THE second delicious slice of Opera North's Fatal Passions triple bill was Mozart’s masterful tale of the irredeemable hedonistic and promiscuous Don Giovanni.

The music is prime Mozart and its popularity even today - it premiered in Prague in I787 - was endorsed by a capacity house.

Don Giovanni (William Dazeley) is an aristocratic cad; a bounder of the highest order.

Given his wealth and status he feels it is his right to attack women in their own homes and commit murder. He even orders his servant Leporello (John Savournin) to disconcert the spouse Masetto (Ross McInroy) so he can deflower the bride Zerlina (Kathryn Rudge) on her wedding night. Oh, he's bedded women all over Europe, including 1,000 in France alone, and is still counting!

The narrative is about Giovanni being pursued by Donna Anna (Jennifer Davis) and her fiancé Don Ottavio (Nicholas Watts), seeking revenge for her father’s murder, as well as Masetto and Zerlina, and Donna Elvira (Elizabeth Atherton) his fiancée.

Given Mozart has the brilliance to transform the mood from comedy to serious and back again via farce it's a hugely entertaining piece.

However, I struggled with director Alessandro Talevi's direction.

Yes, gone are the days when these people are seen as loveable rogues and despite his criminal duplicity, there was no effort to bring out any enduring features in Giovanni, not even humour (it's a three hour piece!). Instead puppets were used as a substitute to lighten the mood rather than develop and show an all rounded character.

While Talevi can be commended for some wonderful scenes, like the penultimate one where Giovanni is literally hung on his own petard, the use of a time machine that included bringing characters into 1955 (wearing Teddy boy costumes) and 2018 was confusing.

Any thinking person doesn't need to be hammered over the head as to how much resonance the themes of Mozart's drama have today in the light of the Hollywood and other scandals.

Overall, the performances were tremendous and the piece stands as a testament to the genius of Mozart.