Don Giovanni Blocking
Index of Sections
1/1
1/1
—
1/2
1/2
1/3
1/3
1/3
1/4
1/4
1/4
1/4
1/5
1/5
1/5
1/6
Introduction ................................................................... 2
Vengeance Duet ........................................................... 6
Don Giovanni / Leporello recitatives ........................... 10
Elvira’s Arrival ............................................................. 13
Catalogue Aria ............................................................ 18
Entrance of the Peasants & Masetto Aria ................... 22
Seduction Duet ............................................................ 28
Elvira’s Interruption ..................................................... 32
Quartet ........................................................................ 34
Anna’s Narrative and Aria ........................................... 39
First Ottavio Aria ......................................................... 43
Champagne Aria ......................................................... 45
First Zerlina Aria .......................................................... 48
Garden Scene ............................................................. 51
Mask Trio .................................................................... 54
Ballroom Scene ........................................................... 57
—
2/1
2/1
2/1
2/1
2/1
2/2
2/2
2/2
2/3
2/4
2/4
2/5
2/5
2/5
The Act Two Arias ....................................................... 63
Quarrel Duet ................................................................ 65
Balcony Trio ................................................................ 68
Serenade ..................................................................... 71
Giovanni’s Disguise Aria ............................................. 73
Second Zerlina Aria ..................................................... 77
Sextet .......................................................................... 81
Leporello’s Escape ...................................................... 87
Second Ottavio Aria .................................................... 90
Second Elvira Aria ....................................................... 94
Graveyard Scene ........................................................ 99
Second Anna Aria ..................................................... 103
Banquet Scene (before Commendatore) .................. 106
Commendatore Scene .............................................. 110
Epilogue .................................................................... 114
updated October 27, 2012
Don Giovanni
1/1 Introduction
Structure
Unlike any of the other mature operas (though he would do much the same thing in Die Zauberflöte),
Mozart begins Don Giovanni with a substantial ensemble, whose various dramatic sections are clarified
by changes in tempo, key, or musical material.
A. Molto allegro, F, 4/4
Leporello alone. The music has four components: first his grumbling,
oscillating obsessively between two notes (10 measures for orchestra,
10 for voice). Then his grandiose dream of taking his master’s place (13
mss). Then his ironic address to his absent master (another 13
measures). Then the grandiosity repeated (13 mss), and a scurrying
coda as people are heard approaching (also 13 mss). The whole thus
emerges as AABCBD in form, with each section approximately equal,
though the 13-measure units are decidedly odd.
B. [molto allegro], Bb, 4/4
Donna Anna and Don Giovanni, with Leporello in the bass. 4 measures
of lead-in music, then the first 16-measure ensemble section, formed
regularly enough by a 4-measure phrase for Anna, then one for Don
Giovanni, though it actually turns out at 5+4+7 rather than 4+4+8. Anna’s
cry of “Gente, servi” and his replies, establishes the dominant, leading to
another 15-measure section of trio when Leporello re-enters. More
accusations, and the trio is repeated with a slight extension. The overall
structure is thus OTOTOT, with O standing for outcries from Anna or
Giovanni or both, and T for one or other of the trio sections.
C. [molto allegro], ~, 4/4
Commendatore enters. Harmonies keep shifting, but has a feel of g
minor. Although this has some ensemble singing in it, it is essentially
kinesis, determined by the action (though a regular 32 mss).
D. [molto allegro], d minor, 4/4
Fight music. Almost onomatopoeic, with sequences sounding like sword
clashes, leading to a a diminished-seventh chord on B-natural.
E. Andante, f minor, 4/4
Death of the Commendatore. Actually in cut time, a subdivided 2. The
harmonies shift around a lot, but the section finally settles on f minor. In
this unusual number with two basses and a baritone, it is Don Giovanni’s
lines emerging above the texture that do most to articulate the whole.
Notable, therefore, are his solo “veggo l’anima partir” on the 8th
measure, and his offbeat Eb and Db marking the start of each of the last
two 2-measure phrases. Not that the number really needs landmarks,
short as it is. There is a significant orchestral coda descending
chromatically to an unexpected but empty-sounding G.
2
Dramatic Issues
A. Is there going to be a house curtain? I am surprised to say that I don’t know. But whether it is that or
simply a matter of the lights coming up, this opera begins strikingly (like Entführung but none of the later
operas) with the orchestra trailing off and the music leading directly into the next scene. There is no time
for applause; it is on with the action.
This scene immediately establishes Leporello and his place in the opera. What do we know about him? In
contrast to the big gestures of the overture, his music is comic, almost inane at first; in more than one
way, I am reminded of the Masetto aria that I have just been working on—something that had not
occurred to me before. He is an ordinary guy, left on the periphery of big things. He serves his master
through wind and rain (not that we have either here, I think), but is conflicted in his attitude to him. On the
one hand he resents him; on the other, he wants to take his place. Above all, Leporello is our guy up
there on the stage, and this is where he establishes it, I think.
Inane though the music may be, it is vigorous, and I think the number must begin in movement. Not very
much; just stamping his feet a bit as he waits DR. I would be nice if he went up to the foot of the stairs by
the end of the introduction and threw his hat on the ground as if quitting, then saw the audience and
turned to us with an explanation, coming DS again. He has his master’s cane propped against the DR
proscenium, and can use this, I think, for the “Voglio far il gentiluomo” section. Emboldened with it in his
hands, he bows L to an imagined Giovanni (cheated out of course), and perhaps picks up his hat again
for the second “Voglio far,” which should take him a step or two up towards the house, before some light
comes on down the stairs, and he scoots back to his hiding place DR.
B. What do we want to show of what happened between Don Giovanni and Donna Anna? At one point, I
had the idea of showing this behind a scrim or something, so as to establish that once Giovanni saw his
effect on Anna he had no need to consummate the seduction. But I don’t think this is easy or really
necessary. How about having him just come down the stairs on his own, not fleeing but in satisfaction,
laughing even, and then have her enter in pursuit? She is trying to take off his mask, which he can easily
prevent, but also to hold him back, which would be wonderfully ambiguous. I think they need so come
down the stairs to CS by the time that Anna calls for the “gente, servi.”
This call changes things, of course. Giovanni is now pursuing her, to get her to be quiet. I can see her
taking a step over to CR to call for help, and he drawing her back to him, pulling her further DL and
perhaps trying to put a hand over her mouth. At any rate, the second trio feels a lot more intimate to me,
with him holding her from behind, and she struggling in his arms.
If we consider the section beginning with Leporello’s “sta a veder” as a unit (15 measures the first time,
19 the second because of the coda-extension), what is the difference between its first appearance and
the second? One trivial difference can involve Leporello: moving UR of the pair in one of the sections
(probably the first) before scuttling back. But the main interest is going to be what this shows of what
really went on in Anna’s bedroom. I think we can take the first trio all standing, and allow Giovanni’s
position and the strength with which he holds her to have its own effect. But suppose her “Scelerato!” at
measure 113 is a real attempt to claw the mask off his face; then in defending himself, he can get her to
the ground, and the second trio section would consist of him kneeling to her, raising her up, and now
quite explicitly embracing her, even with a hand to her breast. I love the idea of using the way the coda
breaks down into monosyllables as a sign of her inability to resist him further!
I had momentarily forgotten that he has the gun with him, and I don’t want him just suddenly to produce it
on the entrance of the Commendatore. I wonder if he can pull it out at the first shouting section and sort
of caress her with it during the first of the paired trios? It needs to go away for the second one, though.
3
C/D. We have staged this already. The Commendatore enters CR with a large unwieldy sword. Anna runs
off CL, between the stairs and the proscenium. Mocking the old man, refusing the fight, Giovanni pulls the
gun, as if to say “You don’t think you are going to use that thing to get the better of a man armed with a
pistol?” But the Commendatore persists. Giovanni throws (or gives) the pistol to Leporello who tosses him
the sword-stick in return. He uses this to block the old man’s feeble slashes. At one of these attacks he
pushes the Commendatore back so that he falls against Leporello. He grabs the hand holding the pistol
without really aiming at anything, and the gun goes off. Giovanni is wounded, recoils for a moment, then
in a sudden fury of action draws the sword and plunges it through the Commendatore.
Specifically, the toying with the gun would begin at “Va, non mi degno” and continue for a couple of lines
of music. The switch of weapons would take place in the empty measure between the second and third
“Misero!” and he would half pull out his sword and return it during the “se vuoi morir.” There are three
obvious sword-clashes written into the music (downbeats of mss. 168, 170, and 172); probably Giovanni
would push the Commendatore back on the second one, the gun would go off roughly on the third, and
Giovanni would deliver the coup de grâce in the final measures. It is tight, but I think doable—and most
importantly, it does not contradict the music. We did have some problems with the two men circling one
another; it seemed to be necessary, but there was not really quite enough time to do it.
