MEDIA RELEASE
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE
John Malkovich in
The Giacomo Variations
USA / Austria / Australia
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
January 20–22
Written and Directed by Michael Sturminger
Conductor Martin Haselböck
Stage & costume design Renate Martin & Andreas Donhauser
With John Malkovich, Ingeborga Dapkünaité, Martene Grimson, Andrei Bondarenko
And Sydney Symphony
“I begin by declaring to my reader that, by everything good or bad that I have done throughout my life, I am
sure that I have earned merit or incurred guilt, and that hence I must consider myself a free agent…”
Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), Casanova
In a night of storytelling and seduction, esteemed actor John Malkovich recounts the life of one of the
world’s most celebrated lovers. The Giacomo Variations is a staged concert about Giacomo Casanova,
who in his approaching decline, still has plenty of questions about life, desire and love.
Giacomo Casanova has a reputation as one of the world’s great lotharios, but his adventures outside the
boudoir were equally impressive – writer, poet, gambler, military officer, violinist, Freemason, prison
escapee and friend of royalty, popes and cardinals, as well as the founder of the French lottery. It is fitting
then that Malkovich, an exceptionally versatile actor, will portray the life of this master scoundrel of
seduction.
Fresh from its world premiere in Vienna, and set in the magnificent surrounds of the Concert Hall at Sydney
Opera House, The Giacomo Variations is a play in two acts for two actors, two singers and chamber
orchestra. Thus Malkovich will be joined on stage by Ingeborga Dapkünaité (Burnt by the Sun, Seven
Years in Tibet) who performs the multiple roles of Countess Isabella and various women in Casanova’s life;
soprano Martene Grimson, baritone Andrei Bondarenko and Sydney Symphony, who together augment
the production with some of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s best loved overtures, arias and duets.
As Casanova begins to reminisce about one of his close friends – Lorenzo Da Ponte (Mozart’s librettist) –
so it unravels that it was Casanova himself who was the inspiration for key roles in three of Mozart’s best
known operas – Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro.
Director Michael Sturminger and conductor Martin Haselböck set the stage for Malkovich to bring to life
Casanova’s intimate memoir, which reveals his philosophical views on fashion, medicine, cookery and
love. The combination of the intense drama of Malkovich and Dapkünaité onstage, coupled with two
acclaimed opera singers and orchestra, creates a very special kind of entry not only into the life of
Casanova, but also into the world of Mozart’s operatic masterpieces.
Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) was a Venetian adventurer and author, whose name is synonymous as
one of history’s great lovers. Part-autobiography and part-memoir, Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life) is
his best-known work.
Born in Illinois, John Malkovich is an actor, producer and director, best known for his roles in Places in the
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Heart, In the Line of Fire, Empire of the Sun, The Killing Fields, Dangerous Liaisons, Con Air, Being John
Malkovich and Changeling. In 1976 Malkovich joined the new-founded Steppenwolf Theater company in
Chicago, working as both actor and director, winning several Obie Awards and a Drama Desk Award. In
1984, he made his Broadway debut in Death of a Salesman, alongside Dustin Hoffman. Malkovich won an
Emmy award for the same role when the play was adapted for television in 1985.
After his 1984 Academy Award nomination in Places in the Heart, Malkovich’s career in film went from
strength to strength. He also has his own line of men's clothing, Technobohemian. The Giacomo
Variations marks Malkovich’s debut on the Australian stage, although he has previously worked in
Australia for the filming for Disgrace (2008).
Lithuanian born Ingeborga Dapkünaitė works across Russian and English films and television. She is
best known in Hollywood for her roles in Seven Years in Tibet, Mission Impossible and Burnt by the Sun.
Dapkünaitė has previously worked with Malkovich in In Transit (2010) and Shadow of the Vampire (2000).
While pursuing her career on screen, Dapkünaitė continued her career on the international stage. Among
many noteworthy performances was starring opposite John Malkovich in Slip of the Tongue, (Steppenwolf
Theater and London West End), and Libra, directed by Malkovich (Steppenwolf Theater). More recently
Dapkünaitė appeared in the Kevin Spacy’s Cloaca in The Old Vic Theatre in London. She continues to
appear frequently in film and television productions and on the London stage.
Australian soprano Martene Grimson came to prominence after being awarded second place in the 2006
Kathleen Ferrier Awards, Britain's most prestigious singing awards. Among her notable appearances are
those with the Classical Opera Company (UK), Pinchgut Opera (Australia), BBC Concert Orchestra and
Charles Hazelwood, and Opera North (UK). Career highlights include Israel in Egypt with Arsys
Bourgogne, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Longborough Festival Opera and Nanetta in Falstaff with Mid
Wales Opera conducted by Nicholas Cleobury.
Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko has been a member of the Russia’s Mariinsky Academy of Young
Singers since 2007. He has won prizes in many international competitions including the 2006 International
Rimsky-Korsakov competition and first prize at the international vocal competition, Art in the 21st Century
in Vorzel (Ukraine). In 2010 Bondarenko was invited to Salzburg Festival to perform in the production of
Gounod's Roméo et Juliette under the baton of Yannik Nézet-Seguin. Future highlights include his debut
with Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Opera.
Director Michael Sturminger studied direction and screenwriting at Universitat fur Musik und Darstellende
Kunst in Vienna. Since 1990, he has been a freelance writer and director of films, theatre productions and
operas. Career highlights included works at Opernhaus Zurich, Wiener Staatsoper, Volksoper Wien,
Stadttheater Klagenfurt, and opera houses in Graz, Cologne, Wiesbaden, Wuppertal, Gelsenkirchen and
Innsbruck. He has been invited to numerous festivals, including Wien Modern, Bregenz and Salzburg
Festivals. The works of Mozart have played a major role in Sturminger’s career. After staging Die
Entführung aus dem Serail and Cosi fan tutte, he directed Il sogno di Scipione at Salzburg Festival 2006 for
the 250th anniversary of the composer`s birth. In 2007, he directed La clemenza di Tito at Graz
Opernhaus and in 2009 he collaborated with Maestro Valery Gergiev on a new production of Idomeneo at
the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.
Conductor Martin Haselböck is Music Director of the internationally touring Orchester Wiener Akademie
(which he founded in 1985), and Musica Angelica in Los Angeles, USA. He is also Professor of Organ at
The University of Vienna. Haselböck has been guest conductor of numerous orchestras including Vienna
Symphony, German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Dresdner Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los
Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Pittsburgh and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras.
Prior to The Giacomo Variations, Sturminger, Haselböck and Malkovich worked together in The Infernal
Comedy, an evening for an orchestra, two sopranos and one actor, which had its world premiere in Los
Angeles in 2008. The production toured extensively through Europe and Canada.
John Malkovich also appears in conversation with Jim Sharman at Sydney Town Hall on January 17.
See separate release for The Scope.
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www.sydneyfestival.org.au/giacomo
Malkovich’s fashion label www.technobohemian.org
Where
When
Duration
Price
Bookings
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House Bennelong Point, East Circular Quay
January 20–22 at 8pm
2hrs, including interval
Premium $125
A Reserve $99 / $90
B Reserve $89 / $80
C Reserve $79 / $70
D Reserve $69 / $60
Sydney Opera House 02 9250 7777
Sydney Festival 1300 668 812
Ticketmaster 1300 723 038
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Sarah Wilson, Publicity Manager (02) 8248 6523 / 0405 364 643 [email protected]
Julia Gross, Publicist (02) 8248 6532 / 0419 018 764 [email protected]
Jane Davis, Publicist (02) 8248 6524 / 0411 562 131 [email protected]
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