience members, and it was a two-handed show! I think it was some of my best work. I think every show I do is my best work. Before you ask, yes, this will also be my best work.

Why does Don Giovanni still resonate with audiences today?

We like seeing a monster be monstrous, as it’s not acceptable in our day to day lives. He lies, cheats, and steals and runs away from consequence. Who wouldn’t want that? But we still have the moral catharsis of seeing him murdered by the end, so balance is restored to the world and we can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that bad people always get what’s coming to them and are never rewarded. Who’s the president right now again?

What do you hope audiences understand about Leporello after seeing this production?

He’s a bad guy. Funny, maybe, but definitely a
bad guy. He’s the type of person that hides behind a more powerful figure and forfeits his morality to an easy subservience. Don’t get me
wrong, I aim to be as fun and exciting to watch as I can be, but the audience should walk away thinking Leporello is a fairly pathetic character.

Describe Leporello in three words.

Spineless. Brown-nosing. Sycophant.

March 2026

Singers

Zerlina, Don Giovanni

Is Zerlina as innocent as she first appears?

She’s a bit cheeky, but I wouldn’t think of her as sinful or a seductress. She’s a typical village girl who is practical and knows how to wrap her fiancé around her finger.

What makes her essential to the story?

She allows the audience to see how Don Giovanni works his craft. With the other ladies, all their encounters happened in the past or off stage. She also brings a point of difference — she’s a commoner in a world of nobility.

Suzanne has described these women as “unlikely sisterhoods” — what does that mean to you in terms of how Zerlina relates to Donna Anna and Donna Elvira?

A sense of Community, shared trauma and the strength in her resilience to pick yourself back up.

How would you describe her relationship with Masetto?

She genuinely loves him and he is her best friend. But I think she’s more of a romantic, and maybe there’s a part of her that Masetto doesn’t get, which is why she’s drawn to Don Giovanni.

What do you want audiences to understand about Zerlina by the end of the night?

That she has a big heart and cares deeply for Masetto, despite how things start off. Also that she is one hell of a resilient powerhouse. I mean, she ends Act 1 being sexually assaulted by Don Giovanni and then comes into Act 2 acting like nothing has happened. In fact, she ends up seeking revenge for what he did to Masetto, not herself.

You came through the Richard Divall Emerging Artists Program with Melbourne Opera — what did that experience mean for your development as a singer, and what does it feel like to return to the company in a role like Zerlina?

Getting the opportunity for ongoing work with an opera company and in providing consistent vocal coachings. During the program I was also able to get language lessons, cover roles and even perform small roles with my largest being Marzelline in Fidelio. Coming back to perform Zerlina has been really lovely and a kind of full circle moment.

Describe Zerlina in three words.

Playful, Resilient, Rational.

March 2026

Singers

Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni

What makes Don Giovanni one of opera’s most complex roles?

As an artist we have to create a multi-dimensional character within a context that is very often seen as very black and white.
Don Giovanni is a womaniser, he is power hungry, he is misogynistic, he will rape, take and run. This is all true. But we need to provide areas of grey, areas of humanity within him, otherwise the experience for the audience is a very dead one.
Without that, you find within the first ten minutes of the opera what it’s actually all about, and you may as well pack up and go home. So, finding moments where that façade, that veneer is broken (as it is the last 48hrs of his life) that’s what we’re working toward. The mechanisms, the well-oiled show that he has been able to put on for so long, is finally breaking down. We want to be able to show that all crumbling.

What surprised you most when preparing this role?

I performed this role 21 years ago, and what surprised me is that I remember almost none of it. I think that’s partly because we did it in English when I performed it with Melbourne Opera for the first time, but also because my approach to Giovanni has completely changed.
He is so much more of a complex character than I originally played him. The experience of all of those years, not just as a performer but also as a person growing and changing, seeing beneath the mechanisms of life and the world we live in, has really helped me to understand a character like this much more deeply. That dark side that all of us have, our shadow, and being able to understand why someone might be like that.

Don Giovanni is a man who abuses power, manipulates women, and faces no consequences until the very last moment — and even then, only supernatural ones. Suzanne has been clear this production does not romanticise him. In a world where that story still plays out in real life, what responsibility does a performer have when inhabiting a character like this?

The society we live in is set up to reward power, dominance, control. For someone like Don Giovanni, a Duke, it comes from a system where wealth and power trickle down from very few to the rest of us, who are essentially pawns. We can see it in politics today: there are people in power whose actions carry no consequences.
When they were raised in such an entitled manner that they were given a false sense of what it is to be human, what we all truly need is real connection, intimacy, love, and a feeling of unconditional acceptance. If you’re at the top of that pyramid, which is built on dominant structures, capitalist structures, patriarchal structures, then it’s likely that person has a very warped sense of reality. And they’re also missing out on what they truly need on the inside. So they will get whatever they want externally, and that is all unconscious, of course.

You can see through the opera that in these last 48 hours he is baffled, because all of a sudden there are consequences for his actions, and it’s all happening at once. He has killed somebody and thinks he can just shrug that off. Right to the very end he is just like, no, this doesn’t mean anything, I haven’t done anything wrong, I’m just living my life. And then it’s literally the last minute of a three-hour opera where he finally goes, “oh, actually”, and it’s too late.

I think the reason he has had over a thousand women is because the intimacy he is looking for, he thinks he’s going to find it in the next one. He probably does fall for each one of them. But he’s searching for something that cannot be found the way he is looking for it.

