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The Revelations of Don Giovanni at the Met
by Sadie Stein
Kate Lindsey and Adam Plachetka in Don Giovanni, at the Met, February 2nd.
Kate Lindsey and Adam Plachetka in Don Giovanni, at the Met, February 2nd.CreditPh
otograph by Julieta Cervantes/The New York Times/Redux
The current production of Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera, running through
March 6th, is the opera of the moment, a profoundly political and moral vision t
hats as much of our time as of Mozarts own. I saw it on Saturday night; its as much
of a historical revelation as it is a musical delight.
Mozarts glorious music sets the scene on a monstrosity, and his musical realizati
on of a monstrous world and its deliverance is one of the glories of the history
of art. Don Giovannihis Don Juanisnt just a serial seducer, hes a rapist. The operas
first dramatic scene finds him in the bedroom of a noblewoman, Donna Anna (sung
by Elza van den Heever), who fights him off. Her cries are heard by her father,
the Commendatore (James Morris), who challenges her masked assailant. In the en
suing sword fight, Don Giovanni (Peter Mattei) kills the Commendatore and flees,
unrecognized. The main plot of the opera is the effort of Donna Anna and her be
trothed, Don Ottavio (Dmitry Korchak), along with other victims of Don Giovanni,
to identify the rapist and murderer and then to catch him and take revenge for
his crimes against women and his murder of the Commendatore.
Don Giovanni, which Mozart composed and premired in 1787, is a closeup, cross-secti
onal panorama of feudal Europe as seen from the revelatory angle of sex and love
, pleasure and power, seduction and fidelity, and the state of relations between
men and women. The Mets production, directed by Michael Grandage, is aptly set i
n the operas own era, and Grandage captures its implications with an extraordinar
y dramatic clarity thats equally the work of the splendid cast of singers. There
have been many efforts to update the action to later timesnotably, Peter Sellarss
production, which situates it on the Lower East Side in the nineteen-eighties, a
nd two new productions, one set in a current-day mansion and another in a curren
t-day corporate headquarters. But there may be no classic opera that more closel
y addresses the sociopolitical specifics of its time and place than does Don Giov
anni, and Grandages production, though modest in reinventive ambition, provides a
worthy clarity and focus to the operas theatrical genius.
Mozarts musical masterwork, from 1787, is also a dramatic masterwork, because of
Lorenzo Da Pontes libretto, as well as Mozarts musical and psychological conceptio
n. Mozart was, in effect, a dramatist in music, endowed with a finesse and a pow
er of psychological insight akin to that of the greatest novelists. He was also
a man of free-thinking, empathetic rage, and the rage of Don Giovanni is more than
just a denunciation of a single unhinged predator; its a jagged-edged slash at t
he arrogance of the class of noblesand a vision of women living in a state of sub
jection and vulnerability, in desperate hope of sincere love as well as of stalw
art protection. As such, Don Giovanni is both a dramatic unfolding of a philosophi
cal theory of empathetic love among equals and a wild and ironic harbinger of th
e French Revolution.
The core of the operaand its a moment that the production emphasizes with its star
kest staging and most passionate intensityis the scene in which Donna Anna tells
Ottavio that she has recognized Don Giovanni by his voice. She narrates, in a lo
ng, searingly confessional recitative, how Don Giovanni stole into her room, how
she took him for Ottavio, how she fought him off, and how the killing occurred.
Donna Anna follows the tale with an aria of a harrowing fury, Or sai chi lonore (No
w you know who tried to steal my honor).
Its a scene that foreshadows Verdi and verismo, a moment of pure righteous passio
n, of the moral force of sacred justiceand what Mozart and Da Ponte top it with i
s dramatic and moral shock. Don Ottavio, to whom Donna Anna has just poured out
her heart, has trouble believing her: How could one ever believe a nobleman capab
le of so black a crime? But he decides to seek the truth for her sake: I will disabu
se her or avenge her.
Don Ottavio is no villainhes an intensely sympathetic lover. His aria that follows
, Dalla sua pace, is a tender song of love and empathy: his peace of mind depends
on hers; her joys and sufferings are his. Hes a moderate, judicious man who doesnt
fly off at the handle; he has to know the facts before taking on a mortal duty.
He trusts in the system, and that system is the very subject of the opera.
While hes being pursued by Don Ottavio and Donna Anna, Don Giovanni is busy seduc
ing another womanZerlina, a young peasant woman who is about to marry the rustic
Masetto. Their duet is the model of Giovannis method: he flirts, he talks glitter
ingly, he makes false promises of wealth (I will change your life) and even of mar
riage, and with his suave wit and heartily elegant bearing, he seemingly wins he
r heart. After elaborate machinations to distract Masetto, the Don carries her o
ff by force and tries to rape her.
