Daniela Candillari’s acclaimed 2023-2024 season continues in April with a return to Arizona Opera.

The conductor known for her “confidence and apparently inexhaustible verve” (The New York Times) leads four performances of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in Phoenix on Saturday and Sunday, April 20 and 21.

“Don Giovanni” marks Candillari’s fourth time at the podium with Arizona Opera. Her company debut came in 2019 with a rendition of “Fellow Travelers” by Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce. She returned to conduct the celebrated film version of Clint Borzoni and John de los Santos’ “The Copper Queen,” released in 2021 during the pandemic shutdown.

Most recently, Candillari led Puccini’s “Tosca” in 2023, with Opera Magazine praising how she “positioned the orchestra as a formidable force… transporting the opera on its trajectory to tragedy.”

Candillari opened the 2023-2024 season with two world premieres: “10 Days in a Madhouse” by composer Rene Orth and librettist Hannah Moscovitch at Opera Philadelphia, where she made her company debut; and Jeanine Tesori and George Brant’s “Grounded” with Washington National Opera at The Kennedy Center, also a company debut.

“10 Days in a Madhouse” was named the best classical music performance of 2023 by The Washington Post. Immediately following this triumph, Candillari conducted the world premiere of “Grounded,” a co-commission of the Metropolitan Opera.

Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” widely regarded as one of the greatest operas of all time, tells the centuries-old story of the libertine Don Juan with bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba in the title role.

Soprano Vanessa Vasquez will present the role of Donna Anna. Soprano Toni Marie Palmertree will take on the role of Donna Elvira. Tenor Zachary Nelson will portray Leporello.

Candillari grew up in Serbia and Slovenia. She holds a doctorate in musicology from the Universität für Musik in Vienna, a master of music in jazz studies from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and a master of music and bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Universität für Musik in Graz.

Visit https://azopera.org/ for more information.