HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE

Motivation/Role Play Exercises


Drama vs. Giacosa:

Since Don Giovanni is known as a dramma giocosa, the opera contains elements of both, drama and humor, sometimes simultaneously. The "dramma" moments have elements of the traditional opera seria or serious and tragic opera to them and the "giocosa" has elements of the opera buffa or comic opera of the time (late 18^th century). Most of the characters fall neatly into one or the other category. Clearly Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, the Commendatore (Donna Anna’s father) and to a good extent, Donna Elvira, fall into the "serious" category, while Leporello and the two peasants, Zerlina and Masetto are in the "buffa" category. That leaves Don Giovanni himself about whom more has been written and said than almost any other operatic character of all time. He generally fits in to whatever is going on at the time, occasionally acting as a serious foil to his servant Leporello’s comic character and at other times playing the comedian as he sings a mock serenade to Donna Elvira’s maid. Except for his flashy but brief "Champaigne Aria" he has no real aria of his own, yet his presence permeates the entire opera, even when he is not physically present on stage at the moment. (As students follow the opera, it might be useful to make a 2-column chart, one exemplifying the serious moments and the other illustrating the comic ones. The differentiation of these two contrasting themes and styles will be illuminated during this section.)

1) Overture—The Overture, in two distinct sections, emphasizes the contrast between serious and comic. The opening music of the overture presages the climactic scene at the banquet when the statue comes to dinner. Two fortissimo syncopated chords in the full orchestra in D minor (minus the trombones which Mozart saves for the end) over low tremolo octaves in the low strings, followed by deathly silence introduces the "drama" portion of the opera (Ex. #1a).

This is followed by an insistent dotted rhythm with alternating minor and eerie diminished chords in the strings. A syncopated melody in the violins with the pulses between the beats increases the tension. Soon the rarely used harmonic minor scale—with its raised 6^th and 7^th ascending and lowered back in its descent—creates a ghost like atmosphere (Ex. #1b).

The dynamics are marked crescendo in the ascending scale and piano in the descent. The dotted rhythm supports these rising and falling scales. Each measure of these four consecutive scales starts one note higher, thus heightening the tension. All of this and more will return in the climactic scene near the end of the opera when the statue of the Commendatore accepts Don Giovanni’s offer to dine with him. The "drama" portion of the Overture now stated, we come now to the main body of the overture in the parallel key of D major, a bright traditional sonata-allegro form with a "giocoso" feel, which to many represent the character of the impetuous, pleasure-seeking Don (Ex. #1c). Note the chromatic link of the D sharp in the second measure, propelling the melody upward to a syncopation in the third and fourth measures, followed by a quick descent in eighth notes leading to a light woodwind fanfare in measure 7 and 8.2)

2) Opening Scene—Leporello is alone on stage while Don Giovanni is inside the palace trying to seduce the daughter of the Commendatore. In a light, staccato, comic aria Leporello bemoans his lot as servant to the Don (Ex. #2a). Part of the style of an opera buffa is to have a comic bass sing lots of words in a rapid-fire patter style, often on one note. Example #2b, taken from this opening aria, is just such an example.

3) Two trios—Donna Anna emerges from the palace in the clutches of Don Giovanni. She and Don Giovanni sing alternate, imitative lines as she tries to save her honor and virtue while he muses over what fury this instills in him (Ex. #3a).

This is clearly a serious moment, yet in the third line to this trio, Leporello is heard mumbling in a patter line how he got stuck in the service of such a libertine (Ex. #3b).

Donna Anna’s father, the Commendatore comes to her aid and the Don challenges him to a duel. Dramatic, upwardly rushing strings accompany a brief swordfight as the old man is no match for the Don and succumbs to a mortal thrust of his sword. A unique trio for three basses follows. The interweaving of the three bass lines, each one according to his own character—the dying Commendatore in halting phrases, the Don declaring that the old fool got what he deserved and Leporello wanting to get far away from there—is a master stroke in the serious side of the drama.

