Recommended for Grades 6-12
In this resource, you will:
- Learn the opera’s background and synopsis
- Meet the opera’s composer
Don Giovanni
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
A quick overview of Mozart’s 1787 opera buffa about an arrogant nobleman who meets his match.
Background
How should a society punish a man who functions under his own malevolent moral code? Often considered the greatest opera ever composed, Mozart’s masterpiece combines comedy, drama, and supernatural elements to capture the downfall of a serial womanizer. From its thrilling overture to its breathtaking final scene, Don Giovanni explores issues of amorality, power, and justice that are just as relevant to today they were to eighteenth-century viewers.
Don Giovanni or Il dissoluto punito (“Don Juan” or “The Punished Degenerate”) marks the second collaboration between Mozart and Italian librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, who was reportedly quite a ladies’ man himself. Evidence suggests Da Ponte stole most of the story from a rival composer and lyricist team, but he was most likely also inspired by contemporary several plays.
Synopsis
Act I
Leporello, Don Giovanni’s manservant, waits outside the home of the Commendatore, while his master tries to seduce the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna. Things don’t go as planned and a masked Giovanni appears pursued by Anna, who screams that her honor has been insulted. Her father suddenly arrives, challenging Giovanni to a duel. In the scuffle, the Commendatore is killed by Giovanni. Finding her father dead, Donna Anna and her fiancé, Don Ottavio, swear revenge on the disguised killer.
At dawn, Don Giovanni crosses paths with Donna Elvira, his former girlfriend. She, too, is bent on revenge, but Leporello distracts her by showing her a list of Giovanni’s many other lovers.
Don Giovanni and Leporello escape Elvira and discover a country wedding celebration, where Giovanni immediately sets his sights on the bride, Zerlina. Elvira stops him and saves Zerlina just as Donna Anna and Don Ottavio arrive and, ironically, ask Giovanni for help in avenging the Commendatore. Donna Elvira warns the couple that Giovanni is not what he seems, but she is ushered away. Alone with Ottavio, Anna realizes Giovanni is the man who attacked her.
Later, Don Giovanni throws a party and daringly invites Zerlina and her (very jealous) fiancé, Masetto. Anna, Ottavio, and Elvira appear in masks and Giovanni, not recognizing them, allows them in. At the ball, Giovanni tries to whisk Zerlina away, but she screams and Masetto, Elvira, Anna, and Ottavio come to her aid.
Act II
Having escaped the party unscathed, Giovanni and Leporello exchange clothes so Giovanni, dressed as a servant, can woo Donna Elvira’s pretty maid. Elvira unexpectedly appears, confessing she still loves Giovanni. Giovanni then forces Leporello to play the part of his master, flatter Donna Elvira, and take her away. Once alone, Giovanni serenades his new love, but barely finishes before Masetto bursts in with an angry mob, looking to capture the Don. Giovanni pretends to be Leporello and tricks the men into leaving him alone with Masetto, whom he mercilessly beats.
After surviving a confusing confrontation with Elvira, Anna, Ottavio, Zerlina and Masetto, Leoprello meets up with Don Giovanni at a cemetery. As the two discuss Giovanni’s wicked deeds, Giovanni laughs defiantly, only to be cut short by a mysterious voice telling him to, “Leave the dead in peace.” The two men discover that the voice comes from the statue of none other than the Commendatore. Unfazed by this, Don Giovanni orders Leporello to invite the statue to dinner.
As Don Giovanni readies his dinner table, Donna Elvira appears and pleads with him to repent, but Giovanni refuses and sends her away. As she leaves, she lets out a bloodcurdling scream. The statue ghost has arrived. Giovanni boldly opens the door, resigned to accept his fate—whatever it may be.
Meet the Artists
Read the Student Guide
Read the Educator Guide
Read the Look-In Guide
Read the Rehearsal Guide
Listen to the Story
Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard (1780–1850), Don Juan and the statue of the Commander, oil on canvas, circa 1830-1835 [].
Presented by Washington National Opera, host Saul Lilienstein takes you through the musical world of Mozart’s 1787 opera buffa about an arrogant nobleman who meets his match, Don Giovanni.
Watch an Excerpt
Excerpts from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Barbara Frittoli, Marina Rebeka, Ramón Vargas, Mariusz Kwiecien, Luca Pisaroni, and others. Conductor: Fabio Luisi. Production: Michael Grandage (Metropolitan Opera 2011).
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Written by
Eleni Hagen
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Edited by
Lisa Resnick
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Produced by
Kennedy Center Education
Digital Learning
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