Mattei, as Don Giovanni, is magnificently cast. Hes tall, handsome, graceful, and
vigorous, and his baritone voice rolls out with a hearty, lofty warmth. He play
s the Don not as a repulsive old lecher but as a man of truly seductive virtues,
of worldly insight and Olympian command, who perverts his own talents and abuse
s his own position in cavalier pursuit of pleasure. Mozart and Da Ponte lend thi
s nobleman a true nobility of character, which is what makes his tyrannical arro
gance no mere transgression but a tragedy. The depravity, high-handedness, and c
ruelty of an authentically sophisticated nobility, both as a ruling class and as
a model of refinement and character, is tragedyDon Giovannis, his fiefdoms, and al
l Europes.
Mozart and Da Ponte arent blind to Don Giovannis virtues, but theyre most evident i
n the eyes of a particular characterDonna Elvira, another woman whom he had seduc
ed and abandoned. The roles fierce musical glories (superbly rendered by the sopr
ano Emma Bell) reflect the complexity of her tormentshe starts by craving revenge
but cant deny her love for him. In her desperate affection for a scoundrel whose
latent merit she is perhaps alone in seeing, her hatred turns to pity and she o
ffers him, at the last moment, his final chance at redemption, telling him, Chang
e your life!
Don Giovanni cant change his life, of courseand the composer and librettist bring
him to justice in a furious, slyly ironic conclusion thats one of the greatest ta
g endings in the history of theatre. It follows the seeming climax of the action
, after the Don is recognized as the man who tried to rape Donna Anna and killed
her father, the Commendatore. Ottavio urges Anna, in effect, to get on with her
life and marry him; but she is inconsolable (singing one of the most beautiful
and insightful lines in all opera, Leave me this one outlet for all my sorrows). O
ttavio takes it upon himself, as he had promised, to avenge himself on Don Giova
nni, but the criminal proves elusive, and Don Ottavio seeks justice: he heads of
f to press charges. After filing them, he returns to Donna Anna to urge her to c
alm down, to trust in the law, and to marry him.
Donna Anna is astoundedshe cant think of pleasure until Don Giovanni has been puni
shed. Ottavio considers her delay cruel, and she sings another great tragic aria e
xplaining that she loves him but is still unconsoled: Maybe someday, heaven will
take pity on me.
This should be, realistically, the last line of the opera. Don Giovanni is a mas
ter of disguises and of ruses as well as of the swordhe wont be caught alive by th
e likes of Ottavio. And the powerful Don Giovanni has even more powerful friendsh
e wont be arrested, hell never face trial. Mozart and Da Ponte are saying, in effe
ct, Forget it, Anna, its Europe.
What Mozart and Da Ponte offer instead is a deus ex machina of Christian moralit
y but of conspicuously Greco-Roman inspiration (theres even a reference to Proserp
ina and Pluto to make the point). Don Giovanni, taking refuge in a secluded garde
n, stumbles upon the tomb of the Commendatore, which speaks to him and seeks his
repentance. In a terrifyingly sublime roar of hubris, Don Giovanni invites the
spirit of the Commendatore to join him for dinner. The ultimate result, of cours
e, is that the Commendatore opens the earth and sends Don Giovanni to the flames
of Hell, restoring order, through divine intervention, that couldnt be restored
through human authority.
Its a great moment of theatre (one thats played to the hilt in the Mets production)
, and, of course, its a brilliantly intentional display of flaming bullshit: ther
e is no Hell and no God for Don Giovanni to fear, and Mozart and Da Ponte are sa
ying, in effect, that the feudal continents reigning Don Giovannis are above the
law and that nothing in the social order as it currently exists, nothing short o
f the sort of divine intervention that plays well in wishes and churches and pra
yers and theatres but has little to do with the way of the world, will bring the
m to justice. Two years later came the French Revolution.
The world in which a woman can find earnest, enduring lovethat did exist, and Moz
art saw it and knew it in his heart. (Maria Popova, at Brain Pickings, points to
the devoted ardor of Mozarts own marriage to Constanze Weber.) But a world in wh
ich a serial rapist and pseudo-romantic predator could get away with his actions
, could rampage with impunity because of his social position, his reputation, hi
s wealth, and his powerand, for that matter, in which the social virtues of eroti
c vitality and charismatic energy are distorted into crime, and then, in which t
hat crime goes unpunishedand in which an honest and reasonable romantic couple of
sober virtue such as Donna Anna and Don Ottavio doesnt stand a chance against th
e unchecked will of the grandeesthis was, for Mozart, an absolute abomination, a
deal-killer, the breaking of the social contract. In his lyrical effervescence a
nd visionary passion, he saw past the end of the old world. He didnt live long en
ough to see much of the new onehe died in 1791.
Da Ponte, however, arrived in New York in 1805. He taught Italian at Columbia, f
ounded an opera company, staged Don Giovanni, and died here in 1838 at the age of
eighty-nine. Had Mozart (who was born in 1756) only lived to join him herewhere t
hey could gleefully have skewered onstage another system of erotic oppression, s
uch as the puritanical heritage . . .

