Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Don Giovanni

WHO? The Gist of the Story Composer: The scene opens with Don Giovanni in disguise assaulting Donna Anna. When she W.A. Mozart screams for help, her father, Il Commendatore, runs to chase the villain. Giovanni kills (1756-1791) the Commendatore and flees with his servant, Leporello. Don Ottavio, Donna Anna’s Librettist: betrothed, vows to avenge her honor and her father. Giovanni and Leporello run into Lorenzo da Ponte Donna Elvira, one of Giovanni’s spurned lovers who has chased him to seek revenge. After fleeing from her, the two men come upon Zerlina and Masetto’s wedding (1749-1838) procession - where Giovanni sets his sights on a new conquest. Anna and Ottavio plead with Don Giovanni for his help in their revenge on the still unknown murderer of her WHAT? father, before Elvira intervenes and tries to expose him. As Giovanni tries to convince dramma giocoso the noble couple that Elvira is insane, Anna recognizes in his voice the voice of her (literally “playful drama,” assailant. Giovanni’s pursuit has also thrown a wrench in Masetto and Zerlina’s relationship, having Masetto accuse Zerlina of infidelity. At a ball at Don Giovanni’s denoting a mix of dramatic residence, he tries to assault Zerlina. At her cries for help, Giovanni drags Leporello and comedic action) onstage and accuses him of being the threat. However, Anna, Ottavio, and Elvira, who are at the soirée in disguise, are not fooled. Though Don Giovanni seems to consistently WHEN? slip away, he is held accountable for his actions. The Commendatore comes in the form Premiered on of a statue who drags Giovanni to Hell for his crimes. October 29th, 1787 From “Mozart’s Don Giovanni and the Invitation to Full Freedom” by WHERE? The Characters Thomas G. Casey SJ… [293-294] First performance at the “Don Giovanni discards every rule and National Theatre in Prague, COMMENDATORE, law for the sake of pleasure. The kind of The Commandant Czech Republic freedom he claims for himself is a and Donna Anna’s minimal expression of liberty: it is father freedom as the absence of physical Did you know? DONNA ANNA, constraint. This is the kind of freedom in the Commandant’s which the world of nature shares: rivers Lorenzo da Ponte daughter DON OTTAVIO, flow, plants grow, birds fly and fish swim based his libretto on a Donna Anna’s when there is nothing to impede them. previously existing fiancé Don Giovanni seeks the freedom to libretto by Giovanni follow his impulses without restriction. In Bertali for the opera his case, it is not so much natural Don Giovanni il Tenorio DON GIOVANNI, restraints such as inertia or disability that by Giuseppe the libertine and nobleman threaten to block him; instead he has to Gazzaniga, which was face down the limits imposed by society. based on the story of However, while struggling relentlessly to sustain this basic level of freedom, Don Don Juan. DONNA ELVIRA, ZERLINA, Giovanni totally neglects the kind of Don Giovanni’s Don Giovanni’s latest freedom that characterizes human Don Juan is a former lover pursuit, a commoner legendary story of a beings: the liberty to act without being seducer, originally constrained by appetites and passions… written by Spanish He mistakenly identifies freedom as the dramatist Tirso de MASETTO, power to devote his life to an endless Molina (Gabriél Zerlina’s string of conquest, whereas in fact it Téllez) in 1630. betrothed amounts to being enslaved by his drives and impulses.” Baltimore Concert Opera 11 W. Mount Vernon Pl. Read more: Baltimore MD, 21201 Thomas G., Casey. "Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and the Invitation to Full baltimoreconcertopera.com Freedom." New Blackfriars no. 1015: 288-299. 2007. Cantoni, Linda and Betsy Schwarm. “Don Giovanni.” Encyclopedia Britannica.