My responsibility is to be able to gather all of that and present it in a metabolised way, integrated into the text, into the music, in a way that is visceral for an audience. Not only do you have to sing the whole thing, remember the text, give a good reading, you have to express it in a way that hits them directly in the solar plexus, or reaches them up in the back row of the balcony. It takes many years to develop that ability. It’s what I love. It’s why I do what I do.

Why does Don Giovanni still resonate, and what do you hope audiences take from this production?

We’re still dealing with the same patriarchal, dominance-based, hierarchical structures today as Mozart was in his time. And that is what Giovanni represents, that tiny fraction of humanity for whom the system works, while the rest of us are constrained by it. That’s why something like Don Giovanni is so powerful, and why it feels so urgent to be putting it on right now.

For some people it will be visceral anger at the injustices, and we need that. It may also trigger something in their own lives: abuse of power, gaslighting, narcissism, the shame we put on ourselves thinking things were our fault when we were completely disempowered. The ability to hold people to account, and to have compassion for ourselves when we wish we’d done things differently.

But it’s often not just an individual, it’s the system we’re living in. Patriarchy does not work. Capitalism does not work. Growth for growth’s sake does not work. If you look at nature, it grows, it maintains, and then it decays. That decay becomes compost for new growth. We need those cycles. If there’s no decay it will be forced upon us by nature, and it will be a much more violent destruction. Giovanni is at the top of a structure that does not benefit life, not most of us, and ultimately not even him.

Describe Don Giovanni in three words.

Entitled, Disconnected, Searching.

April 2026

Singers

Commendatore, Don Giovanni

The Commendatore is on stage for only a matter of minutes — yet he drives the entire moral architecture of the opera. How do you approach that kind of dramatic weight?

Every role is first about Stamina. The plot or character weight of the role is how you interpret the material. Assassin, Priest, each individual has their own unique approach. But, you have to sing it and sing it well. My answer really is what ever the dramatic role, I make sure I can sing it well. I get two hours off between scenes and the music at the end is the most challenging I have ever sung and that includes Wotan,Osmin, Lepporello and Joe in Showboat.

You play the same character twice — as a living man and as a statue returned from the dead. How do you differentiate those two presences physically and vocally?

In life, you see him as quite fiery as he is fighting the Don so I am at full voice and powerful. But then dies and his voice goes into death throes.
My return is ghostly, haunting but a different kind of power. Not of this earth and backed by hell. So yeah, its an absolute tour de force take no prisoners type of voice.
Darth Vader and Gandalf combo.

The Stone Guest scene is one of opera’s truly terrifying moments. What does it feel like to be the instrument of that reckoning?

Pressure is immense. The arrival of the Commendatore is one of Opera’s most celebrated events in music history. Mozart genius amassing forces of text, music, then our directors vision, conductor, singers, lighting, everything at this point is huge.
So yeah, its a big sing. And, at the top of the bass register. Its really cool.

In Suzanne’s production, justice is a central motif — it has been building all night before you return in that final scene. What do you represent in that moment?

I think its a collective accountability manifestation. The collective being the all. The cast, the audience, the Don, everything. The all. You could start the opera there and it would make sense. The reaper arrival gives the Don the choice. A lot see this as karma, but he is given a choice.

Why does Don Giovanni still resonate with audiences today?

Art resonates with audiences in all eras. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder is the quote I think. In the case of this Opera, we resonate with the human experience to extremes. It makes for a good story. Sorry seems the hardest word to say sometimes.

What do you hope audiences take away from the Commendatore’s story?

I feel that they see his story as part of the entire story of the opera.
He bookends the opera. And also that they think his make up is great. Lol

April 2026

Singers

Masetto, Don Giovanni

What makes Masetto one of opera’s most underrated roles?

I think that Masetto is often overlooked because he has a short aria and the least amount of time on the stage. This means that he just has the shortest amount of time to make an impact on the story and the audience, and he does. Masetto has just as much to say as any other character in this opera. He is an incredibly human character, he has flaws but at heart is a good person with a moral compass, a complete opposite to don giovanni who, even when given final opportunities to repent and change his ways in the finale – does not do so. He is the only character to see Don Giovanni for what he is from the beginning.

What surprised you most when preparing this role?

The complexity of feelings that would come with this character and the arc the Masetto and Zerlina share together. We see anger, aggression, pain, frustration, happiness, joy, sadness. A lot of different colours and shades from the emotional spectrum. Regardless of the mis-steps that these two young people have taken in the story, they both love each other deep down. I have really loved working alongside Rebecca Rashleigh, we have been good friends for over a decade now and this allowed us to really experiment with reactions and how we tell Zerlina and Masetto’s story.

Masetto is the everyman in a story full of aristocrats — he has the most legitimate grievance and the least power to act on it. What does that mean to you as a performer?

I think Masetto is a passionate person and quick to anger, this unfortunately is his undoing. Regardless of the levels of status in this opera he will try to right the insult that has been done to his honour by both Zerlina and also the Don. I believe that his honour transcends status. When someone is pushed up to a wall and feels they have nothing to lose, this can indeed make someone most dangerous. I feel his decisions reflect this, and this leads to Giovanni fooling him in act 2 and beating him up. His passion gets the best of him. I can indeed empathise with him.

What do you hope audiences understand about Masetto after seeing this production?

He may not be the highest of status but Masetto is a man of the world and understands things more than people give him credit for. For example, he is the only character in the opera who accurately gains the measure of the Don from the minute he meets him and sees Giovanni lock his eyes on Zerlina. He knows what the Don will try to do and in that instance he is powerless to do anything until later in the story.

Describe Masetto in three words.

Passionate. Honourable. Fiery.

April 2026