E. Basically static, I think. The Commendatore dying DC, Giovanni a little UL of him, Leporello cowering
DR. I would like Giovanni at first to pull back from the dying man, in horror at what he had done, then
come towards him at “veggo l’anima fuggir” eventually kneeling beside him and removing his mask. This
shock of recognition should be the last thing that the Commendatore experiences. I think I would have
Giovanni pulling back from the body again during the coda; I don’t think he would close his eyes (or would
he?), but I don’t want to make him brazenly indifferent either.
I don’t think we need to do anything specifically about the wound for a while yet. In the recitative that
follows the fight, or directly after the orchestral coda, Giovanni might press a handkerchief against his
groin, see a relatively small spot of blood, and dismiss the wound as trivial, with only a sudden break in
his exit showing us (but not Leporello) that it might be more serious than he thinks.
Specifics
Overture
290
Lights/curtain up over end of overture.
Leporello
1
L revealed DR, stamping disgruntedly.
8
L XUC and throws down cap.
10
L notices the audience and enlists their empathy.
20
L picks up G’s cane from DR and swaggers with it.
32
At the foot of the stairs again (or near there) he bows ironically to his absent master.
44
Kneeling to pick up his cap…
45
He stands again, once more in the cavalier role.
4
57
Going firmly up the stairs himself, he sees a light from the top of the stairs, and scurries first to the
shadow of the staircase UL…
66
…then to DR.
Giovanni and Anna
71
G enters UL down the stairs, looking satisfied.
73
A appears above him…
78
…then runs down to grab him. The struggle between them takes them both DL.
90
A breaks CS to call for help. G grabs her and pulls her back DL.
95
G pulls the gun…
102
…and caresses her with it.
108
Putting away the gun, G approaches A with confidence…
112
…but she tries to pull the mask off his face. He forces her to the ground…
117
…and kneels above her.
126
Gradually, this turns into a kind of love-making as A’s body refuses to obey her mind.
Commendatore
135
C enters DR, armed with a sword. A goes towards to him, then cannot face him and flees CL.
143
G shows C the pistol, saying he would not want to fight so unevenly. The two men circle; C to UL, G
to DR…
149
…where he hands the pistol to Leporello. The circle continues.
157
C, now once more SR of G, goes en garde.
160
G catches the cane thrown him by L, and prepares to fight.
166
G parries the first two strokes of C’s sword easily with the stick. On the third, he pushes him back
so that he trips, drops the sword, and falls against L DR. Reaching for support, he accidentally
discharges the pistol, hitting G, who recoils for a moment, then draws the sword from the stick and
runs C through. This happens on measure 175; the rest need to be worked out empirically.
Trio
176
C dying DC. L either DR or having scuttled back to UR. G pulls out the sword and slowly backs
away UL.
183
G slowly approaches again, kneels at C’s feet…
186
…and takes off his mask. C stretches out a hand in recognition…
190
…but dies as G pulls back to SL again.
Recit
1
G presses a handkerchief to his groin, sees there is only a little blood, and puts it away. L scuttles
across to him. G wipes the sword on his cloak and puts it away.
12
G drives L off DL, and follows, leaning briefly on the proscenium in a sudden stab of pain.
5
Don Giovanni
1/1 Vengeance Duet
Structure
A. Recitativo secco
Four measures only. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio entering from
offstage.
B. Recitativo accompagnato
This divides into two main sections: from when Anna sees the body until
she faints (through measure 43, a driving allegro assai but with other
moods thrown in), then the process of Ottavio attempting to revive her
(through measure 62, mostly maestoso).
C. Duetto, d, allegro assai
Essentially, this divides into two parts, a little like a cavatina followed by
a cabaletta, but the parts are interwoven, with a short overlap. In the first,
she rejects him, but he soothes her, promising to be both husband and
father to her. She gets him to swear an oath of vengeance, and this
leads to the cabaletta “Che giuramento, oh Dei!” beginning on a
dominant pedal; 50 measures for the first part, and 20 for the second.
But then Mozart returns to the original oath for 14 measures, before
returning to an extended 54-measure version of the cabaletta, giving an
overall structure of AbaB, with the lowercase sections being much
shorter. Note that the A section, however, is also based on repetition,
with Ottavio promising twice to look after Anna, the second promise more
extended that then first, and even more lyrical.
Dramatic Issues
A. It is a wonderful touch to have Donna Anna entering from offstage, so that she comes upon the body
with the first outburst of the orchestral music. It also gives us that much more time to get Giovanni and
Leporello offstage. While I haven’t given much thought to the logic of this set (and don’t imagine that the
audience will either), it works best if they come in from CL, on ground level.
B. One of the more interesting subplots in Don Giovanni is the Big Mystery entitled What Happened in the
Bedroom? I have already given some substantial hints of my interpretation of the mystery in the way I
have staged the interplay between Giovanni and Anna in the opening number; more will come back in the
recitative before “Or sai chi l’onore” and more still, if I get it right, in Anna’s second aria, “Non mi dir.” This
scene will not add that much more directly, although it should go far towards showing Anna’s reactions
not merely as grief but also as guilt, and explain her violent reaction of Ottavio at the start of the duet.
This is also the scene, more than any other, that sets up the relationship of Don Ottavio to Donna Anna.
In my Idea Notebook, I finally decided that he too should be a young man, but clean, idealistic, almost too
well-bred. He is also the Eagle Scout: entirely competent, exercising great skill in dealing with the
servants and the removal of the body. But, strikingly, he is given the first truly beautiful vocal line in the
6
opera: “Lascia, o cara, la rimembranza amara. Hai sposo e padre in me." Competence, concern, and
love: these are the qualities we must emphasize. But not empathy; he totally knows his feelings for Anna,
but has little concept of hers for him, and no idea whatsoever about the other fires burning within her.
What is he wearing? If he is fully dressed, what is he doing up at this time in the night? Where is he living
anyway? The speed of his arrival implies that he is close nearby, but presumably not actually in the
house—although that would be possible, provided it was in a significantly different part of it. Or Anna
could just have sent a servant to fetch him. But nearby certainly. All the same, I don’t think he would have
had time to dress completely, I see him as putting on a shirt, his britches, and a robe. While he would not
normally wear a sword as a gentleman of this period, I do think he can bring one in with him—or the gun
that he will use later. We will certainly need a sword, though, for the swearing of the oath, but it might be
even more effective to use the Commendatore’s own. So no sword for Ottavio; we can decide later about
the pistol.
Anna and Ottavio enter from CL. She stops on seeing the figure on the ground. The orchestra breaks out
its wild slashing cry of grief. She goes to the body, throws herself on the ground beside it, onto it,
embracing it, smearing herself with her father’s blood. [One way of handling this would be to give her a
cloak which covers the bloodstained version of the nightdress, that she can then cast off.] If necessary,
Ottavio could hold her back until after his own “Signore?”, but she casts him off. This might make the
difference between a scene with the body that was dramatically wrenching, and one that was so drawn
out as to be embarrassing. When she faints, though, she should fall clear of the body, not on it.
The rest of the scene is largely a matter of Ottavio exercising his Eagle Scout competence. We will need
four male servants to carry the body. Let us bring them in two CR behind Anna and Ottavio, two from UR,
perhaps carrying torches—though is there any place for brackets on the set where they can put them?—
and a female servant coming down the stairs. I notice, though, the priorities for Don Ottavio: first help my
fiancée, then remove the body. So I wonder if I have perhaps been precipitate in requesting the supers,
props, and costumes that I have? Let’s start back from basics. Ottavio asks at least two of the servants
(“amici”) to revive her by bringing in some spirits or smelling salts. This has to be addressed to some of
the people who can go out and return quickly. I would suggest the men to SL, at least one of whom
returns with a glass. But she clearly has no time to sip from it before she revives of her own accord. When
he says “Datele nuovi aiuti,” this could simply be whatever the servants have brought in, but it really
suggests something different, something brought in by, say, the maid, who can have stopped halfway up
the steps, gone back up, then come all the way down to kneel beside her mistress. I like this better.
Removal of the body could be done with two people, but it could well look awkward. It would be better
with three (one on each shoulder and one at the legs); I am not sure that four would be any better. It
could even be managed with two if they brought in a stretcher. Now I admit that this is rather pushing
credibility, but I am not sure that it matters in a scene of such intensity anyhow, and it would allow the
servants arriving from UR to go back in with their torches (more on this, though, in a moment). But if we
reduce the necessary male servants to two, we can then use either men or women for the others. For
example, Anna and Ottavio can be followed not by male servants, but by the maid she has sent to fetch
him, and all the business with the brandy and/or smelling salts can be handled by her.
