Defamiliarisation and Resignification on the Contemporary Operatic Stage: Claus Guth’s “Don Giovanni” (2008)

The essay offers an analysis of the 2008 production of ‘Don Giovanni’ by Mozart/Da Ponte at the Salzburger Festspiele, directed by Claus Guth and conducted by Bertrand de Billy. This successful staging represents an example of a trend in contemporary opera production. This is characterised by a radical approach to the operatic text, where the director performs an on-stage re-writing of the libretto. By adopting the concept of scenic writing, the essay investigates the strategies of defamiliarisation and universalisation that take place in the performance and reception of the spectacular text. In particular, the study examines how the different scenic elements (set design, costumes, way of acting, etc.) function in Guth’s resignification process, also in relation to the established performative conventions of the libretto. Finally, the essay evaluates the reception of the production through several significant reviews by the newspapers, specialist press, and blogs devoted to opera.