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in association with We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Publishing on this series of opera guides and to build on the work did over twenty years ago on the Calder Opera Guide Series. As well as reworking and updating existing titles, Overture and ENO have commissioned new titles for the series and all of the guides will be published to coincide with repertoire being staged by the company at the London Coliseum.

Mozart’s darkly seductive opera includes some of the most dra- matic and beautiful music in the entire operatic repertoire. Making his UK opera directing debut, the acclaimed British theatre director Rufus Norris takes on Mozart’s powerful work in a new produc- tion for ENO, opening on 6th November 2010. Also making his UK opera debut is Kirill Karabits, the Ukrainian principal conduc- tor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, who leads a first- rate ensemble of British singers, with in the title role, Brindley Sherratt (Leporello), Katherine Broderick (Donna Anna), Robert Murray (Don Ottavio), (Donna Elvira), Matthew Best (Commendatore), Sarah Tynan (Zerlina) and John Molloy (Masetto).

We hope that these guides will prove an invaluable resource now and for years to come, and that by delving deeper into the history of an opera, the poetry of the and the nuances of the score, readers’ understanding and appreciation of the opera and the art form in general will be enhanced.

John Berry Artistic Director, ENO November 2010 The publisher John Calder began the Opera Guides series under the editorship of the late Nicholas John in associa- tion with English National Opera in 1980. It ran until 1994 and eventually included forty-eight titles, covering fifty-eight . The books in the series were intended to be companions to the works that make up the core of the operatic repertory. They contained articles, illustrations, musical examples and a complete libretto and singing translation of each opera in the series, as well as bibliographies and discographies.

The aim of the present relaunched series is to make available again the guides already published in a redesigned format with new illustrations, updated reference sections and a literal trans- lation of the libretto that will enable the reader to get closer to the meaning of the original. New guides of operas not already covered will be published alongside the redesigned ones from the old series.

Gary Kahn Series Editor Sponsors of the Overture Opera Guides

for the 2010/11 Season at ENO

Ian and Catherine Ferguson Frank and Lorna Dunphy

Wolfgang Mozart

Overture Opera Guides Series Editor Gary Kahn

Editorial Consultant Philip Reed Head of Publications, ENO

OP

OVERTURE overture opera guides in association with

Overture Publishing an imprint of oneworld classics London House 243-253 Lower Mortlake Road Richmond Surrey TW9 2LL United Kingdom

The articles by Michael F. Robinson, David Wyn Jones and Christopher Raeburn first published by John Calder (Publishers) Ltd in 1983.

This Don Giovanni Opera Guide first published by Overture Publishing, an imprint of Oneworld Classics Ltd, 2010

© Oneworld Classics Ltd, 2010 All rights reserved

English translation reproduced by kind permission of Visiontext Additional translations © Charles Johnston, 2010

Printed in United Kingdom by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall isbn: 978-1-84749-541-9

All the pictures in this volume are reprinted with permission or presumed to be in the public domain. Every effort has been made to ascertain and acknowledge their copyright status, but should there have been any unwitting oversight on our part, we would be happy to rectify the error in subsequent printings.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be resold, lent, hired out or otherwise circulated without the express prior consent of the publisher. Contents

List of Illustrations 8 The ‘Comic’ Element in Don Giovanni, 9 Michael F. Robinson Music and Action in Don Giovanni, 17 David Wyn Jones , Christopher Raeburn 31 Characterization in Don Giovanni 41 Thematic Guide 49 Don Giovanni, Libretto 55 Note on the Text 56 Act One 59 Act Two 151 Select Discography 251 Don Giovanni on DVD 257 Select Bibliography 263 Mozart Websites 267 Note on the Contributors 269 Acknowledgements 271 List of Illustrations