4) Donna Anna and Don Ottavio—Don Ottavio is Donna Anna’s fiancé and has come to console her over the tragic death of her father. Their duet, completely in a minor key reflects Donna Anna’s grief and Don Ottavio’s oath of revenge. They sing the same words in parallel thirds reflecting their mutual resolve (Ex. #4).

5) "Catalog Aria"—One of Mozart’s great comic arias is known as the "Catalog Aria." As Don Giovanni has moved on to other adventures and conquest, he encounters an old flame Donna Elvira. Since he ran out on her before, he does not wish to offer any explanations, so he leaves Leporello to explain why he deserted her. Leporello, in his "Catalog Aria," recites a litany of the Don’s previous conquests: 640 in Italy, 231 in England, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey and 1,003 in Spain. Running up and down the scale with rapid-fire precision, he describes the types of women Don Giovanni has seduced—Countesses, Baronesses, Marchionesses and Princesses (Ex. #5a). As he describes the large ones ("ella grande maestosa" ("the large and tall ones"), in a bit of tone painting, Mozart gives him a slow, ascending melodic line culminating in a long held high note, as the orchestra does a slow crescendo over a pedal bass (Ex. #5b). This leads immediately to a light and delicate "la piccina" ("the tiny one") in a repetitive patter (Ex. #5c). All in all, this is a tour de force for Leporello and it convinces Donna Elvira to get even with the man who first seduced then abandoned her.

6) Zerlina, Masetto and the Don—On his next adventure, Don Giovanni encounters an engaged peasant couple, Zerlina and Masetto. The fact that they are engaged does not stop him from using his wily seduction technique on Zerlina. She is naïve and although she is able to resist him at first, she falls for his charm. Their duet at first has separate alternating lines, but when she is caught in his clutches, they sing in perfect harmony in a lilting 6/8 meter (Ex. #6). While not exactly comic in character, its lightness and charm fit more into the "giocosa" mold than the "dramma."

7) Donna Elvira—Having experienced the lying, deceitful Don first hand, Donna Elvira just happens by before the Don can complete his assignation with Zerlina. In a fiery aria of fury, she warns the young girl against her new suitor. This opera is in a serious and dramatic style, almost a throw-back to the earlier Baroque era opera seria with its 3-part (A B A) form with added embellishments in the return of the A section and dramatically dotted rhythms in the orchestral accompaniment. One of the ways in which a dramatic run is differentiated from a comic patter is as follows: the dramatic run will be melismatic with many notes on one syllable, while comic patter will have many notes, but each one belonging to a different syllable. Here, near the end of the aria "Ah, fuggi il traditor!" ("Ah, flee traitor") we see such a dramatic coloratura passage (Ex. #7).

8) Donna Anna and Don Ottavio—They have two back-to-back dramatic arias. Anna’s—"Or sai chi l’onore" ("You know who tried to take my honor") is an aria of vengeance with an emphasis on the high range of the sopranos tessitura. The opening line features wide intervals and later in the aria, long sustained high A’s and dramatically rising arpeggio lines to the same high A point out the dramatic and steadfast nature of Anna’s resolve (Ex. #8). This is followed by Don Ottavio’s counter to this, a tender, slow aria in which, instead of revenge, he declares his love for Anna and the hope that soon she will have peace of mind (Ex. #9).

9) "Prayer"—Near the end of Act I, Don Giovanni is giving a lavish party. Three uninvited masked guests appear—Donna Anna, Donna Elvira and Don Ottavio. Not recognizing them, Don Giovanni invites them in. After a moment of hesitation, they decide to accept the invitation, but before they enter they offer a prayer for protection and vengeance. A powerfully dramatic moment, it is one of the most sublime utterances of prayer ever set to music. In a slow tempo marked adagio, Anna and Ottavio sing in thirds a cappelal, while Donna Elvira enters one measure later.to the accompaniment of light woodwind chords (Ex. #10). Soon an undulating clarinet arpeggio adds support to the underlying harmony, first in quadruple 16^th notes per beat and then triplets, 6 to a beat. Donna Anna’s voice soars ethereally above the staff as she unleashes her full emotions.

