Don Quichotte

Never before performed at La Scala, Don Quichotte is Massenet’s penultimate opera, based on Cervantes’ novel as filtered through a theatrical work by Jacques Le Lorrain, and premiered in Monte Carlo two years before the composer’s death. Damiano Michieletto imagines the story as an apologue about the loss of illusions and the social isolation of the dreamer, placing the three acts in three different moments: the 60s as the age of memories, the 90s as the manifestation of crisis, and today as the moment of death. The protagonist’s mind is crowded with images represented through video projections alternating scenes from his past with graphic representations of his obsessions. Alex Esposito lends his vocal and acting qualities to the protagonist hopelessly in love with the charismatic Gaëlle Arquez. In his final hour, only Sancho, portrayed by Giulio Mastrototaro, remains beside him, perhaps the only one who truly cared for him.