The Giacomo Variations

Presented by Sydney Festival in association with Sydney Symphony

Australian Exclusive

Director: Michael Sturminger | Conductor: Martin Haselböck | Sydney Symphony

With John Malkovich, Ingeborga Dapkünaité, Martene Grimson (soprano) and Andrei Bondarenko (baritone)

Giacomo Casanova has a reputation as one of the world's great lotharios, but his adventures outside the boudoir were equally impressive - as writer, poet, gambler, military officer, violinist, Freemason, prison escapee and friend of royalty, popes and cardinals, as well as the founder of the French lottery.

It's fitting then that an actor of equally exceptional versatilities, John Malkovich, will portray the life of this master scoundrel of seduction in The Giacomo Variations. Fresh from its world premiere in Vienna, this staged concert features the work of two of Casanova's contemporaries, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte.

Malkovich will be joined on stage by actress Ingeborga Dapkünaité, soprano Martene Grimson, baritone Andrei Bondarenko and the Sydney Symphony, as he performs excerpts from Casanova's 1790 memoir, Histoire de ma vie, interspersed with the music from some of Mozart's most beloved operas - Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutte.

Director Michael Sturminger and conductor Martin Haselböck set the stage for Malkovich to bring to life Casanova's intimate memoir, which reveals his philosophical views on fashion, medicine, cookery and love.

John Malkovich also appears in conversation as part of The Scope series.

Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

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