After a night of imbibing in the style of an 18th century Spanish aristocrat, I continued my search for amor Espana today by meeting up with the foremost Spanish Lover — Don Giovanni and his performance with MetOpera.   Mariusz Kwiecie – a truly hot Polish tenor – made poet shirts and tights seem as irresistable now as they did when my high school boyfriend met up with me after theater class.

Opera – not known for having the most “glamorous” stars, does try to “hot” cast Don Giovannis. I am not sure if that’s for authenticity or to get women to buy tickets to multiple performances. Based on direction, DG can walk around with chest exposed or in his knickers for 50% of the show. Here are other delicious DGs.

There was Erwin Schrott (below) in his performance at the Royal Opera in London (2007)

and  Michael Todd Simpson (below) at Fort Worth Opera (2010). (Simpson was also dreamy in the Met’s Tales of Hoffman in 2009).

Hot tenors aside, Mozart considered this  opera buffa (which for those of you who don’t carry around translation apps this means he considered it a comedy), but it’s pretty intense, particularly when the womanizing Don Giovanni refuses to repent for his deliciously sexy ways and Dona Elvira stalks him, as Rene Fleming mentioned, like Glenn Close from Fatal Attraction.

One of the great things about grand productions like opera and Mozart, in particular, is that there are so many ways to direct them. Instead of having Giovanni and his servant Leporello wear pink ruffles and buckled shoes,  Michael Grandag, who produced the new staging, had them look depraved and hung-over a la the Marquis de Sade.  The young bride, Zerlina, wasn’t a virginal soprano — she was cunning and seductive.  With these choices, Grandag kept the themes of debauchery and revenge from being overshadowed by Mozart’s playful score.

Don Giovanni is just another performance that the  Metropolitan Opera has transmitted to live audiences this season and there are many more to come.  Click here for a list of operas that are coming up. The next once for me is Philip Glass’ Satygraha  which is based on the life of Gandhi. I saw it at the Met in NYC when they pulled it out of the vaults and gave it new direction. Truly amazing.

Encore performance of Don Giovanni is on November 16th at 6:30. Click here for theaters and tickets.

Philip Glass’ Satyagraha will be performed on November 19th at 11:55 am. Click here for theaters and tickets.

Here is a glimpse of Act 1 from Met Opera along with interviews with the cast.

Here is the famous Comandante scene.