Presented by Sydney Festival in association with Sydney Symphony, the limited engagement is directed by Michael Sturminger. Martin Haselböck conducts the Sydney Symphony.

The cast also features Ingeborga Dapkünaité, Martene Grimson (soprano) and Andrei Bondarenko (baritone).

"I hadn't sung at all in 30 years," Malkovich told the Sydney Morning Herald, adding, "It opened up a whole world to me … Because it's a field I've never really worked in, it's been a fantastic educational experience. Which are really the only kind of experiences that interest me."

"Giacomo Casanova has a reputation as one of the world's great lotharios," according to production notes, "but his adventures outside the boudoir were equally impressive - as 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."

Fresh from its world premiere in Vienna, this staged concert features the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. John Malkovich was the first member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company to break out into wider fame. Following a New York transfer in True West, Malkovich began winning praise for film performances in "The Killing Fields," "Places in the Heart," "Dangerous Liaisons" and "In the Line of Fire." He played a version of himself in 1999's surreal "Being John Malkovich."

For ticket information visit www.sydneyfestival.org.au.