inmozartsfootsteps.com
Mozart s "Don Giovanni": Perfection in Musical Characterization - In Mozart s Fo
otsteps - Uncommon Musical Travel
Posted on
When asked which of his own operas he liked best, Gioachino Rossini wishfully sa
id Don Giovanni. When Tchaikovsky looked at Mozarts manuscript for the opera, he co
mmented that he as in the presence of divinity. Charles Gounod claimed that Don Gio
vanni was a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection. Gustave Flaubert, a
uthor of Madame Bovary, believed that Don Giovanni, Hamlet and the sea were the thr
ee finest things God ever made.
Estates Theater, Prague, Mozart, Don Giovanni
The Estates Theater in Prague, where "Don Giovanni" was first performed on Octob
er 29, 1787.
There are many reasons for such admiration of the Don Giovanni. Certainly, Mozart
was at the peak of his creative ability when he fulfilled this commission for th
e Nostitz (now Estates) Theater in Prague, and his three collaborations with lib
rettist Lorenzo Da Ponte (Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte) are among
operas finest creations. Of course, the
Plaque inside the Estates Theater saying that "Don Giovanni" and "La Clemenza di
Tito" were first performed there.
Don Juan storythe downfall of a serial womanizer and the inability of a person to c
hange for the betteris a tale that has had universal appeal and numerous settings
. (Incidentally, Da Ponte may have had some extra insight into the lead characte
r as he was friends with Casanova in Venice.) Finally, the opera mixes serious a
nd comic elements to perfection.
What gives Don Giovanni its timeless value and makes it a superior musical work
is not only the subject matter or the balance between the comic and the serious;
it is Mozarts absolutely brilliant portrayal of the inner emotional states of ea
ch character through his music. It is as if Mozart could look directly into the
soul and psyche of each person on stage and then create the melodies and harmoni
es to give the audience an uncanny view into this characters most intimate feelin
gs.
mozart, don giovanni, prague
A haunting memorial to the Commentadore outside the theater.
This is most readily apparent in the music sung by Don Giovanni himself, which m
irrors the twists and turns of his complex personality as the story unfolds. Whe
n Giovanni is confronted by the Commentadore in the opening scene, Mozarts music
depicts the lead character as somewhat reluctant to engage the distinguished old
er gentleman, but then the music morphs to expose the a more aggressive side of
Giovanni as he is unwilling to walk away from the conflict. The most important c
onflict of the opera is enhanced by Mozarts music.
A contrasting side of the same character is shown as he attempts to show his tru
stworthiness and gentle nature in his romantic pursuits of Zerlina in Act 1 and
Donna Elviras maid in Act 2. In the duet with Zerlina (La ci darem la mano), Giovan
ni invites his prey to overcome her resistance until the two sing together before
leaving the stage. In Deh, vieni, the cloaked leading man shows his mandolin-play
ing prowess in another attempted seduction. His excitement for an upcoming part
y comes out in spades in the fast and exuberant Champagne Aria in which he claims
his list of female conquests will be enhanced by at least ten by tomorrow morning
.
estates theater prague mozart don giovanni
The auditorium of the Estates Theater is unusual because it is in blue. A admini
strator told David Nelson that they chose that because Prague "had seen too much
red" referring to the communist era.
The absolute core of Don Giovannis character does not come out until the end of t
he opera when the Commentadore comes back to life as the Stone Guest and challen
ges Giovanni to repent and give up his philandering ways. Mozart gives us the mo
st dramatic music of the evening, bringing back the solemn introduction and angs
t-filled scales from the beginning of the overture. Against the insistency of th
e Stone Guest with his ominous, unchanging melody and Leoporellos humorous, fast
interjections, is the main characters steadfast resolve not to change. When the m
usic reaches a fever pitch, Mozart increases the tempo and adds chorus. Still, G
iovanni refuses to relent, and his emphatic Nos become even more insistent until he
is finally dragged downphysically and musicallyto the gates of Hell. If one think
s this is powerful music today, imagine how it must have affected audiences in 1
787.
Mozarts portrayal of the other characters is just as rich. Don Ottavios overly acc
ommodating personality, as he continues to wait for his beloved Donna Anna to fi
nish her seemingly never-ending grieving, comes out in his two solo arias.
prague, don giovanni, cherubs, mozart
Two cherubs as part of the interior of the auditorium.
Leporellos clumsy yet humorous attempt to pacify the angry Donna Elvira by tellin
g her of all 2,065 of Giovannis romantic conquests (so far) is presented in the i
ntentionally over-the-top Catalogue Aria. (Listen to how the male low strings chase
the female upper strings as the music begins.) The peasant character of Zerlina is
beautifully reflected in the simple Batti, batti, and her Vendrai Carino is one of
the most moving depictions of pure love ever written.
Don Giovanni is an opera that works on many levels. It has a timeless story, beaut
ifully developed characters, and a wonderful text. But the words coming from the
stage can only tell us so much about each personality. It is Mozarts inspired mu
sic that highlights the inner nature of each character in ways that no libretto
ever could.