C. However we handle it, I would like the position in which Anna finds herself to be exactly the same as
that between her and Giovanni at the end of their scene earlier, which explains the violence of her
reaction. And it should be very violent, I think. If possible, I would like her to pick up her father’s sword
that he has dropped, and for it to be ambiguous whether she intends to use it on herself or is driving
Ottavio off as though he were a rapist or murderer. So Ottavio is left with the task of talking her down,
which of course he manages quite effectively, presumably taking the sword from her and laying it aside.
7
We now get the issue of those repeats. Anna is clearly wandering in her mind. I see her moving in the
direction where her father had been taken as though looking for him. Ottavio clearly has to think what to
do; there is a pause between his “Il padre?” and “Lascia, o cara.” She half accepts, patting at him a little,
but then wanders back to where she had last seen the body, kneeling by the blood once more. So he has
to kneel behind her on his second line, once more getting him into the position she had been in with Don
Giovanni. Hence the violence of her reaction once more, echoed by the orchestra on its diminished chord
and descending scale at 123. She rubs her hand in the blood and shows it to him, expecting him to clasp
it. But he won’t, swearing on her eyes and their love instead, until she forcibly clasps his hand in hers.
The first duet section thus starts with them both moving back from the meaning of those bloodied hands.
Essentially, there is not any more that happens between now and the end of the number, but the action
must escalate through a repetition of the oath, a repeat of the duet, and the extended coda. What are the
differences between the various repeats? I suggest that in the first duet the remain largely apart. We
could do a half circle if necessary, but it may not need to be. On the other hand, I think we need to get the
sword into play for the second oath, and this might well give Anna a means to travel towards it. She picks
it up and holds it out to him. Again, he prefers to swear first on her eyes. But on “ai nostro amor” he puts
his hand on top of hers on the sword hilt, so that they are now joined. The repeat of the second duet
section is thus taken very close together, in contrast to the earlier statement, which was apart.
Which still leaves the 34-measure coda and postlude, which has always struck me (even more than the
finale) as the epitome of Sturm und Drang in the opera, the music that most clearly announces that this
drama will be about more than earthly things. Although the words speak of the confusion of their emotions
(“Fra cento affetti e cento vammi ondeggiando il cor” – a pretty amazing text as it is), I think the music is
more about immensity and power, the recognition that they are immersed in something much bigger than
they are. I am also thinking (faintly) ahead to the “Or sai chi l’onore” aria and what we shall need for that.
There, I saw Anna on her knees at the climax trying to fill Ottavio with the necessary resolve. This is a
position we have already had here (though in quite a different context), but perhaps we could try the
reverse of it? I wonder about having Anna break away from him on the first “Vammi ondeggiando il cor”
section (ms. 168) and raise the sword in both hands to heaven at the repeat (ms. 173)? She then comes
in to him again (the descending chromatics at ms. 200), gives him the sword, and forces him to his knees
in front of her, so that he is resting on the sword and she is standing over him. At the end, she runs off up
the stairs and he is left there, wondering what hit him.
The one concern I would have with this is the fear that Anna might fire all her big emotional guns too soon
and have nowhere to go with the rest of the opera. But Mozart did write this music, and he wrote it here.
Specifics
Recitativo secco
1
A and O are heard offstage L.
4
A enters CL, followed by O and a Servant. Another Servant enters UR with a torch, and a Maid
comes down the stairs.
Recitativo accompagnato
1
A sees the body.
9
O tries to get her to leave again, but she fights him.
8
16
A breaks from O and comes to stand over the body, almost as in a trance.
25
A sinks down to touch C’s chest, hands, and cheek. O comes up behind her, but can do little.
37
Wanting to put a stop to this, O raises her, and once more starts to lead her off L, but she begins to
faint in his harms…
43
…and falls D½L. The Maid runs to her, and the Servants close in.
46
SL Servant exits CL to get some brandy. SR Servant exits UR to leave torch and (eventually)
return with a stretcher. Maid pulls out some smelling salts she carries with her, kneels and offers it
to Ottavio.
53
A begins to revive. SL Servant kneels with drink, but she has no need for it.
58
SR Servant puts down stretcher. SL Servant hands glass to Maid, and together they lift the body
onto the stretcher and exit with it DDL. Maid exits by whatever exit is least conspicuous (CL?).
62
A realizes that she is in exactly the same position as we last saw her in with Giovanni…
Duetto
63
In horror, A pushes O away, stands up, grabs up the sword, and threatens O from SR.
72
O talks her down, coming XR to her…
82
…and XL, taking the sword out of her reach.
83
A comes to O as though to apologize for her outburst…
89
…but continues past him to DDL, as though following her father’s body.
93
Realizing that he will have to act, O puts down the sword, goes to A, putting his arm around her
shoulders, and leads her XR…
104
…turning US on the last phrase (not before!). But A breaks free…
108
…and kneels beside the pool of blood on the floor. O comes in behind her.
122
A suddenly draws her right hand through the blood, palm-down, and holds it out to O.
128
O, not knowing how to handle this hysteria, stands to A’s L, swearing his agreement, but preferring
the gentler alternative of swearing on her eyes and their love.
131
A grabs O’s right arm and pulls him down to kneel beside her, grabbing his left hand and smearing
it with the blood on her own.
133
Both A and O rise, looking in horror/awe at the blood on their hands. She will merely pull back to
C½R, but he moves back on a diagonal to C½L, so that they are symmetrical across the centerline.
155
Indicating the pool of blood DC, A crosses DL (O counters R-ish), where she picks up the sword…
167
…and thrust it to him, so that they are both holding the hilt, standing in an arrow position.
189
Suddenly overwhelmed by what she has done, A breaks DL with the sword in terror…
193
…but, mastering herself, she raises it in both hands to heaven.
200
A XR to O and makes him take the sword.
206
A pushes O to his knees, and stands above him for the final measures.
217
A exits up the stairs UL. O, much shaken, makes to exit CR.
9
Don Giovanni
1/2 & passim: Giovanni / Leporello recitatives
General
Having started with the recitative before the Catalogue Aria, I thought it might be helpful to plot its place in
the whole span of recitatives between Don Giovanni and Leporello when they are alone together, the first
of which comes here, thinking of them all together, to see whether it is possible to establish a single arch.
We should also take in, briefly, any musical numbers that they have between them. The first thing is to
establish just what happens in each. I think we shall find many similarities between them, but let’s look.
Scenes in Order
1/1. The aftermath of the duel. Leporello wants to know who is alive and who is dead. Giovanni is abrupt
with him and says the Commendatore got what was coming to him. When Leporello asks if Donna Anna
got what was coming to her, her tells him angrily to shut up.
1/2. There are two parts to this. In the first, Leporello asks for permission to speak. Giovanni says yes—
provided he does not mention the Commendatore. He doesn’t, but this is clearly on his mind when he
accuses his master of living the life of a brigand. Again, Giovanni tells him to be quiet, turning suddenly
angry, and making physical threats. In the second part, Giovanni tells Leporello that they are here in
pursuit of a lady he has been following through the town, who he thinks is as attracted to him as he to her.
But we hear no more about her, for Elvira arrives and the men go into concealment.
1/4. I have worked through this already. Leporello says he is going to leave his master, but when
Giovanni appears he gets involved in relating his cleverness in handling the complications of the morning,
managing Masetto, the peasants, Zerlina, and Elvira with consummate skill that obviously gives him
pride, and begins to show why he in fact sticks with Don Giovanni. The whole scene is constructed as a
pair of scales, with Leporello’s side going up, then down, then up again. Or rather, as a yo-yo, since there
is nothing to show that Don Giovanni is going down when Leporello rises; indeed, his only movement
seems to be upward.
2/1. This is curiously similar to 1/2. Leporello has already declared his intention to quit in the duet that
opens the act. Giovanni pays him off with a small purse of money, which Leporello grudgingly accepts.
But he goes on to criticize his master’s pursuit of women, which leads to a quasi-philosophical justification
from the Don. Then in the second part, Giovanni tells Leporello that they are here to pursue another
conquest—Elvira’s chambermaid—whom he proposes to woo in his servant’s clothes. When Leporello
objects, Giovanni once more gets angry.
2/3. This is the graveyard scene. In the full version, it begins with Giovanni alone, thinking how perfect the
night is for chasing girls. When Leporello is heard approaching, Giovanni decides to frighten him by
pretending to be a voice from the tomb. Leporello, coming in wishing that Giovanni were done for, is duly
10
frightened and pretty pissed off generally. Giovanni lightens his mood by telling of his adventures with a
girl who mistook him for Leporello, only to call for pursuit after she recognized him. Leporello of course is
not at all entertained by the idea that his master may have seduced his own sweetheart (surely “moglie”
does always not have to mean “wife”?), but Giovanni thinks that only makes it a better joke,
Overview
These are really very similar. The elements of any one of them are to be found in almost all the others.
For example:
(a) Leporello accuses Giovanni of immorality. In 1/1 (by implication), 1/2, 2/1, and (with the specific
example of his own girlfriend) in 2/4. Not, however, in 1/4.
