Study Guides

Historical Background

Running time approx: 3 hrs

Act I: Scene 1

Outside the Commendatore’s house, Leporello waits for his master, Don Giovanni. Giovanni, masked, appears with the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna, in pursuit, detaining him while calling for help. Hearing her screams, the Commendatore appears sword in hand to defend his daughter. A brief duel results in the Commendatore’s death as the Don escapes. Anna grieves, joining with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, in swearing revenge.

Act I: Scene 2

Roaming the city, Giovanni and Leporello spy a woman lamenting her faithless lover. About to offer her consolation, Giovanni is dismayed to realize she is none other than Donna Elvira, a recently abandoned conquest. As the Don hastily exits, Leporello tells Elvira she is in good company.

Act I: Scene 3

Zerlina and Masetto are celebrating their impending marriage as Giovanni, passing by, eyes the comely bride. Offering to place the marriage under his “protection”, he invites the wedding party to his castle. A suspicious Masetto is escorted away by Leporello.

Alone with Zerlina, Giovanni’s wooing proves irresistible. On the brink of running off, the pair is interrupted by Elvira, who warns Zerlina of Giovanni’s perfidy.

Anna and Ottavio, failing to recognize Giovanni, unwittingly enlist his help in searching for her attacker. Elvira returns and warns the couple not to trust the nobleman; Anna and Ottavio are moved by her tears while the Don dismisses Elvira as a madwoman. Alone with Ottavio, Anna realizes she recognizes Giovanni’s voice as the intruder’s. Recounting her ordeal, she commands Ottavio to avenge her.

Act I: Scene 4

Giovanni orders Leporello to prepare a festive ball. Zerlina copes with a sulking Masetto, who hides when Giovanni approaches and soon thwarts another seduction; the Don leads them both into the ball. Anna, Ottavio and Elvira arrive in masks, determined to capture the roué; they are admitted by Leporello.

Amid revelries, Giovanni soon isolates Zerlina, leading her to another room. When Zerlina screams, the masked trio comes to her rescue. A chaotic scene ensues with a defiant Giovanni fleeing with Leporello in tow.

Act II: Scene 1

Threatening to leave Giovanni’s service, an exasperated Leporello is appeased by bonus pay. Having now set his sights on Elvira’s maid, Giovanni and Leporello exchange clothing so the latter can court Elvira disguised as Giovanni and lead her away from the house. All too eager to forgive and forget, Elvira descends from her balcony to embrace “Giovanni”. The real Don scares them away. Now free to pursue the maid, he croons a serenade, but is interrupted again. Led by Masetto, a band of peasants is looking for Giovanni who, still in disguise, says “He went that-a-way!” Detaining Masetto, Giovanni thrashes him before disappearing. A bruised Masetto is discovered by Zerlina, who offers a special loving cure.

Act II: Scene 2

Leporello, still in disguise, leads Elvira into a darkened courtyard; Anna, Ottavio, Zerlina and Masetto appear, searching for the Don. Believing they have found him at last, they are prepared to kill poor Leporello, who removes his disguise and escapes. Alone, Ottavio vows to bring the Don to justice.

Act II: Scene 3

Giovanni and Leporello, meeting in a cemetery, are interrupted by a ghostly voice. Giovanni notices the Commendatore’s equestrian statue and instructs Leporello to invite it to supper. The Statue accepts with a solemn “yes.” The Don defiantly departs to prepare for his guest. Anna enters, mourning her father and, advises Ottavio that they cannot wed until his murder has been avenged.

Act II: Scene 4

Giovanni, dining alone, rebuffs Elvira’s desperate attempt to redeem him. Leaving, her terrified scream is heard: the Commendatore’s ghost has appeared. The ghost counters Giovanni’s invitation to dine with his own ominous invitation. With Leporello hiding in terror, Giovanni grasps the ghosts hand, only to feel a deadly chill. As the Don repeatedly refuses to repent, flames dance and demons chant. The hour of reckoning has arrived; Giovanni descends to eternal damnation.

Leporello recounts Giovanni’s demise to the two couples and Elvira. All contemplate the future. Anna and Ottavio will postpone their wedding; Elvira will join a convent; Zerlina and Masetto will go home; Leporello will seek a better master. The sinner has been punished.

Born in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart displayed uncanny musical talent at a very early age; by the time he was five, he was a keyboard virtuoso. Mozart toured Europe as a child, astounding the musical world and charming royal audiences with his improvisational ability. In addition to composing symphonies at
a tender age, he wrote his first operas while still a boy: La Finta Semplice , commissioned by the Emperor Josef II; and Bastien und Bastienne , a singspiel (German folk opera with spoken dialogue).

 

In 1777, Mozart journeyed to Paris with his mother to seek a formal position, but he had no luck, and returned home in 1779 after his mother's death. A suitably prestigious position was to elude Mozart all his life, due partly to his complicated personality and tactless, arrogant, often childish behavior. He managed to secure a job as court organist in Salzburg, an appointment he held for two years prior to the triumphant premiere of Idomeneo . This opera seria—a highly formalized type of dramatic opera which was becoming outmoded in Mozart's day—it is considered one of the greatest examples of the genre. Its success led Mozart to take up residence in Vienna.

The break with Salzburg marked the beginning of Mozart's maturity as a composer; nearly every work he produced thereafter is a masterpiece. In 1782, he wrote Die Entfuhrung auf dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), a charming comic opera which paved the way for Le Nozze di Figaro . A tremendous success at its premiere in 1786, Figaro was based on a satirical comedy by the French dramatist Beaumarchais. Unparalleled in its depth of characterization and synthesis of music and drama, Mozart's work contains some of the most sublime ensemble writing in all opera.

Following the success of Figaro , Mozart again collaborated with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, this time on a work which explored the dark side of traditional comedy; Don Giovanni (1787), an opera of enormous power and eloquence, depicts the exploits and eventual punishment of an inveterate womanizer. Cosi fan Tutte (1790) found Mozart working with da Ponte for the last time. In this comedic study of human frailty are found some of the composer's most empathetic and realistic characters.

 

Mozart's last great opera, Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute), written in 1791, is a singspiel with a libretto by impresario Emanuel Schikaneder. Beneath the simple, fairy-tale plot is a message of love, truth, and brotherhood set to music of profound spirituality and majesty. Flute was also a seminal work in the development of German music theater, which hardly existed, according to Richard Wagner, prior to the opera's premiere.

 

During Mozart's Vienna days, he composed a series of masterpieces in genres other than opera: his most famous piano concerti (no. 17 in G major, no. 20 in D minor, and no. 21 in C major, among others); the remarkable last symphonies (nos. 35-41); a number of superb piano sonatas; ten of his most beautiful string quartets; the clarinet concerto; the Mass in C Minor ;La Clemenza di Tito, another opera seria; and the unfinished Requiem Mass .

 

Mozart earned a living for himself and his wife, Constanze, through teaching, concertizing, and the fulfillment of occasional commissions from wealthy aristocrats, but the couple did not manage their money wisely, and was often heavily in debt. Mozart died penniless of unknown causes on December 5, 1791, and was buried in an anonymous pauper's grave.

Mozart's compositions rank among the greatest of all time. They are unsurpassed in beauty, wit, and technical mastery, and they express the full range of human emotions. Recent interest has centered around the composer's enigmatic life and personality as well as his music, exemplified in the great popularity of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus on stage and film.