Comedy vs. tragedy in Mozart's Don Giovanni
In the finale to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, the music almost transforms the protagonist from a pathetic, contemptible little trickster, satisfying his selfish desires through deception and violence, into a great man—if not a hero, then at least an anti-hero. Almost, but not quite. If Mozart's music pushes the opera forward into the sublime, da Ponte's libretto keeps it anchored in the comic, opera buffa mode.
In the first three scenes of the finale, Don Giovanni is propelled along a dizzying dramatic trajectory. His evening begins with a pleasant dinner at home, and ends with a fiery descent into hell. This dramatic progression is partially created by an analogous progression in the style of the music. Both progressions can be divided into three parts, corresponding to the three individual scenes (numbered 13, 14, and 15), and each scene can be symbolized by the character in it who acts as Giovanni's foil: Leporello in the first, Donna Elvira in the second, and the Commandatore in the third.
In scene 13, Giovanni and Leporello sing in pure opera buffa style. In the opening section, the key is D major, the tempo fast, and spirits are high. The characteristic melodic phrase is the rapid ascension of short scales by short rhythmic motives. In measure 10, the motive is four sixteenth notes on each pitch, and the phrase moves up to a forte D major chord. Six bars later Giovanni exuberantly begins singing "Gia la mensa è preparata...," his upward scales culminating in shouts (measures 27 and 29). He then settles down to enjoy his meal, entertained by Leporello's antics and by a small band on the stage that plays dance-like pieces from popular operas of the day. Master and servant take turns singing similar, often rhyming, lines, using similar vocal styles. When Giovanni, for example, murmurs caressingly to his food, "A che piatto saporito," Leporello mutters to himself enviously, "A che barbaro appetito." The melodies in this section are simple and repetitive, with a lilting rhythm, as seen in the alternating quarter and eighth notes in measures 64 through 76.
The second scene is a transition between frivolity and doom. The light mood of the first scene is destroyed abruptly by the entrance of Donna Elvira at the beginning of scene 14. The orchestra regains its full size, with the return of the violins, viola, contrabass, and flute. The music speeds up a bit from the tempo of the last bit of dinner music, and the meter changes. Donna Elvira is a connection to the opera seria elements of the work, represented also by Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, and the Commendatore. Her urgency and agitation are emphasized by the eighth-note half-step quaverings of the strings, and her liberal use of accidentals helps to create a mood of dissonance and distress. Her vocal lines are also more lyrical than those we've just heard (see her 32nd-note ornament in measure 216). At first, Giovanni seems to respond to her. His five-note phrases in measures 231 to 238 mimic the style of her opening phrases (measures 201 to 214). He asks, "Che vuoi, mie bene?" and actually appears not to have any ulterior motive. However, when she begs him to change his way of living, he rebels and reverts, in measure 280, to his opera buffa style, with the clarinet (measure 278) and then the violins (measure 287) returning to the consecutive quarter notes that were last prominent in the previous scene.
Scene 15 is the opera's climax. Giovanni rejects his last chance of redemption and is punished. The music loses most of its buffa qualities, starting out slow and somber in the key of D minor (foreshadowed in the overture). There are eerie "ghost story" melodies made up of half steps (measures 443-446), and repeated rising and descending scales that create tension by unexpectedly switching from crescendo to piano at the apex (measures 462-469). The Commendatore's statue has a unique singing style: very slow, with monotonous phrases, dissonant intervals, and commanding octave leaps downward. The impressionable Giovanni adopts some of these qualities (measures 510 and 555), but generally his voice continues to express his salient quality of passionate selfishness by employing a wide variety of pitch levels and rhythmic structures (see measures 512-516: "Ho fermo il core in petto, non ho timor; verrò!"). There are some relics of opera buffa in Leporello's patter singing (measures 470-473) and in some of Giovanni's outbursts (see measure 536: "No, vecchio infatuato!"), but, musically, the buffa is eventually completely vanquished in the climactic ensemble by Giovanni, Leporello, and the chorus of demons. This ensemble is a conflagration of sound—loud, anguished, chaotic singing, furious 16th notes in the violins, sforzando accents throughout the orchestra, and a grand crescendo at the end.