(b) Leporello threatens to leave. In 1/4, 2/1, and 2/4. This of course is something that he has to work
up towards, so it is not surprising that it is not explicit in the first two recits, but it is implied.
(c) Giovanni recounts pursuits already underway, or accomplished. In 1/2, 2/1, and 2/4.
(d) Giovanni makes preparations for further pursuits. In 1/2, 1/4, and 2/1.
(e) Giovanni threatens Leporello with physical violence. In 1/1, and 1/2 absolutely. In 2/1, the violence
has come in the immediately preceding number; in 2/4, it will come in the immediately following
one. 1/4 has no overt violence, but Giovanni overtops him by other means.
These repetitions only increase my feeling about the episodic nature of many parts of the opera. It
becomes very difficult to see what is special about any given scene between the two of them, let alone to
discern an overall arch. Nevertheless, we must try.
1/1. This is going to seem different anyhow, since it takes place as an aftershock from the death of the
Commendatore, and will be very rapid and shadowy. Its violence is an obvious continuation of the
violence we have already seen, and Leporello’s criticism will be developed later.
1/2. Since the Anna/Ottavio duet has retained focus on the murder of the Commendatore, the mood of
this duet will seem somewhat like a continuation of the earlier recit. But Da Ponte now treats it as
comedy, which will serve to discharge a lot of the potential danger, at least in the audience’s eyes. It is
also the first time we have heard Giovanni himself talk about his passion (albeit for a woman whom we
never get to see), and if played right this can seem almost fun, with the unexpected arrival of Elvira only
adding to the fun. This is where the drama has got to be turned decisively to comedy, even though there
is potential for so much more.
1/4. This is the first time we hear Leporello threatening to quit, although that may have been implicit
earlier. Yet the complaints in his opening solo are more about his desire to take Giovanni’s place than to
leave him altogether; he will remain conflicted between the two feelings throughout, which is probably
why he stays. In this case, he so quickly gets caught up in the one-upmanship game with his master, that
all thoughts of leaving quickly go out of his mind. And although Don Giovanni plays fast and loose with
Leporello, using him as a springboard for his own ascent, I do not think he is physically cruel to him here.
2/1. As I said, I am struck by the similarities of this to 1/2: complaints followed by plans for the future. It
helps that both the business of quitting and the physical violence can have been channeled into the duet,
since this means the recit can begin in more relaxed manner, as conciliation. And Giovanni does not get
mad this time when Leporello criticizes his moral conduct. Rather, he tries to explain himself for the only
time in the opera. This recitative, therefore, will not be played for violence nor as comedy, but almost as a
11
kind of romance, slipping fairly easily into the magical mood of the Balcony trio. I am not yet quite sure
how to do it, but this is the scene’s distinguishing factor, it seems to me.
2/4. This scene as a whole is difficult, because it is hard to know whether to play it as outright farce, or as
something spooky. It has a distinctly playful quality on Giovanni’s part, but there is a nastiness to it that I
can’t ignore, taking deliberate advantage of Leporello’s discomfort. The stakes are also much higher on
Leporello’s end; he has not only been almost killed by Giovanni in the Act I finale, but by all the rest of the
cast in the Sextet. So I am inclined to make the whole scene dangerous, pushing the envelope, as a kind
of forced farce on Giovanni’s part, and decided discomfort on Leporello’s.
If I were to choose one word for each of the five scenes, what would they be?
1/1 Panic.
1/2 Comedy.
1/4 Energy.
2/1 Romance.
2/4 Danger.
12
Don Giovanni
1/3 Elvira’s Arrival
Structure
A. Recitative
Leporello tries to complain about Giovanni’s morals, but is cowed into
silence. Giovanni begins to tell him about a lady he has been pursuing,
when another arrives. This (though they don’t know it yet) is Elvira.
B. Aria and Trio
This is virtually a stand-alone two-stanza aria with comments (pertichini)
from the other two characters. After a 12-measure introduction, the voice
has a 37-measure stanza, with comments from the men beginning after
measure 25 and continuing through an extended coda. Evening out the
numbers (they are not quite regular) we thus get: intro (12), aria A (8),
aria B (16), comment (4), aria B`/comments (16). The aria then begins
another stanza, but with the comments starting a little earlier, and Elvira
extending the coda still further into a repeated cadenza, which Giovanni
then interrupts by coming suavely forward.
C. Recitative
Elvira immediately recognizes Giovanni and accuses him of desertion.
He, however, hands her over to Leporello and quits the scene.
Dramatic Issues
Recitative. To repeat what I said above, it is clear that this is merely a continuation of the exchange that
follows the death of the Commendatore, or rather a fresh attempt on Leporello’s part to raise the
question. But while the Anna/Ottavio duet has retained focus on the murder, its sheer intensity now
makes further continuation in the same vein impossible, so Da Ponte now treats it as comedy. So
COMEDY is to be the hallmark of the entire scene—and about time too! It starts with the old joke of the
wolf making all sorts of promises to his victim until he comes near enough to gobble up. I can see
Leporello moving cautiously around Giovanni, walking delicately like Agag, exaggeratedly looking to be
sure they are alone. He himself should be pretty much motionless until he pounces, and Leporello flees
for cover.
What cover? I think we could use a bench in this scene. Visually, this might be better D½R, but that is
where the bench will come in for the peasant scene, so I think this needs to be D½L instead. But let’s
think about this from the beginning: what would I be using it for? Possibly for Leporello to hide behind
here, but there may be other ways of doing this. Almost certainly as a focus for Elvira’s aria, although she
would never sit on it. And surely as the main hub of the Catalogue Aria, either for Elvira to sit on, or
Leporello, or both. Now if we omit the first use, this could be something brought on by Elvira herself,
perhaps a pile of her luggage that she ultimately sits on, like Alec Baldwin in that silly TV commercial. I
suspect that Luke will not like this, though I can ask him. The main difference is the degree of comedy:
does Elvira bring on a huge amount of luggage, including a trunk that can act as a bench, or merely a
mildly excessive amount? The question is how it gets onstage and off? A smallish amount can be brought
13
on by Elvira’s Maid, in several trips if necessary, and taken off in the same way. A larger amount would
need the assistance of two porters (peasant men, presumably) pressed into service by the Maid, and then
searched for again at the end. I can see this being worked up into quite a nice bit of business for the
supers, but I can also see this business distracting from the focus on Elvira herself, especially if we allow
too much to be made of it in the Catalogue aria. So all in all, I think it better that this be an ordinary street
bench, onstage from the beginning of the scene.
So we get to the second part of the recitative, in which Giovanni explains his own plans. We have seen
him in action already, under admittedly adverse circumstances, but this is the first time we have heard
him talk about it. I see Leporello scurrying DL to the bench, and Giovanni pursuing him. Giovanni would
be standing at the UR corner of the bench, using his cane to threaten Leporello, cowering DL of it. The
positions would then reverse: Giovanni sitting on the DR corner, and Leporello UL of him. I would like to
reverse this again sooner or later, with Leporello sitting with the list (which of course he produces on cue
at measure 26) and Don Giovanni getting up behind him at “son certo che m’ama,” as though dictating to
Leporello, and perhaps even “making love” to him. This has him on his feet to react to the “odor de
femmina,” and then to move US to look down the US street for Elvira, who will presumably enter ULC. He
moves quickly DDR; Leporello grabs his things and follows him.
Aria/Trio. I very much like Leonardo’s idea that verse one of this aria is mainly about Elvira, and the
horrendous journey she has had, while verse two is about Giovanni, the root cause of it. This fits in as an
earlier demonstration of my thesis that Elvira moves, albeit over the course of the opera, from comedy to
deep seriousness. So a high degree of comedy is just fine—anything to emphasize how horrible a night
coach trip must have been. But not just that; we need to show something self-absorbed in Elvira’s
attitude, maybe not actually petty, but undercutting the intensity of her sung emotions, which are way over
the top. Quite possibly a lot of the comedy can come from her interplay with her Maid. She needs to be
young, since Giovanni goes to great lengths to serenade her. [All right, he seduces the “vecchie” also, but
I don’t think that is going to work for the audience, though a scene in which he pours out his most
beautiful cantilena on an old crone would not be uninteresting.] I think we need to treat her as an
overworked au pair, barely able to cope with the insane demands of her mistress; hasn’t she a life too?
The recent Met production had Elvira sipping from a spirit flask kept for her by her maid. I rather liked it,
actually, and see little wrong with stealing it, except that it may get confused with Giovanni’s alcohol use
later. One alternative might be to have her worried about her appearance, and keep looking in a mirror
that the maid would also provide, but I like this less, since Elvira is probably the least concerned of all of
the women about her personal dignity.
