Mozart is perhaps the most renown composer of all time. In his opera “Don Giovanni” Mozart weaves a tale of morality, betrayal and the powers of persuasion. With Don Giovanni’s demise at the end of the opera, one gets the message that every sinner will meet their fate eventually. There is no way to escape an evildoer’s doom. Although Don Giovanni is the sinner in this opera, he is also the main character and the focus of the story. Mozart’s music and the accompanying vocals are able to completely convey to the audience what the characters are going through, the emotional background for each scene as well as forecast what may happen in the near future.
All of the main characters serve a different purpose in the opera. Don Giovanni, the main character is the sinner and is portrayed as such. He has an outward appearance of being a good looking, rich and smooth operating man however his actions and what people say of him tell us differently. He appears to us as two-timing, deceiving and selfish. He attempts to rape Donna Anna, and kills her father, Commendatore in the process. Some of his qualities are in fact quite demonic and cruel.
It is hard to find any admirable qualities that Don Giovanni bears. Whether or not it is considered positive, his power to seduce women at will is something that men all over the world desire. He is also a man that goes for what he wants and does not hesitate, although he usually goes about his goals deceitfully and in an unlawful manner. He cares only for himself, and not for the trouble he causes Leporello, or any of the women he seduces and the people they care about. Therefore, at the end of the story Commendatore is avenged by the death of Don Giovanni. Donna Anna, Elvira and Ottavio all rejoice.
Leporello plays quite a different role than his master Giovanni. “Don Giovanni” is an opera buffa, meaning an opera with many comedic tones. Indeed it is a dark comedy, and Leporello provides the majority of the humor. In scene five he devotes an entire aria, or solo, to the number and types of women Giovanni has slept with. Leporello has many mixed feelings towards his master. On one side he is a devoted servant, who does whatever he is told. He helps Don Giovanni to elude his pursuers who include Donna Elvira, Anna and Ottavio. Leporello also distracts Masetto, Zerlina’s husband to be, so that Giovanni can be alone with his fiancé Zerlina, another attempted conquest.
To the contrary, Leporello is also extremely resentful, angry and embarrassed with Giovanni. He believes that Giovanni has gone too far with all of his lies and conquests, and he becomes disgusted with himself for participating. He is pushed around and bullied by his master and gets angry that he succeeds at all of his missions. In scene fifteen we see that as Giovanni is feasting on good food and wine, he leaves his servant Leporello to be starving with nothing to eat. He must scramble around for scraps.
Despite the displeasures he has with his master, Leporello is still faithful and does not want Giovanni to die. He pleads with Giovanni to repent when given the chance, however Giovanni refuses. This simply reinforces what we already know about Don Giovanni. He is too arrogant and has too much pride to “give in” and repent. He will not apologize for anything he does, and therefore he gets what he deserves. Don Giovanni is a sinner and he denies himself the chance for forgiveness. This exemplifies the main theme of the opera- the issue of morality and righteousness, as well as the consequences of sin, including murder and adultery.
The two main women characters in “Don Giovanni” are Donna Anna and Donna Elvira. Donna Anna and Donna Elvira only share one common trait, they are both completely obsessed with Giovanni. Donna Anna is obsessed with her hatred for the man. She is absolutely repulsed by Don Giovanni once she discovers that he was the one who killed her father and attempted to rape her. She dedicates her life to making sure Don Giovanni is caught and punished, and even postpones her marriage to Don Ottavio until this is done.
Donna Elvira on the other hand, despite what she sometimes says, is still deeply in love with Giovanni. She foils his attempts to seduce Zerlina, and reveals his true nature to Ottavio and Anna. Even though she was once hurt by him she will not give up on him and leaves herself open to be hurt again. Leporello disguises himself as Giovanni and pretends to be in love with her still. Unfortunately, she falls for the ploy and is hurt once more. However, Donna Elvira is the stronger of the two women characters. Donna Anna relies on Ottavio to avenge her father, whereas Donna Elvira takes action into her own hands. She confronts him and ruins his plans because she has a strong enough will to do it herself.
Although every scene in the opera is important, there are several scenes that masterfully combine music and song to truly exemplify not only the important themes of the opera, but also the nature of the main characters described above. The first such scene I found was scene five, Act I, which is one of the longer scenes in the opera. Here in a recitative, a half speaking/half singing conversation, we learn of Donna Elvira and her obsession with and betrayal by Don Giovanni. Elvira’s voice booms with determination when she sings, and the music during her entrance is playful due to it’s high pitches and exciting due to its fast tempo.