10) "Don Giovanni’s Serenade"—Near the beginning of Act II, Don Giovanni sings a mock-serenade to Donna Elvira’s maid, "Deh vieni alla finestra" ("Please come to your window"). His exaggerated mannerisms and effusive words create a humorous scene. The aria is called a canzonetta ("little song") and is accompanied by a mandolin with pizzicato strings. (Ex. #11).

11) "Sextet"—Act II has constant shifts between the dramatic and the comic and sometimes they are juxtaposed against each other at the same time. One such example is the sextet with Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, Don Ottavio, Masetto and Leporello. The first five have mistakenly accused Leporello for Don Giovanni and denounce him for all his previous misdeeds. The five sing a harmonious ensemble, basically at one with each other while Leporello responds in the typical rapid-fire patter of basso buffa (Ex. #12a) In contrast, Donna Anna, with a dramatic burst of coloratura, sings a melismatic run, including a leap of a 10^th in the 5^th bar (Ex. #12b).

12) "The Statue"—from this point to the end of the opera, the mood is virtually entirely dramma with the giocosa taking a back seat. Don Giovanni and Leporello find themselves in a churchyard cemetery. Suddenly an eerie voice peals out from the statue of the deceased Commendatore in slow, solemn tones, practically all on the same pitch, stating that the Don’s days of laughing and mirth shall end before dawn (Ex. #13). Three trombones, heard for the first time in the opera, help to create a ghostlike effect. Don Giovanni bids Leporello to invite the statue to dinner, and after some reluctance, he does so.

13) "Don Giovanni’s Comeuppance"—In the final scene Don Giovanni is giving another one of his lavish banquests. A stage band plays some of the popular tunes of the day, including a quote from Mozart’s own Le Nozze di Figaro. At the height of the festivities a knock is heard at the door. It seems that the statue which the Don had earlier invited to dinner has, in fact, taken him up on his offer. Suddenly there is a crash of thunder, the lights grow dim and powerful chords peal out. The three trombones heard earlier in the cemetery have a sinister effect and a roll in the timpani adds to the eerie atmosphere. The rhythm is the same as the opening of the Overture (see Ex. #1a), but instead of minor chords, here they are diminished, creating a more terrifying result (Ex. #14a). After four measures, the Commendatore, in stentorian tones calls out, "Don Giovanni, you have invited me to dinner and I have come" (Ex. #14b). It is one of the most chilling effect in all of opera as everyone shutters except Don Giovanni himself. He in fact, nonchalantly orders Leporello to serve the statue supper. But the Commendatore does not take part in "earthly banquets" as he calls them. He has come for another purpose, to exhort the Don to repent and mend his ways. A persistent dotted rhythm infuses the orchestral accompaniment (Ex. #14c). The Commendatore sings a very angular line (Ex. #14d)—including an unusual intervallic drop of a diminished 7^th (between measures 5 and 6)—with altenating unison and diminished chord accompaniment. The melodic minor scales of the overture rise and fall, each one starting a half step or a full step higher than the previous one, heightening the tension. Leporello cowers under the table muttering to himself in triplets. The insistent dotted rhythm returns. In ever rising tones, the Commedatore urges the Don to repent at the last minute before it is too late. The Don grasps his hand and can’t break its icy grip. Soon the very gates of hell open as a fiery inferno beckons. A male unison chorus of spirits from down below intones that horror awaits him down below. He finally breaks free from the statue’s grasp, but it is too late. As flames engulf the entire stage, in a final scream of agony, echoed by Leporello, Don Giovanni is dragged down to the netherworld as downward rushing minor scales accompany his final outcry. A brief Epilogue in a lighter vein, allows the 6 remaining characters to sort out their reactions as they plan for the future without the specter of Don Giovanni to permeate their lives.