So Elvira enters, carrying an umbrella (which will add a comic counterpoint to her more violent gestures in
the first stanza) and perhaps a small vanity. The Maid follows, laden with bags that her mistress directs
her to set on or around the bench; she may even go back for more. Elvira casts off some large cape and
holds it out for the overworked girl to take, and the aria begins. Back to my original musical analysis. She
has two stanzas, with brief interruptions by the others towards the end of each verse, and between
verses. She thus has three further occasions in which she might return to the Maid or the luggage, though
none of these is more than 5 measures long. However, they might provide a useful way of articulating the
whole. Let’s list some possibilities:
(a) She could get rid of further costume accessories, such as her hat or gloves.
(b) She could call for a towel and dab the sweat off her face
(c) She could taking a drink from a spirit flask kept by the Maid, an idea that I would admittedly be
stealing from the recent Met production, since it worked quite well there.
14
(d) She could do something to her appearance, looking in a mirror that the Maid would also provide,
but I like this less, since Elvira is probably the least concerned of all of the women about her
personal dignity.
(e) She could take out a keepsake left her by Don Giovanni, the most extreme possibility being a
portrait that the Maid might hold; this would at least give her a focus for the more direct address in
the second stanza.
The only one that I would dismiss out of hand is (d). Absurd though it is, I do find myself attracted to the
portrait idea (e). I am also inclined to do without the drinking business, partly because it would confuse
things later, and partly because I want any craziness on Elvira’s part to come from her emotions rather
than what she has ingested. I am quite interested in the hat idea (a), though, since she is the kind of
person to divest herself from normal conventions; I can also see what she might do to Don Giovanni with
a hatpin in hand! So we probably have enough now to articulate the whole aria: removing her hat on the
first interruption (and perhaps dabbing at her face), having the Maid get out the portrait between verses,
and removing her gloves on the third interruption to reveal claws with which she would threaten the
picture, though she would end by flailing at it with the gloves, while the Maid looks aside with an “Ouch!”
look on her face.
The main problem I have about this is why Don Giovanni would not recognize the portrait as he comes
upon her beating up on it. But I think it can be done if the Maid stands CS, holding the portrait DS of her
and facing SL. And if Elvira were to end by taking the picture from her and raise it in the air as though to
dash it to the ground. Then Giovanni could take the portrait from her, his real face thus replacing the
painted one. A wonderful opportunity for a true farce moment, and worth getting right!
Recitative. So we have our recognition scene. The positions here would be: Leporello D½R, coming up
with the book at the ready; Giovanni DC with his own portrait; Elvira to his left; and the Maid slightly US of
them. First question: how to get rid of the portrait? Second question: how to get rid of the luggage? Third
question: do we want any interplay between the Maid and Leporello? To answer the third question first, I
think not. Leporello later says that he does not know her, and though we could finesse that, there seems
little reason to do so, since we really need Leporello’s focus on Giovanni during all of this, either
commenting ironically, checking the facts in his catalogue, or backing him up when called upon. So I think
the portrait needs to go back with the rest of the luggage, which means that Elvira would have to snatch it
back from him, probably after “mostro d’inganni!” He might try to sit her on the bench, but she would
refuse to stay there. There is the possibility for a bit of comedy here, as the Maid tries to get all the bags
and things offstage, but I would prefer to keep it brief, having Elvira pursue Giovanni to CS as her diatribe
gets more serious towards measure 26.
I think all the rest can be done on the fly. I would want Giovanni to pass Elvira across him to Leporello on
his right at “credete a questo galantuomo,” thus freeing him to make an exit CL or DL. She would pursue
him there when she discovers him gone, and it will not be hard for Leporello to get her back to the bench
and produce the Catalogue.
Specifics
Recitative
1
G enters UR to URC. L follows, but keeping his distance.
9
L looks round on all sides of G…
15
12
…ending SR of him.
15
L throws this line at G as though ringing a doorbell on a dare, then scoots DL, where he crouches
DS of the bench for protection as G follows him fast, his cane raised.
21
G offers L his hand, pulling him up, then sits on the DR corner of the bench. Possible moment with
the wound? L standing UL of him.
26
L pulls out the list. G stands and sits him DL on bench to take notes. G now UR of bench.
32
G suddenly stops, sniffing the air.
34
G goes UC, as it were to look offstage UL.
37
G moves into concealment DRR. L picks up his stuff and follows him.
Aria
1
E enters UL carrying a parasol and a little vanity. M follows, with a lot of cases which she puts down
on and beside bench. E looking around in all directions except DR.
10
E removes cape and tosses it to M.
14
E takes up position CS. M sits.
22
E XDL…
26
…then to CL
31
E turns her frustration on M, first with parasol then shaking her with her hands.
37
G & L move onstage and upstage a bit, as if circling round towards E. She recovers her composure,
takes a handkerchief from M, and dabs at her face. M sits on the bench and sneaks a drink.
42
Grabbing parasol again, E charges DR. G and L dash for concealment CR.
53
E returns to the bench, exhausted, displacing M, but grabbing her flask for a drink herself. G & L
move DR again.
59
Still seated, E plus out the hatpins from her hat, using them as imaginary weapons. M removes her
hat, then starts removing the portrait from its wrapper.
68
M shows her (and us) the portrait, which E threatens with the hatpins. Over the next few measures,
they rotate so that M is SR of E (and G cannot see the portrait).
80
G gets ready to approach E. L helps him smarten up.
85
E sticks the hatpins into the eyes of the portrait.
92
E grabs the portrait from M, who moves back to UL of the bench.
96
E kneels, alternately loving and murdering the portrait.
105
G X to E, taking the portrait from her…
Recitative
1
…so that his face suddenly replaces the painted one. Possible double-take?
5
E grabs the portrait and gives it to M.
8
G tries to get E to calm down, by sitting her on the bench…
16
10
…but she gets up and circles the bench (getting entangled with M, who is trying to get the stuff
offstage), gradually driving G D½R.
17
E grasps G’s arm on “Mi dichiari tua sposa,” but he shakes her off with a “Surely you didn’t believe
that?” gesture and pulls away a step further.
20
But she follows him, perhaps even hitting him to make her points…
24
…and finally sinking on his breast. G does not break the embrace, but consoles her.
29
But E herself pulls free, and moves DC invoking heaven.
35
[Possibly because he has become interested in M across the stage?…] G grabs L and moves him
into his place to talk to E.
41
Very awkwardly, and clearly making up BS, L starts to explain to E. G meanwhile, XL and exits by
the same exit as that taken by the Maid.
46
E turns to address G, but he has disappeared. She runs to SL to look for him.
52
E sits disconsolately on the bench. L is still UR of her.
55
With great pride, L prepares to pull out the book.
17
Don Giovanni
1/3 Catalogue Aria
Structure
A. Allegro, D, 4/4
Leporello shows Elvira his catalogue, and lists the count of his master’s
female conquests in the different countries of Europe, emphasizing their
range in social terms as well as geographical ones.
B. Andante con moto, D, 3/4
Leporello now gets particular and personal, specifying the different types,
ages, and experience levels of the different women, and Don Giovanni’s
approach to each.
Musical Characteristics
Years ago in grad school, I did an exhaustive study of all Mozart’s two-tempo arias. But I don’t think I
remember any where the traditional slow-fast pattern of what would become the cavatina-cabaletta
convention was reversed as it is here; the shape that he uses in the third-act arias of the Count and
Countess in Le nozze di Figaro or for Donna Anna’s “Non mi dir” here is much more common. It is a
striking effect, and one must ask why he does this. What, specifically does the andante con moto do?
Since the answer is as likely to be a dramatic as a musical one, I will look at this in the next section.
The allegro begins with a 16-measure exposition whose mood will continue throughout, but whose actual
music will not return. What is so wonderful about it is that the orchestra manages to be so highly
energized with its pulsing rhythm and rocket themes in treble and bass, and yet the voice, at least at first,
can be quite middle-range and even scurrilous. Then follow a sequence of four-measure phrases
beginning with a descending scale in the orchestra and moving to chattering woodwind, as Leporello lists
for totals for each country, pausing only for the huge total for Spain, repeated twice against a dotted
cadential figure for emphasis. Now we start a kind of development section as the key shifts via V/V to the
dominant, A major; this is where Leporello groups the women by social rank.
Once on the dominant, we get the descending-scale figure again, and the counts are repeated, by now
with pauses in the middle of each line to make room for an answering ascending scale in the orchestra,
as if not merely to state but to emphasize each total. Finally, Leporello sings the words of the
development section (“V’han fra queste contadine”) to the descending and ascending scales which are
now taken over by the voice, leading to a big climax firmly establishing A major.
There are two main musical building blocks in the andante. The first (let’s call it the A subject) is the
suave eight-measure minuet-like theme with which Leporello describes the bionda. This is repeated, with
significant character variation, for his description of the bruna. Now comes the B subject (flute in dotted
rhythm) for the grassotta and magrotta. Then the grande maestosa crescendoing to a big climax
immediately contrasted with the piccina, the very essence of tininess.
