The I-Hate-Opera Guide by Philip Eisenbeiss
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I-Hate-Opera-Guide to Mozart’s Don Giovanni Mozart operas can be frivolous, long and confusing. Which is why I hate many of them. But no, not Don Giovanni! Here you can familiarize yourself with the opera in less than 30 minutes. The most famous composer of all times created an operatic bestseller with characters we all know from real life: • • • • • • •
Don Giovanni (Don is his title, like Mister or Sir): a playboy who is dashing, handsome, rich, sings great music, and gets all the girls. What’s not to love!? Leporello: his servant and side-kick who suffers under his womanizing master Donna Elvira: A spurned former lover of Don Giovanni; she just won’t give up and wants him back Zerlina: A simple young peasant girl who only wants to get married to her boyfriend Masetto Donna Anna: The strong and smart woman who rejects the playboy and orchestrates his downfall Don Ottavio: Anna’s fiancé, a bit of a weeny until Anna pushes him into action The Commendatore: Donna Anna’s father; a good man and retired officer, whose resurrection will give you nightmares
Structure: • • •
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Mozart created an absolute masterpiece, starting with the famous Overture. In an unusual turn, the composer wrote nearly all men’s parts as bass-baritones (Ottavio is the exception) and all the women as sopranos. While the opera has some great stand-alone arias, try to focus on the brilliantly orchestrated duets, quartets and sextets, showing differing emotions and intentions of Recitatives, half-spoken half-sung and accompanied by harpsichord, hold the plot together (honestly, I do hate recitatives). But we all agree on this: with only two acts (with many short-ish scenes), you’ll be out of theatre before you learned Don Giovanni’s best seduction tricks.
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Act 1: The opera opens to a frustrated Leporello who sings about how he wants to quit his awful job. He is standing guard while Don Giovanni, in masked disguise, tries to seduce Donna Anna. But she’s not an easy victim, which triggers the plot of the opera. She fights off the unknown man. Her father, the Commendatore, intervenes to defend her but gets killed by Don Giovanni. The playboy is unperturbed and speeds up his schedule of seduction, this time chasing a Donna Elvira. When it turns out he knows her already, and she is actually chasing him, the lothario escapes and leaves Leporello to sort it out. Watch Italian superstar bass-baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo sing this popular aria (ignore his ridiculous hat!), where he tries to dissuade Elvira from falling for his roguish boss. He lists Don Giovanni’s many many conquests. Notice the playful orchestral accompaniment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJjHVTCm4HE
Don Giovanni’s next victim is Zerlina, who is about to marry her betrothed Masetto. Watch one of the most famous seduction duets ever written, with Giovanni sweettalking his way into innocent Zerlina’s heart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GADW9XYoLBY
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Elvira intervenes and rescues Zerlina. Confusingly, Donna Anna and Don Ottavio arrive, and after first asking Don Giovanni for help (remember – he was masked during the murder), they soon realise he’s the villain. Giovanni moves away swiftly, and just wants more girls. He instructs Leporello to arrange a big party with many young women to make drunk and abuse. Watch Spanish bass-baritone Carlos Alvarez sing this very short “champagne aria.” Notice the very simple orchestration: singer and orchestra do almost the same thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB0Y_1MbJK4
The party is a typically Mozartian confusion of people entering, exiting, hiding and eavesdropping. Don Giovanni tries to sexually assault Zerlina. But Don Ottavio and the ladies intervene, and Giovanni escapes again. Act 2: Don Giovanni now plans to seduce Don Elvira’s maid. He sings this stunning serenade accompanied only by a mandolin. Canadian baritone Gerald Finley does a particularly good job with this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6dXiybqMpo
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Don Giovanni figures the maid will respond better if he wears working class clothing, so he swaps outfits with Leporello. Confusion ensues with everyone involved. Ottavio finally springs into action and swears revenge on the murderer of his lover’s father. Watch a totally unknown singer at the Met doing a lovely job with this little aria. Check out the challenging breathing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxTE3_i-SdI
Donna Elvira, however, is still confused about her feelings for Don Giovanni. She feels betrayed yet she also pities him. She sings a fiendishly difficult aria: “That ungrateful wretch betrayed me". For all those opera buffs who think Mozart is easy to sing, check out this young Italian soprano at the Met; even she struggles to keep up with the tricky pace. But she does. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkdGQrw614U
Don Giovanni and Leporello meet up at a graveyard. This is where the opera takes a turn towards the supernatural and the joviality disappears. The statue on the tomb of the Commendatore starts speaking to them – yes from the dead. Don Giovanni laughs off the statue and invites him to dinner. Ottavio, meanwhile, is trying to convince Anna to marry him, but she hesitates given the recent death of her father. 5
Don Giovanni is enjoying dinner at his home when Elvira enters, trying to convince him to change his ways. He of course refuses. But then the statue of the Commendatore walks in, having come from the dead to accept his dinner invite. Leporello shivers in the background as the figure tells Giovanni to repent, which he of course won’t. The statue grabs the playboy’s hand and drags him to the underworld. Watch this full 7-minute scene. It’s worth every minute and will ruin your sleep. Listen to how the violins build up the tension in the background. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzQMtnjiceY
So, this is where we think the opera is over. But in the 1780s operas required a resolution. So the protagonists all get together and sing a finale, singing how evildoers never end well, and then the characters go on their merry way. If you feel like it, watch this excerpt without English subtitles. It’s all about the musical sophistication. Hear how Mozart beautifully blends the voices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wBIpynEWgY
© Philip Eisenbeiss 2019 for Opera Hong Kong
Opera Hong Kong Proudly Presents Don Giovanni 17-19 May 2019 Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre 6 For more details: http://operahongkong.org/don_giovanni/