Don Giovanni

Dramma giocoso in two acts, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte.

Original title: Il dissolute punito ossia il Don Giovanni – The Rake Punished or Don Giovanni

The action takes place in Seville.

ACT I

Leporello is keeping watch while Don Giovanni has entered the house of Donna Anna. He complains of his job as a manservant. Donna Anna comes out of the house, following the seducer. The Commander crosses swords with Don Giovanni and is murdered. Donna Anna, who had gone to get help, discovers her father’s body and makes her fiancée, Don Ottavio, swear vengeance.

After they have managed to get away, Don Giovanni confides his new projects to Leporello. They are interrupted by Donna Elvira, who has come to look for her betraying lover. Don Giovanni retires, leaving Leporello to explain the situation to her.

Close to Seville, Zerlina and Masetto celebrate their upcoming marriage. Don Giovanni invites them at his place, seeking to attract the girl, but Donna Elvira intervenes. The truth has become apparent to Donna Anna and Don Ottavio, to whom Elvira has been introduced by Don Giovanni as an insane woman. Donna Anna has recognized the adventurer’s voice and wants to take revenge. The merriment continues. Masetto refuses to forgive his fiancée, but she convinces him. Don Giovanni invites everyone and, after being discovered in his attempt at seducing Zerlina, he runs away with Leporello, leaving everybody angry.

ACT II

The adventures continue. Don Giovanni and Leporello have hidden in a graveyard. The dark voice of a statue announces them that the end is near. Don Giovanni orders Leporello to tell the statue, which belongs to the Commander, that he invites it to dinner. The statue agrees.

The last scene depicts a party at the adventurer’s palace. Donna Elvira appears again, begging him to repent. Then, after the jokes of Don Giovanni, she retired, awfully scared by the appearance of the statue. Stammering, Leporello announces the entrance of the Commander, who summons the nobleman. Bravely, Don Giovanni shakes the statue’s hand, refusing to repent, out of fear and cowardice. A cold shiver paralyses him. Don Giovanni is carried down to Hell, while all the participants in his adventures conclude on the moral of these events.

*Book of Opera, 1996 Wordsworth Edition, Dicționar de teatru liric, 2008