1. Mozart c.1789–90. 2. Lorenzo Da Ponte 3. Playbill for 1788 performance (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 4. Villa Bertramka 5. The (akg-images/Bildarchiv Monheim) 6. Autograph score of the Canzonetta (akg-images) 7. Manuel García 8. Henrietta Sontag (Getty images) 9. Giulia Grisi 10. Jean-Baptiste Faure (akg-images) 11. Alois Mora’s production at the Dresdner Staatsoper (ArenaPAL) 12. ’s production at Glyndebourne (Guy Gravett Collection/ArenaPAL) 13. (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 14. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Erika Köth (akg-images/Gert Schütz) 15. (Scala/Piccagliani/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 16. (akg-images) 17. Günther Rennert’s production at Glyndebourne (Guy Gravett Collection/ArenaPAL) 18. ’s production at Sadler’s Wells Opera (Anthony Crickmay/ENO Archive) 19. (RA/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 20. and Joan Rogers (Zoë Dominic) 21. Ruth Berghaus’s production for (WNO) 22. ’s production at the PepsiCo Summerfare (Peter Krupenye) 23. Göran Järvefelt’s production for the Australian Opera (Branco Gaica) 24. Achim Freyer’s production at the Schwetzingen Festival (Monika Rittershaus) 25. in Jonathan Miller’s production at ENO (Zoë Dominic/ENO Archive) 26. ’s production at Glyndebourne (Guy Gravett) 27. ’s production at , Milan (Lelli e Masotti /Teatro alla Scala) 28. (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) 29. ’s production at the (Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera Archives) 30. Francesca Zambello’s production at House (Clive Barda/ArenaPal) 31. Martin Kušej’s production at Salzburg (akg-images/Marion Kalter) 32. Claus Guth’s production at Salzburg (Salzburger Festspiele/Monika Rittershaus) 33. Stephan Kimmig’s production at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Wilfried Hösl) 34. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production in Aix-en-Provence (AFP/Getty Images) Thematic Guide

Themes from the opera have been identified by the numbers in square brackets in the article on the music. These are also printed at corresponding points in the libretto, so that the words can be related to the musical themes.

49 Il dissoluto punito, ossia Il Don Giovanni

Dramma giocoso in two acts by (K527)

Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte English translation by Visiontext Textual revision and additional translations by Charles Johnston

Don Giovanni was first performed in its original version at Count Nostitz’s National Theatre, Prague (now known as the Estates Theatre) on 29th October 1787 and in a revised version at the Burgtheater, Vienna on 7th May 1788. It was first performed in Britain at His Majesty’s Theatre, Haymarket on 12th April 1817. The first performance in the United States was at the Park Theatre, New York on 23rd May 1826 (at which Lorenzo Da Ponte was present). THE CHARACTERS Don Giovanni an extremely licentious young nobleman Il Commendatore Donna Anna his daughter Donna Elvira a lady from , soprano abandoned by Don Giovanni Don Ottavio betrothed to Donna Anna Leporello servant to Don Giovanni bass Zerlina a country girl soprano Masetto betrothed to Zerlina bass

Chorus of Countrymen and -women, Off-stage Chorus, Instrumentalists, Servants A Spanish town (traditionally ) in the sixteenth century

55 Note on the Text

Charles Johnston

When Mozart performed Don Giovanni in Vienna in 1788, he made several significant revisions to the Prague score suggested (or dictat- ed) by the cast available to him. The new Ottavio, Francesco Morella, seems to have preferred long-breathed legato to coloratura, and so ‘’ (‘I shall leave my beloved’) in Act Two was replaced by ‘Dalla sua pace’ (‘My own happiness’) in Act One. The influence at court of Catarina Cavalieri (often presumed to be Salieri’s mis- tress) doubtless led to Elvira’s being assigned an additional (not re- placement) accompanied and aria, ‘In quali eccessi… Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata’ (‘In what enormities… That ungrateful man betrayed me’), No. 21b. The company’s normal prima donna, Luisa Mombelli, given the lighter role of Zerlina on account of her pregnancy, nonetheless gained some additional music in the buffo duet with Leporello ‘Per queste tue manine’ (‘By those little hands of yours’), No. 21a, and its surrounding recitative (some of which – Masetto’s account in Scene XIc of a new outrage committed by Gio- vanni – also serves to motivate Elvira’s aria). As a result, Leporello lost his aria No. 20, which was replaced by recitative. A few small musical and textual adjustments were also made to the Giovanni– Leporello recitative in Scene XII. Finally, it is possible but unverifiable that Mozart cut the concluding scene after Giovanni’s descent into hell, either wholly or in part: autograph material exists both for a collective final ‘Ah’ from the rest of the cast on a chord of immediately after his death and for a bridge passage cutting from ‘Ah certo è l’ombra / che l’incontrò!’ (‘She saw the spectre / who pulled him below’) to ‘Resti dunque quel birbon’ (‘While that evil man’). There are thus two authentic ‘versions’ of the opera approved and realized by composer and librettist, but these have been obscured