The A subject comes back again for the vecchie—a quasi-recapitualtion, but now with a wonderful
modulation to the flattened submediant (B flat) on the world “lista,” with a sinister bassoon in the bass as
18
the key moves chromatically back to A (bass: Bb, A, G, G#, A); it is a totally striking moment that must be
reflected in the production somehow. We now are back to the B material once more, with the flute now
embellished with trills. And so to the final statement of the A theme, with an effect similar to the previous
false cadence, though now a more standard shift to the vi chord. And from there, we move to the coda
material of the final page, dominated by sequences of descending scale fragments, like an answer to the
tumbling scales of the allegro, but now with so much more romantic insinuation behind them!
Dramatic Issues
The aria as a whole. The big dramatic questions concern Elvira and Leporello in themselves, and in their
relationship to one another. What makes Elvira stay for so long? What is Leporello trying to achieve with
her, and is it the same throughout the whole aria? What does this tell us of his relationship to his master,
and of his own desires?
For that matter, what does this tell us of Don Giovanni? We have seen him in action with two women now,
and talking about a third. But one was at best ambiguous in its outcome and the other is now old history;
if the third woman ever makes her way into the catalogue, we are not to know. Even if the very name Don
Juan had not entered the vocabulary, we could already work out what kind of man this is. But Leporello
comes right out and tells us—and he tells us in two ways: first with statistics, and then in particulars. It is
purely my own idea, of course, but I have Elvira traveling with a portrait of the man who abandoned her.
Now here is another portrait, in words and numbers, and it is likely to exert the same horrible fascination
upon her. So she stays because she has to know. In fact, if she can get her hands on the book itself, she
can know more than mere numbers; she can read names and descriptions, including her own.
But, as Abert points out, this is not an entirely objective portrayal of Don Giovanni, but a special one
through the eyes of his servant, who knows him better than anyone. The bubbling allegro of the first
section tells us more than anything why Leporello stays with his master; he is just a force of nature, and
the whirlwind life is just so much fun. Leporello is also full of himself; this is his catalogue, and he takes on
much of his master’s power just by compiling it.
Allegro. So I see Leporello producing the book with great care at the beginning, probably getting on
Elvira’s nerves a bit, but persuading her to sit again; sitting her with the second “osservate” if she had
gotten up on the first one. Elvira must be in shock; this is far worse than she ever imagined. So at first,
she would just sit there as Leporello relayed the facts. But then some other things begin to happen: not
necessarily all of these or in this order, but let’s list them anyway:
(a) About the “mille e tre.” One time, Leporello can show Elvira the book on, say, the third repeat of the
phrase to point out that he’s not making this up. Another time, he has to check back at the book
himself, as though he can’t get his mind round his own figures.
(b) About the Spanish information. There can be extra pages that have had to be pasted in to contain
all the Spanish names. I have done this before with a huge strip of paper that Elvira has to walk
from one side of the stage to the other to work through, but I think that is too farcical for what we
are now doing. But I can see him either unfolding a few pages in his hands, or sitting beside her
and unfolding the pages over her lap.
(c) About Elvira seeing the book for herself. Sooner or later she is going to want to. Leporello might
keep it from her for a while, or unfold the concertina pages and immediately fold them back again.
But she will need to get it and study it properly, without him being constantly in her face.
The last point here is the most important. I think that Elvira’s serious reading must take place during the
andante, when Leporello’s focus is no longer on statistics, so he can do without the book. So Elvira would
get it either at the very end of the allegro, or else just slightly before. The question then becomes when
19
she sees her own name, but let’s look at that in a moment. Suppose the first set of “mille e tre” phrases
were an exchange between Elvira and Leporello (“I don’t believe it!” “See for yourself!”). Then he could sit
beside her and unfold all the pages on her lap: this would have to be a sudden unfolding, so that he can
put them back on the “V’han fra queste contindine” lines, too fast for her to read them.
OK, now Elvira is determined to see this book for herself. The dynamic has now changed between them.
Leporello can now play keep-away with the book. I can see him treating the numbers game now as a kind
of quiz, first on one side of her and then the other, finally giving her to book (on his right) on the first of the
second set of “mille e tre” lines, immediately saying a silent “Che?”, taking it back on the second one,
reading it, and looking up on the third. On the coda, he could circle the bench counterclockwise, so that
he is US of her when she finally gets the book for herself and sits.
Andante. So why the unexpected order of the two tempi? One the one hand, this is a portrait of Don
Giovanni’s aristocratic confidence and chameleonlike adaptability. But even more, I think, it is a reflection
of Leporello’s own scarcely concealed desires. It is not by accident that Giovanni changes costume with
him in Act II, much as boys playing women’s parts in Shakespeare’s time would find themselves in
situations where the girls dress up as boys. I am inclined to leave Elvira largely alone with the book at this
point, looking for her own name, and focus entirely on Leporello. He might well think he is still addressing
Elvira, though that is really not the case.
It might help if he had a prop to work with. I am wondering what would happen if the pelisse or whatever it
was that Elvira cast off at the start of her aria was left onstage with her. It would give Leporello something
to hold in his arms and caress, stroking the bionda, patting the fanny of the bruna, rocking the bianca,
going large on the grassotta, and skinny on the magrotta. I think here he could see that Elvira was not
really listening, and come behind her on the maestosa, even standing on the bench above her until she,
without really looking, pulls her pelisse out of his hands on the fermata, which makes him get all small on
la piccina, then cross behind her, miming a cane on delle vecchie.
Now we come to that marvelous modulation. It is here, I think, that Elvira should find her own name, give
an audible gasp, and just sit there in catatonia, letting both the book and her pelisse fall to the floor. Even
though this is the wonderful giovin principiante line, I don’t think Leporello should do too much, but be
stuck by a kind of horrified awe at how far his master will go. He could even come in a line or two later,
kneel to retrieve the book, put it back in his satchel, then pick up the pelisse and use that as “la gonnella.”
I see him gradually inching her across the bench by sitting beside her. But I don’t think he is teasing;
there could be a good deal of genuine sympathy there.
Eventually, Elvira runs out DL and Leporello UR (though possibly these could both be reversed, if it would
help her re-entrance later). I do think she can go before him, since his last forte is surely one of vicarious
triumph on behalf of his master, but not specifically scoring points against her. Indeed, thinking further on
my earlier point about farcical situations like the switched disguise often reflecting real feelings, I wonder
how it would be if we completely changed Leporello’s motivation at the end, not to drive Elvira off but
genuinely to console her? Perhaps offering her a handkerchief? Even putting an arm round her? It is
something that I have never done before, but it would set up Act II nicely, and could even be emotionally
effective here. For I would like a degree of sympathy with both of them.
Specifics
11
E gets up, making to exit DL.
14
L gets her and persuades her to sit again.
20
17
L looks up the catalogue pages to show her, first from UL of her…
22
…then when E turns away, from SR of her…
26
…then again on the floor below her.
28
L licks finger and turns to the page.
35
L sits to SL of E…
37
…and, with a flourish, opens the long foldout page…
39
…which he folds up sheet by sheet, as she is trying to read it.
47
L slams the book shut and gets up.
50
L treats the repeat of the statistics like a pop quiz, first from SL of E…
54
…then SR of her.
58
E gets up to get the book from him, but he moves DC, not letting her have it. She XR of him, then
realizing that this is undignified, simply stands still and waits.
67
L gives E the book, then immediately takes it back from her to check the 1,003 total.
72
L circles grandly round the bench followed by E [this needs more work]…
82
…ending with her getting the book and sitting on the bench. From now on, she is reading through it
with a kind of compulsive horror.
85
L, still ostensibly singing to E (but increasingly indulging his own fantasies), takes her cape to make
each of the various girls, moving to CS, just US of the level of the bench.
96
Fanny-pat on “costanza”!
102
Making the coat first fat (“grassotta”) and then slim (“magrotta”).
106
L comes behind the bench and stands up on it to SL of E. She absently brushes the cape away…
115
…then without stopping her reading, reaches up and pulls it out of his hands. This makes him
crouch on the bench, the very essence of smallness.
123
E, again without looking, pushes L off the bench. He XR behind her as an old woman.
131
E finds her name and gasps audibly. From now on she is almost in catatonia. L keeps very still.
136
L realizes how she is feeling, and offers her a none-too-clean handkerchief, which she takes.
143
L sits next to E, picking up the cape, which he folds carefully and hands to her.
151
L gently takes back the book (which is the “voi sapete”).
154
L gradually slides E further L on the bench, but sympathetically, with his arm round her shoulders.
162
E gets up, moves DL, then X DC.
168
L (possibly on the bench) makes a big “What can you do?” gesture.
170
E leaves UR. L exits CR.
