FULL DON JUAN NO EXISTE (Helena Cánovas) Festival Perelada 2024 Natalia Labourdette, David Oller, García-López

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: DON JUAN NO EXISTE   
• Composer: Cánovas Helena   
• Libretto: Alberto Iglesias    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: Perelada Castle, Spain  
• Recorded: August 8, 2024
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Natalia Labourdette, David Oller, García-López
• Conductor: Jhoanna Sierralta  
• Orchestra: Instrumental Ensemble  
• Stage Director: Bárbara Lluch   
• Stage Designer: Blanca Añón  
• Costume Designer: Clara Peluffo Valentini  
• Lighting Designer: Urs Schönebaum  

Information about the Recording

• Published by: OperaVision  
• Date Published: 2025  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs, essubs  

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

  Don Juan Doesn’t Exist is a contemporary opera from 2024, composed by the Spanish composer Helena Cánovas with a libretto by the playwright Alberto Iglesias . The title alludes to a work written by the feminist Carmen Díaz de Mendoza Aguado , Countess of San Luis (1864-1929), questioning the figure of Don Juan. Only press reviews of this work survive, as the text itself has not been preserved. The opera, with musical direction by Jhoanna Sierralta and stage direction by Bárbara Lluch , premiered at the Peralada International Music Festival in August 2024 and was presented in Madrid in May 2025.

  Argument
  At the beginning of the 20th century, the writer Carmen Díaz de Mendoza Aguado , Countess of San Luis (1864-1929), after a performance of Don Giovanni , accompanied by two friends (Agustín and Miguel), questioned the myth of Don Juan as a character reinforced by societal acceptance. Therefore, she decided to write her own “Don Juan.” The play, “Don Juan Doesn’t Exist,” was premiered, but the original text has not been recovered, and only published reviews remain as evidence of it.

  The first act of the opera is set in the 1920s, with the Countess of San Luis deciding to write an anti-sexist manifesto to counter the figure of the popular Don Juan after attending a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni . In this endeavor, she must confront not only her own insecurities, but also society and even the voice of a ghost trying to stop her. Her friend Miguel is by her side, but he too fails to understand the strange project. Finally, the Countess writes the work, it premieres, and the piece is a failure.
  The second act takes place in the 21st century, in 2024. A new creator (Helena) attempts to elucidate what happened in that performance of Don Juan written by the Countess, whose text did not survive. Of the play Don Juan Does Not Exist, she has only found newspaper clippings about the premiere, but almost nothing remains about the Countess. Her story is summarized in just a few lines on Wikipedia.

  At the end of the work are the names of the women of that era, hidden by history.

  Creation
  Helena Cánovas received the Carmen Mateu Young Artist European Award for the creation of this opera. She was drawn to the character of Carmen Díaz de Mendoza Aguado , Countess of San Luis , her mystery, her obscurity, and the lack of any trace of a theatrical piece that, after its premiere, was buried in oblivion. Cánovas proposed that Alberto Iglesias write the libretto.

  Libretto
  The opera is a contemporary interpretation of the Don Juan myth and celebrates women artists, featuring the writer Carmen Díaz de Mendoza Aguado, Countess of San Luis , ” someone of whom only a few lines have survived in a Wikipedia entry ,” as noted in the work. The libretto is written by the Santander-born playwright Alberto Iglesias, based on an idea by the composer Helena Cánovas .

  Quoted from Wikipedia

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