56 note on the text by the ‘composite’ version generally performed, which merely tacks the two new arias onto the Prague text while ignoring the changes Mozart and Da Ponte made to accommodate them in the opera; the duet is very rarely given. The present edition prints the complete Prague and Vienna versions. In the scenes where the texts diverge, Act One Scene XIV and Act Two Scenes IX–XI, the two versions are distinguished by means of a grey background for Vienna. To avoid double numbering in the second half of Act Two, the additional Vienna scenes are designated as Xa–d, as in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (NMA). Stage directions are given in full, following the NMA, but we have not distinguished between their various sources in the autograph score and the printed . The layout of the Italian verse has been respected in both arias and recitative (the versification of the latter is often ignored in printed librettos).

57 Ouvertura [1, 2, 3, 4]

Atto PRIMO Giardino. Notte Scena I Leporello, con ferraiuolo, che passeggia davanti la casa di Donna Anna; poi Don Giovanni, Donna Anna; indi il Commenda­ tore N°1 Introduzione Leporello Notte e giorno faticar [5] per chi nulla sa gradir, piova e vento sopportar, mangiar male e mal dormir… Voglio far il gentiluomo, e non voglio più servir. Oh che caro galantuomo! Voi star dentro colla bella, ed io far la sentinella! Ma mi par… che venga gente; non mi voglio far sentir. (s´asconde) Donna Anna (tenendo forte pel braccio Don Giovanni ed egli cercando sempre di celarsi) Non sperar, se non m’uccidi, ch’io ti lasci fuggir mai!

58 Overture [1, 2, 3, 4]

Act One

A garden. Night Scene I Leporello, in a cloak, pacing up and down in front of Donna Anna‘s house; then Don Giovanni and Donna Anna; later the Commen­ datore No. 1 Introduction Leporello Working day and night, [5] not a word of thanks I get; pummelled by the wind and rain, little sleep and no time to eat. I would like to play the gentleman, born to order, not obey. There’s my dear and gallant master. He’s warm inside in the arms of a woman while I stand out here on sentry duty. But I hear people coming. I don’t think I should stay. (he hides) Donna Anna (holding tightly to the arm of Don Giovanni, who is still trying to conceal himself) You would have to kill me for me to let you flee.

59 Note on the Contributors

Michael F. Robinson was Senior Lecturer in Music at University College, Cardiff, and is the author of Opera before Mozart.

Professor David Wyn Jones is Head of the School of Music at Uni- versity College, Cardiff. He is on the Editorial Board of the journal Eighteenth-Century Music and his recent books include The Life of Haydn.

Christopher Raeburn was director of opera productions for Decca and oversaw numerous recordings during his time there. He also re- searched extensively into performances of eighteenth-century music, especially the operas of Mozart. He died in 2009.

Charles Johnston studied languages and history at Glasgow and Oxford, then held several posts with French record companies. He is now a freelance translator and writer based in Strasbourg.

E. J. Dent was a musicologist and translator. His Mozart’s Operas: a Critical Study was first published in 1913. He was particularly influential in making neglected areas of eighteenth-century opera more widely known. He died in 1957.

Brigid Brophy was a novelist, essayist, critic, biographer and dram- atist. Her books include Mozart the Dramatist. She died in 1995.

Julian Rushton, Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Leeds, has published extensively on Mozart, including The New Grove Guide to Mozart’s Operas and the Cambridge Opera Hand- book on Don Giovanni.

269 Lawrence Lipking is Professor Emeritus of English at Northwest- ern University and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His books include Abandoned Women and Poetic Tradition.

Andrew Steptoe is British Heart Foundation Professor of Psychol­ ogy at University College London. His book The Mozart – Da Pon­ te Operas was published in 1988.

George Hall writes widely on classical music and especially opera, including for , Opera, Opera News and BBC Music Magazine.

270 Acknowledgements

We would like to thank John Allison of Opera magazine, Charles Johnston, Julian Rushton and Mike Ashman for their advice and assistance in the preparation of this guide. Charles Johnston’s detailed preparation of the full libretto and translation of both versions of the opera has been invaluable. We would also like to thank Lawrence Lipking and Faber and Faber, Andrew Steptoe and Oxford University Press and George Hall and Glyndebourne Festival Opera for permission to quote from their work.

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