Difference between revisions of "Don Giovanni"
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==Structure and Musical Style== | ==Structure and Musical Style== | ||
| − | ''Don Giovanni'', in contrast to Mozart's other operatic achievements, is cast in two long acts -- rather than three or four acts, which was the norm. It's to the credit of DaPonte's tight dramatic pacing and Mozart's excellent | + | ''Don Giovanni'', in contrast to Mozart's other operatic achievements, is cast in two long acts -- rather than three or four acts, which was the norm. It's to the credit of DaPonte's tight dramatic pacing and Mozart's excellent music that the longer acts only intensify the drama. Compared to ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'', the first collaboration of Mozart and DaPonte, there is less reliance on [[recitative]], and more through-composition of scenes, lending the opera a more immediate and accessible quality. |
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
Revision as of 15:37, March 7, 2010
Don Giovanni (full title Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni - En. "The Rake punished," K. 527) is a two-act opera composed in 1787 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. This would be their second of three joint ventures, all three of them masterpieces. Its plot deals with the downfall and eventual punishment of the legendary womanizer, known in other works as Don Juan.
Don Giovanni was perhaps considered Mozart's greatest opera in the 19th century, and is still among the ten most-performed operas throughout the world.[1] It was first performed in Prague in 1787, and shortly thereafter premiered (in modified form) in Vienna.
Roles
| Role | Voice type |
|---|---|
| Don Giovanni, a young, extremely licentious nobleman | baritone |
| The Commandant (Don Pedro) | Bass |
| Donna Anna, his daughter, betrothed to Don Ottavio | soprano |
| Don Ottavio | tenor |
| Donna Elvira, a lady of Burgos abandoned by Don Giovanni | soprano |
| Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant | bass |
| Masetto, engaged to- | bass |
| Zerlina, a peasant | soprano |
| Chorus of peasants, servants, young ladies, musicians | |
Structure and Musical Style
Don Giovanni, in contrast to Mozart's other operatic achievements, is cast in two long acts -- rather than three or four acts, which was the norm. It's to the credit of DaPonte's tight dramatic pacing and Mozart's excellent music that the longer acts only intensify the drama. Compared to The Marriage of Figaro, the first collaboration of Mozart and DaPonte, there is less reliance on recitative, and more through-composition of scenes, lending the opera a more immediate and accessible quality.