The Story of “Don Giovanni”
Don Juan is a rogue and a libertine who takes great pleasure in seducing women and enjoys fighting their champions. Later, in a graveyard Don Juan encounters a statue of the dead father of a girl he has seduced, and, impiously, invites him to dine with him; the statue gladly accepts. The father’s ghost arrives for dinner at Don Juan’s house and in turn invites Don Juan to dine with him in the graveyard. Don Juan accepts, and goes to the father's grave where the statue asks to shake Don Juan’s hand. When he extends his arm, the statue grabs hold and drags him away, to Hell.
Mozart’s Don Giovanni
Mozart’s opera has been described as a comedy, and it has any number of uproarious moments. But there’s far more to Don Giovanni than just a series of big laughs, just as the notorious Don is more than just an unprincipled, single-minded ladies’ man. The opera’s comic element is driven by Giovanni’s devious schemes and hijinks. But both Lorenzo da Ponte’s libretto and Mozart’s matchless music ensure that the dire consequences of those schemes are as evident as their humor.
The result is a disturbing ambiguity that’s at the core of Mozart’s masterpiece. The Don’s personality is so beguiling that audiences actually tend to root for him, even as his dark side becomes more and more obvious. Still, when he eventually receives a personal invitation to hell, and his enemies rejoice, it’s hard to blame them.
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