Jonathan Miller's unprecedented production of Mozart's Don Giovanni comes to the Palau de les Arts

•The English artist, one of the most respected intellectuals of his generation, signs with Don Giovanni his first major production for a Spanish theater

Valencia (January 17, 2012) – The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía will host Jonathan Miller's unprecedented production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni this January. The production, which was only partially staged in 2006, arrives in Valencia under the direction of the British maestro and Zubin Mehta, who, after Fidelio, is conducting his second production of the season at the arts center.

Jonathan Miller (London, 1934) is one of the most respected intellectuals of his generation. Writer, professor, lecturer, television producer and presenter, director of theater, opera, and film, physicist, and neurologist are just some of the facets this multifaceted Briton has cultivated throughout his prolific career. Miller, hailed by critics as one of the great revolutionaries of the operatic stage, presents his first major production for a Spanish opera house with this Don Giovanni for the Palau de les Arts.

Following his legendary debut with the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe, starring Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, and Dudley Moore, at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival, which redefined the boundaries of comedy, Jonathan Miller embarked on one of the most outstanding careers in modern theater. His vast stage repertoire includes landmark productions such as The Merchant of Venice with Laurence Olivier, as well as more than eleven titles for the BBC recordings of William Shakespeare's plays.

His first foray into the operatic world came in 1974, when he was invited to conduct the British premiere of Alexander Goehr's Arden Must Die. He spent several seasons working closely with Kent Opera and later with English National Opera, for which he conducted some of its most enduring successes: Le nozze di Figaro, The Turn of the Screw, Der Rosenkavalier, Carmen, The Mikado, and Rigoletto . He has conducted over 50 opera productions for the world's leading opera houses.

The British intellectual is also the author of the Palau de les Arts' first in-house production of Mozart's repertoire. Don Giovanni was the first work by the Salzburg genius to be performed at the arts center, and it also marked Lorin Maazel's debut in Valencia as the musical director of an operatic production.

Zubin Mehta conducts his first Mozart in Valencia

In the pit of the Main Hall of the arts center, Zubin Mehta will conduct his first Mozart performance for the Valencian public. The Indian maestro, president of the Festival del Mediterrani, takes the reins of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana for the first time this season since the Palau de les Arts opened in 2006 with Beethoven's Fidelio. Bass-baritone Nicola Ulivieri leads the cast, which includes renowned Mozart interpreters such as Anna Samuil, Dmitri Korchak, Alexander Tsymbalyuk, and David Bizic.

This retelling of the Don Giovanni myth, with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, is one of the most beloved and frequently performed works in the repertoire. Published with the subtitle dramma giocoso, Don Giovanni premiered at the State Theatre in Prague on October 29, 1787.