Swedish baritone Peter Mattei’s resonances and overtones ravish the ear in the Metropolitan Opera’s new Don Giovanni. Ivo van Hove’s production of Mozart’s masterpiece seeks today’s correlative to movement, characterization, and sound born of the 18th century, and Mattei justifies the director’s sometimes incongruous analogies. In the role of the fiendishly seductive Don, Mattei is more comfortable in his skin than he was a decade ago. He dominates the stage not merely by his six-foot-four frame, but by an outpouring of swaggering, languid, and provocative stances and movements. The entire cast sings with distinction and distinctiveness, while conductor Nathalie Stutzmann allows the singers what might be called Billie Holiday-esque melismas—nudging the note in ways personal and unforeseen. For years these liberties were frowned upon in Mozart. At the Met, ultimate fulfillment meets paradigm shift. —Joel Lobenthal