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Arizona Opera Book Club

Opera is all about telling compelling stories through music. Most of the stories you see on stage are inspired by great literary works, historical events, legendary people, or better yet, current issues. Whether you are a Book Club regular or joining the group for the first time, we are excited join us this season.

 

In an exciting collaboration with Pima County Public Library, we will bring you book recommendations to enhance your opera experience for the Arizona Opera's 2023/24 Season.

 

How to Join: 

All book club activities, announcements, meetings, and more will be announced via our new Facebook group. We invite you to participate, post, and discuss each book with us as we discover these new titles together.

   

 

Need Help?

Don’t know how to join our group? It’s easy! Follow the steps below:

     

If you do not have Facebook and do not wish to join, we will also be posting information and updates to this page so stay tuned!

 

Book Club Meetings:

All Book Club activities, announcements, meetings, and more will be announced via our Facebook group. If you are not part of Arizona Opera's Book Club Facebook Group and would still like to participate in our virtual book club meetings, please send an email to Madalyn Kiewiet, Education and Community Engagement Manager, at mkiewiet@azopera.org.

 


2023/24 Season Meeting Dates & Times

 

Don GiovanniDon Giovanni

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

Reading: March 11, 2024 – April 11, 2024

   

Mozart’s Don Giovanni, regarded by many as one of the greatest operas of all time, tells the centuries-old story of the libertine Don Juan.

Don Giovanni tries to seduce Donna Anna, which goes awry and he ends up killing her father, the Commendatore, unbeknownst to her. Donna Anna asks her fiancé, Don Ottavio, to avenge her father’s death. The opera follows Don Giovanni’s salacious escapades, aided and abetted by his servant Leporello. Giovanni makes his rounds seducing and duping numerous characters, bragging along the way and escaping accountability by obscuring his identity. In a cemetery, Giovanni meets the Commendatore’s statue, who forebodingly warns him that he will laugh no longer. When offered the chance to change his ways, will Don Giovanni repent?

 

Featured Book Selection:

Leporello on the LamLeporello on the lam by william stafford

Leporello on the Lam tells of the further adventures of characters from Mozart and Da Ponte’s famous comic opera, Don Giovanni. Hapless manservant, Leporello seeks a new master but, still traumatised by events, finds himself on the run from the law and falling in love. Can Leporello make peace with those Don Giovanni wronged, clear his own name and start a new life for himself? This fast-moving and funny story is brimming with adventure and innuendo, and is an entertaining read for opera fans and non-opera fans alike.

 

View other selections for Don Giovanni

 


Suggested Resources from Book Club Members:


Arizona Opera’s Department of Education and Community Engagement programs are made possible through the support of: Karen Fruen, Dr. Herschel Rosenzweig, Cardinals Charities, The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, Dr. Rex Brewster, Invest in Kids Charitable Gift Fund, The Moreno Family Foundation, The Arizona Republic, Fillman Gorin Fund held at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, The City of Peoria, The William H. Hall Foundation, and Desert Diamond Casino West Valley.