21
Don Giovanni
1/3 Entrance of the Peasants & Masetto Aria
Structure
A. Allegro, G, 6/8
Entrance of the chorus. There is a 17-measure introduction (an odd
number, since Mozart does not group his phrases in even 4-bar groups).
Then a 16-measure solo for Zerlina ( which sounds more regular, but is
actually 7+7+2, rather than 8+8), with a 7-measure chorus coda. Then
almost the same for Masetto (though his is divided 7+8+2, with only 6
measures for the chorus). Then they have a more regular 8+4 duet
section, followed by 8 measures of chorus, and 3 measures of orchestra.
B. Recitative 1 (1–26)
Don Giovanni and Leporello enter, see the peasants, and realize that
there may be some fine pickings. Giovanni introduces himself to Zerlina
and, with colder courtesy, to Masetto. This section is interrupted by a
squeak from one of the girls as Leporello takes liberties with her.
C. Recitative 2 (27–36)
Don Giovanni gives orders that everyone be taken to his palace and
treated sumptuously.
D. Recitative 3 (37–53)
But Masetto objects, despite the assurances of Leporello and the
embarrassed prompting of Zerlina, succumbing only to Giovanni’s
threats.
E. Allegro di molto, F, 2/2
Masetto’s aria. There are several ingredients here. First, Masetto’s
agreement. Then, at “Cavalier voi siete già,” his ironic bow to the Don.
Then (“Bricconaccia, malandrina!”) his furious asides to Zerlina. Finally,
his inane refrain, “Faccia il nostro cavaliere cavaliera ancora te.” Then
most of the elements are repeated, out of order, and in different
proportions; the one thing that does not come back is the ironic section;
presumably he is no longer capable of that. Masetto is finally removed,
and the peasants go with him (if they have not gone already).
Musical Characteristics
Chorus. In my brief analysis above, I was struck by the irregularity of the phrase lengths. One might have
thought that with so unsophisticated a subject (carefree peasants) Mozart would also have used an
unsophisticated form, in regular four- and eight-bar phrases. But he does not, and he exhibits such
consistent irregularity that his choice must surely have been deliberate. Or perhaps, given the simplicity of
the subject, the pastoral meter, and the virtually total stability of key (I–V–I), Mozart felt that the piece did
not need traditional phrasing as well, and may even have required a certain freedom to keep it from
becoming utterly banal.
22
At any rate, the subliminal effect is to keep listeners on their toes, suggesting that, despite appearances,
there is something unsettled here; this is where the story begins, not where it ends; and (but this is
hindsight) it may turn out to be a different story than what everybody expects. I am struck by the fact that
you don’t know how many times a given phrase will be repeated (Zerlina’s third “che passi l’età” phrase,
for example, is a surprise), and also by the shift to a quite different kind of singing in the melismatic
measures. But I also note that the phrasing becomes much more regular once the two come together.
Aria. The first thing that strikes me about this is that it opens in what looks like a final cadence: V–I, “Ho
capito,” “as you say.” Masetto has nothing to do but bow his head and go. Really, the aria is over before it
starts. Everything he comes up with is rearguard action, trying to put a good face on it, warning Zerlina,
seeing how far he can get with his heavy sarcasm.
Second, although he can make gestures, they never last. After his opening cadences, he tries a smooth
descending phrase in half-notes. But this soon breaks up into repeated quarters on two notes: “non fo,
no, no, no, no, no, no, non fo”; the music is inane as the text. He manages an ironic bow (or rather the
orchestra does it for him) before “Cavalier voi siete già,” but again this degenerates into furious
repetitions.
Thirdly, well over a third of the whole aria is devoted to extensions of the material beginning with the fivenote scale at “Faccia il nostro cavaliere.” This too is cadential; it is the sort of thing you typically get in the
third subject of a classical symphony. Again, Masetto is going before he’s hardly started.
A final point, though I touched on it above: note how few of Masetto’s musical ideas are primarily vocal
ones. Certainly not the first of them. Perhaps the “Chino il capo” line, such as it is. But his “Cavalier voi
siete già” line, the most memorable in the piece, starts in the orchestra, and he merely tags along. Even
that chirpy final subject is stated in the orchestra before Masetto can take it up. The whole thing is an aria
of impotence. Masetto is dangerous, yes, but he is dangerous because of the resentment that can find no
outlet; not because he can do anything, but because he can’t.
Dramatic and Practical Issues
Timing. First, some practical issues. Luke has designed a wall to fly in with a little door in it; how are we
to use it? The questions are ones of timing (what happens when?) and space (how we articulate the
groupings relative to the wall, and who gets to use that door?).
Which do we see first: the wall or the peasants? I would really not want to take time for a scene change,
but to flood the stage immediately with light and color. Now it may be that the conjunction of the lighting
and the scenery coming in will create light enough that we can delay the peasants, but I fear not. My gut
tells me that it would be better to bring the chorus on directly at the top of the music (perhaps with gales
of laughter), and let the scenery follow them.
But now we have two concerns. One is to get the chorus safely out of the way of the wall as it comes in,
which means bringing them well downstage of it. The other is that the groupings may now get set up too
far from the wall to tie in with it. Another thought, though, is to delay the entrance of the men with Masetto
until after the wall is in. I like this, actually, since it gives a different pace for the men’s entrance. So say
we start with Zerlina and the girls all running on from UL as the music starts, and coming DR. Then the
wall can come in safely. During Zerlina’s solo, Masetto and the men enter from UR, through the door, and
form a little group SL, watching the girls. Masetto sings from the center of this group, and then the two
come together. Masetto and Zerlina certainly. I am inclined to avoid amateur-operetta pairing of every boy
with every girl as yet, but keep the chorus loosely clumped by sexes (see When is the Wedding? below).
23
[I wonder, incidentally, if we do not want to use this wall again for the night-time scene with the peasants
in Act II? While there is no literal reason why we should, it would bring in a different look, link the
reconciliation of Zerlina and Masetto back to their opening, and make it easier to shift into the courtyard
scene for the Sextet.]
Props. Luke had suggested two chairs on carrying poles for Zerlina and Masetto. While I like the picture,
I am not sure of this. Zerlina would probably need to be carried by the men, which means that would be
mixing the sexes again. It will also make the entrance slower than the excited rush onstage called for by
the music. And I think there are likely to be problems with the poles. So not the chairs, I think. But we
need something to focus the group around Zerlina, we might need something to stand on, and it might
also be useful to have something for the “La ci darem” duet (though, come to think of it, I have generally
done this without). So how about two of the girls bringing a little rustic bench with them, decorated with
ribbons and garlands? They could set this D½R, and Zerlina could stand on it when addressing the girls
(though this particular singer is tall).
Do we want something similar for Masetto? Our singer is shorter than many of the choristers, so would
have more need of something to stand on for his opening solo. Two of the men could lift him on their
shoulders, but I would worry about his vocal support. We could bring in a matching bench, of course,
though that seems a little too staged. But how about some other prop? Where are they going? Are they
perhaps carrying some sort of food with them? Is there something that would look natural to carry and yet
be sturdy enough to stand on? A food basket, for instance, or a decorated crate, or…?
I’ve now asked Luke, who likes the symmetry (though I don’t), and also prefers to avoid realistic props
that are not needed (here I agree). As a compromise, I suggest a decorated bench for Zerlina and a
similarly-decorated chair for Masetto, that can be removed later by one of the chorus men.
When is the Wedding? One issue that I have never been able to solve about the opera is when, if ever,
Zerlina and Masetto get married: before we see them, sometime after, or not at all today? If the marriage
has taken place, then Zerlina must know that Don Giovanni is lying from the get-go in his promise that "ci
sposeremo," since she is not free. So for that reason, I like to have the two parties meeting by accident in
the square, not coming from the church together; it also fits better with the time of day. Of course, this
means that they probably don't get married at all in the course of that day, and that the "bel remedio" that
Zerlina promises in her second aria is pre-marital sex, but by that time who cares?
Chorus. While I am pretty confident of my musical analysis of this number, I don’t think that we should be
too heavy-handed in getting the quality of slight unrest; just let the music do its work. I do think, however,
that the bride’s party and the groom’s did not expect to meet at this moment, so there is a moment of
excited embarrassment, the two sexes watching each other across a divide that is eventually broken by
Zerlina and Masetto coming together (I’d love it if he could swing her by the waist!).
What happens at the end? I can see the women of the chorus at least circling the couple in a ring while
the men clap (ask Leonardo about their rhythm). But the girls take Zerlina aside again, while the men
open one of the baskets and pass around drinks. Masetto joins them. One or two of the other chorus can
also come together, men with women, but they too would be separated by their friends.
