In a new production directed by Marie Clément, Mozart’s dramma giocoso is heavy on the dramma and light on the giocoso. There’s good reason for this: what might have been a camp, Casanova romp in 1787 now reads as rapey and humourless in 2023, especially post #metoo. By setting the opera in a dodgy hotel, and cladding the cast in tacky hen night cowboy hats (set and costumes by Julia Hansen), the titular cad, Don Giovanni (Andrey Zhilikhovsky) is never glorified or mythologised.

The only shame is, by plumbing the depths of the character’s ugliness, we see nothing beautiful on stage.  Harsh lighting  (Bernd Purkrabek) and cheap, Primark-style costuming successfully conveys the tawdriness of the story, but denies us any moments of theatrical beauty.  At points, the production plays against this.  Sometimes, right-hand-man Leporello (Mikhail Timoshenko) is pure slapstick, grinning and gurning behind a cape to disguise his face.  During the masquerade ball, beautiful period costumes are worn. Unfortunately, these hints at a more traditional staging leave us longing for more.

Inevitably, the inconsistent approach to mise-en-scène comes across as confused, and, at times, impenetrable.  Which is weird, considering how straightforward the story is: naughty playboy screws around and gets sent to hell by a magically-resurrected statue.

Musically, it’s world-class. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s period instruments lend an electric quality to Mozart’s sublime score, bandied along by Evan Rogister’s whipcrack, hyper-energised conducting style. In the minor role of Don Ottavio, tenor Oleksiy Palchekov brings the house down.

Playing at Glyndebourne 19 May – 2 December 2023.