We also see several other important aspects of “Don Giovanni” in this scene. For one, the audience gets a large dose of comedy thanks to Leporello and his aria, something to be expected in an opera buffa. The solo is quite hilarious, as he continuously lists by region and body type the many women whom Giovanni has seduced. The music has a very fast tempo and is very high pitched, as well as having a loud dynamic, which combined add a sense of fake drama to the song. His voice is convincing but soothing in the way one would tell a story. We also learn of Leporello’s willingness to cover for his master. Giovanni sneaks off unnoticed while Leporello talks to Elvira.
Scene thirteen is another extremely important scene that uses effective combinations of music and singing to convey powerful emotions and development of the plot. I believe this scene is the most effective dramatically and musically for several reasons. The recitative between Donna Anna and Don Ottavio begins with a dark timbre that makes the scene feel extremely important and dramatic. It also has an extremely loud dynamic and has several incomplete cadences which then burst open suddenly during more intense parts of Anna’s story.
She reveals the true nature of the wrongdoer to Ottavio, whom we already know to be Giovanni. Her voice sounds so sad but yet so honest while singing, that even without translation one could guess the general nature of the story. At the same time, one can hear the kind and caring tones in Ottavio’s voice. During Anna’s aria the music is very high pitched as she pleads with Ottavio to seek vengeance against Giovanni. The way she sings makes her sound very persuasive and powerful, but also loving.
In this scene we learn about Donna Anna and her feelings towards Giovanni, as well as her means of getting revenge through Ottavio. The scene advances the plot rather far, whereas in some scenes the plot stays completely stagnant. For the advancing of the plot, the important revelations made and the extremely successful and powerful music and singing, I feel this was perhaps the best dramatic and musical scene of the opera.
One of the best portrayals of character in the opera can be found as the plot continues to scene fifteen. At first, Leporello is by himself speaking his mind. The power and tone of his voice reveal how angry he is. He is fed up with Giovanni’s games and is determined to help him no more. Here we see a powerful outburst from the outspoken side of Leporello’s mind. As Giovanni arrives and the two converse in recitative form, one can hear the arrogance and selfishness in his voice.
However, as the conversation continues the dominant Leporello returns as he describes how he has once again helped Don Giovanni elude Elvira and the crowd. Giovanni begins his aria here, and the way he sings and what he sings of shows a complete indifference to Leporello’s dedication and suffering. The instrumental music begins with a very fast tempo and shows the excitement Giovanni has for the upcoming ball at his home. He dreams of more conquests soon to come, and if there were still any lingering doubts about Giovanni’s disgusting nature they vanish with this scene and this song.
Act I comes to an end with Giovanni being discovered attempting to sleep with Zerlina, and Act II begins. However, excluding the final few scenes I found Act II to be much more dull and disappointing than the first act. Act II, scene sixteen though, definitely changes the pace set by the preceding scenes. Donna Elvira enters and to Leporello’s dismay expresses that her love for Giovanni is too strong to simply ignore. Her voice becomes very high pitched with a rapid tempo, which together portray her frustrations and her strong feelings. Giovanni, of course, remains interested only with his own feelings and time. Elvira leaves and then suddenly there is a loud scream. The music immediately explodes into a loud dynamic, fast tempo and high pitched dramatic blasting. It truly conveys a feeling of fear to the audience, yet as Leporello explains what he saw the music has a dark timbre and is very low pitched. The Commendatore is coming! and the music is so well done one can literally hear the demise of a villain is coming shortly. This masterfully composed scene comes to a conclusion and soon after so does the life of Don Giovanni.
The vocal and instrumental music of “Don Giovanni” combine to illustrate the entire story. All of the ups and downs, sadness as well as excitement and love, character flaws and changing character views. The morally unacceptable Don Giovanni meets his end and once again all is right in the world. Mozart expresses his views to us in musical form and the audience certainly learns their lesson to be moral, honest and stay within the boundaries of the law. Aspiring adulterers and murderers learn from Giovanni’s example and know that for every action there is a reaction. Act I, scenes five, thirteen and fifteen were in my opinion the best done and most musically and dramatically moving and important. The scenes all contribute greatly to the advancement of the plot, while at the same time we learn in depth about all of the characters and the theme of the story. Act II scene sixteen sets the stage for Giovanni’s death and leaves the audience’s auditory sensations satisfied after a great performance.
