Don Giovanni has been widely regarded as the greatest opera ever composed. That’s a pretty bold statement, but however you rank it, Mozart’s opera is a brilliant combination of stark human tragedy and touching comedy, set to music of limitless genius. On World of Opera host Lisa Simeone presents it in a new production from Houston Grand Opera, starring baritone Mariusz Kwiecien in the title role.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), is considered one of the most brilliant and versatile composers ever. He worked in all musical genres of his era, wrote inspired works in each genre, and produced an extraordinary number of compositions, especially considering his short life. By the time Mozart died at age 35, he had completed 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, 23 string quartets, 17 piano sonatas, 7 major operas, and numerous works for voice and other instruments.
Mozart was born in Salzburg into a musical family and showed indications of prodigious abilities at a very young age. As a child prodigy Mozart toured Europe and became widely regarded as a miracle of nature because of his musical gifts as a performer of piano, harpsichord, and organ and as a composer of instrumental and vocal music.
His mature masterpieces begin with the Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major (Jeunehomme, 1777), one of about a dozen outstanding concertos he wrote for piano. Also successful as an opera composer, Mozart wrote three exceptional Italian operas to texts by Italian librettist Lorenzo da Ponte: Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro, 1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (All Women Do So, 1790). They were followed in 1791 by his supreme German opera, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute).
Editor: Liu Fang
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