During his last cry of pain, Don Giovanni finally acquires a soul, a fraction of a second before he loses it forever.
In the first three scenes of the finale, Don Giovanni is propelled along a dizzying dramatic trajectory. His evening begins with a pleasant dinner at home, and ends with a fiery descent into hell. This dramatic progression is partially created by an analogous progression in the style of the music. Both progressions can be divided into three parts, corresponding to the three individual scenes (numbered 13, 14, and 15), and each scene can be symbolized by the character in it who acts as Giovanni's foil: Leporello in the first, Donna Elvira in the second, and the Commandatore in the third.
In scene 13, Giovanni and Leporello sing in pure opera buffa style. In the opening section, the key is D major, the tempo fast, and spirits are high. The characteristic melodic phrase is the rapid ascension of short scales by short rhythmic motives. In measure 10, the motive is four sixteenth notes on each pitch, and the phrase moves up to a forte D major chord. Six bars later Giovanni exuberantly begins singing "Gia la mensa è preparata...," his upward scales culminating in shouts (measures 27 and 29). He then settles down to enjoy his meal, entertained by Leporello's antics and by a small band on the stage that plays dance-like pieces from popular operas of the day. Master and servant take turns singing similar, often rhyming, lines, using similar vocal styles. When Giovanni, for example, murmurs caressingly to his food, "A che piatto saporito," Leporello mutters to himself enviously, "A che barbaro appetito." The melodies in this section are simple and repetitive, with a lilting rhythm, as seen in the alternating quarter and eighth notes in measures 64 through 76.
The second scene is a transition between frivolity and doom. The light mood of the first scene is destroyed abruptly by the entrance of Donna Elvira at the beginning of scene 14. The orchestra regains its full size, with the return of the violins, viola, contrabass, and flute. The music speeds up a bit from the tempo of the last bit of dinner music, and the meter changes. Donna Elvira is a connection to the opera seria elements of the work, represented also by Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, and the Commendatore. Her urgency and agitation are emphasized by the eighth-note half-step quaverings of the strings, and her liberal use of accidentals helps to create a mood of dissonance and distress. Her vocal lines are also more lyrical than those we've just heard (see her 32nd-note ornament in measure 216). At first, Giovanni seems to respond to her. His five-note phrases in measures 231 to 238 mimic the style of her opening phrases (measures 201 to 214). He asks, "Che vuoi, mie bene?" and actually appears not to have any ulterior motive. However, when she begs him to change his way of living, he rebels and reverts, in measure 280, to his opera buffa style, with the clarinet (measure 278) and then the violins (measure 287) returning to the consecutive quarter notes that were last prominent in the previous scene.
Scene 15 is the opera's climax. Giovanni rejects his last chance of redemption and is punished. The music loses most of its buffa qualities, starting out slow and somber in the key of D minor (foreshadowed in the overture). There are eerie "ghost story" melodies made up of half steps (measures 443-446), and repeated rising and descending scales that create tension by unexpectedly switching from crescendo to piano at the apex (measures 462-469). The Commendatore's statue has a unique singing style: very slow, with monotonous phrases, dissonant intervals, and commanding octave leaps downward. The impressionable Giovanni adopts some of these qualities (measures 510 and 555), but generally his voice continues to express his salient quality of passionate selfishness by employing a wide variety of pitch levels and rhythmic structures (see measures 512-516: "Ho fermo il core in petto, non ho timor; verrò!"). There are some relics of opera buffa in Leporello's patter singing (measures 470-473) and in some of Giovanni's outbursts (see measure 536: "No, vecchio infatuato!"), but, musically, the buffa is eventually completely vanquished in the climactic ensemble by Giovanni, Leporello, and the chorus of demons. This ensemble is a conflagration of sound—loud, anguished, chaotic singing, furious 16th notes in the violins, sforzando accents throughout the orchestra, and a grand crescendo at the end.
During his last cry of pain, Don Giovanni finally acquires a soul, a fraction of a second before he loses it forever.
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