Recitative. So we do have the sexes still separated after all. We need to arrange the groupings so that
the doorway is clear for Giovanni and Leporello to enter from SR and not be covered. Their line of
movement would be UC to DL, but their focus would be DR. The moment he speaks to them, of course
everybody gets up and bows or curtsies, but he puts them at their ease (at his ease, rather!). This
arrangement puts Masetto on the wrong foot from the get-go, since he is behind Giovanni and Leporello,
24
not with Zerlina. However, this does raise a problem with Leporello and the girls, because ideally he
should be on a different side of the stage from Giovanni and Zerlina. One way to solve this is by having
some of the girls either remain SL after the chorus, or counter there with the entrance of Don Giovanni; in
either case, Giovanni’s encounter with Zerlina would be D½R. Or they could start D½R, and Giovanni
would gradually move with her towards D½L, so that Leporello can counter. I think I’ll try both ways.
Anyway, the ideal is to separate the sexes again. Giovanni gives his instructions to Leporello CS, and
then the servant starts by ushering out the women. If we are using the little bench, Giovanni can escort
her to it while the other girls are going. I want to keep the men onstage for longer. Masetto comes up to
Giovanni to object. At this point (measure 37), we have the following grouping: Z (perhaps seated), G, M,
and L hovering in the background. Zerlina will have to ask Giovanni’s permission to speak to him directly,
and he will pull her further DL when she does so, the grouping would now become G, L, M, Z, with the
men of the chorus mainly UL.
Aria. This gives Masetto three directions of focus: to Don Giovanni DR of him, to Zerlina DL, and to
Leporello who is trying to move him from UR. And a fourth: for he is always conscious of the men behind
him, as giving him strength. I want to see him strutting a bit, playing this audience, gathering strength
from it. But eventually (beginning around measure 55) they begin to leave too, so he discovers he has
nobody to back him up, blows up in impotent exasperation, and gets pulled out.
I would like to end with Giovanni totally relaxed, sitting on the bench DR, while Zerlina stands DL.
Specifics
Chorus
1
Chorus women come on fast from CL and move DR, just in front of the false proscenium. Much
jollity and laughter. Two of them carry a rustic decorated bench which they set DR. Zerlina can
either lead the group (which I think I prefer)…
8
…or come in a little later. Try this both ways. Z is carrying a little bouquet and is wearing some
other decorations befitting a bride.
16
Z gets onto the bench to address the other girls, who cluster DS of her. If Janna is so tall that this
looks stupid, we can just keep her standing, but we need to achieve different heights and to ensure
that Zerlina is the pinnacle of the grouping.
25
M enters with the chorus men similarly, from UR and coming through the door in the flat (if we have
one; the unit may be cut). One of the men carries a chair decorated in similar style to the bench.
Clearly, they do not expect to see the girls; there is something vaguely titillating about the fact that
they do. They continue DL into a group of their own. They can already have begun to drink.
29
Z may notice M here, but carry on as though she hasn’t seen him.
33
Many of the girls will notice the boys and “hide” Z, but there is something flirtatious about their
chorus refrain.
40
M jumps on the chair DL and addresses his group in much the same way that Z had done.
57
The sense of flirtation across the sex-divide is even more overt in the boys’ chorus.
63
Z and M come together DC. There are at least two ways of doing this, and I would like to try both of
them. The simplest is to have both Z and M come together from their respective sides. The other
25
would be to have M come across suggestively during the male chorus refrain and then pull Z to DC.
If possible, I would like him to lift her up and twirl her before they sing, but this might not be practical
on either vocal or physical grounds.
75
Z and M can certainly spin here if they had not done so before. Some of the girls (perhaps with
garlands; there are two 12’ lengths on the prop list) will make either a circle around the couple, or a
half-circle US of them; this is something that Carol Bartlett can eventually help with. Continuing the
flirtation theme, a small group of men will countercross US of the DC group.
83
The girls will pull Z back DR into their giggling circle. M will return to his mates SL, swaggering as
though he had just scored the winning touchdown.
86
The final position should have the sexes basically separated side by side, with most of the women
DR and most of the men CL. But it might be possible to have a small group or two of girls ending
DL, and a group or two of men UR.
Recitative
1
G enters (from UR) through the door UC, talking to L, who follows him.
6.
G CS (L slightly to SL of him). M, Z, and the Chorus stand, curtsy nervously, touch their forelocks,
and so on.
10
Z comes forward a little, and curtsies to G, who moves in towards her. [If we had not had a few girls
remain DL after the chorus, some of them could counter her, but the other is the easier solution.] L
meanwhile moves DL to watch; his line at 15 is an aside.
12
M comes in to SL of G, who treats him with dismissive bonhomie.
23
A little squeak from one of the girls DL, to whom L has been “offering his protection.” G XL to him,
in front of M, and issues his orders. Everybody gets excited, especially the girls.
35
With a friendly hand on his shoulder, G consigns M to L’s care, and XR with Z, whom he intends to
lead to the little bench.
39
M comes to G to object, but L pulls him back, with increasing insistence.
44
Z, with a “let me handle it” look to G, XL to M. He pulls her to his left.
49
G comes in to end this.
52
G pulls the sword a short way out of the stick on “ti pentirai.” Positions are now: Z = DL, M = D½L,
G = D½R, L = US hovering.
Aria
1
M, in an impulsive gesture, picks up the chair, as though to fight G with it. But he puts it down,
and/or one of the chorus takes it from him.
10
M bows ironically to G…
13
…who walks away DR towards the bench, leaving M to move CS (on an US curve) speaking to G’s
indifferent back.
20
Many of the girls will already have gone by now, persuaded offstage by L; the men remain. M
realizes that he has an audience and backup group here, and adjusts to play to them, getting a
certain amount of support.
30
Z comes up to M to get him to stop making a fool of himself…
26
34
…but he turns on her and, in a furious whisper, drives her DL again.
40
L, having gotten rid of the girls, taps M on his R shoulder; he shakes him off then returns to Z.
48
M, with a show of indifference, walks XR towards G, gesturing with open arms.
60
Z tries to calm him once again, and he once again drives her DL. The chorus men begin to leave by
this time, realizing that M is a lost cause. One of them takes the chair with him.
62
Same business shaking of L as before, but this time L is more persistent.
70
This time M’s “Faccia il nostro cavaliere” line is taken to Zerlina, treating her like a caricature of an
aristocrat, bowing over her hand…
79
…and then making a gesture to lift her skirt.
81
On a gesture from G (who sits on the bench DR), L takes hold of M by both elbows and begins to
pull him US.
89
M shakes L off, and turns to his men, only to find they have all gone. A moment of total defeat…
95
…then he exits UC. Z remains standing DL. G, seated, watches her from DR.
27
Don Giovanni
1/3 Seduction Duet
Structure
A. Recitative
One of the great recitatives in Mozart. Every phrase, every exchange,
perfectly calibrated to do just what it has to.
B. Andante, A, 2/4
The first section of the duettino. Almost too well known to describe or
analyze. Essentially, this is a free binary form with the overall nature of a
stretto, not in terms of tempo, which remains constant, but because the
balance of question and answer at the beginning (8 measures answered
by 10 measures, &c.) gets gradually shorter until the entries are
overlapping. Note also the small irregularities in her lines as opposed to
his: small syncopations, unexpected extensions, etc. This is about her
struggle as much or more than his persuasion, which is essentially
complete by the end of the recitative anyhow.
C. Allegro, A, 6/8
Now sung almost entirely homophonically. Giovanni has assimilated
himself entirely to Zerlina’s pastoral world, taking over a rather less
frenetic version of her wedding music earlier. The only thing to separate
the two in this are the four solo “andiam” phrases in the middle; they
could be very significant.
Dramatic Issues
General. In my Idea Notebook I included three quotations about this piece, largely because they struck
me at the time. I wonder now if they could do with further examination:
•
"La ci darem la mano,” one of the simplest-sounding things in the score, is also one of the most
carefully calculated… Joseph Kerman.
•
The heat of the atmosphere should cause the audience to feel acutely embarrassed….
Christopher Benn
•
Hall started rehearsing this duet as though each phrase concealed its opposite… John Higgins
I did not add the following quotation from Abert, though, because I don’t think I agree with it:
•
For him, this conquest is nothing out of the ordinary, only an amusing pastime that involves no
effort on his part. Nor does Zerlina find it dramatic; she has simply followed her natural instinct, and
now that it looks like being gratified she enjoys it with all the uncomplicated, warm impulsiveness of
her nature. Hermann Abert.
Even in the normal scenario of the opera, I cannot easily see that this is nothing out of the ordinary for
Don Giovanni. He may indeed manage several seductions a day, but they would not be worth doing if
each does not involve some challenge for him, and this is a very special one: to seduce a bride of the
very day of her wedding. Also perhaps she gets under his skin. Why else would he return to this particular
28
chase twice more, when there are plenty of other women out there? Then if we add the idea that he has
been wounded, that part of him wonders if each conquest will be his last, this becomes very unordinary
indeed. Just because he addresses Zerlina in such a laid-back manner does not mean that he is less
than fully engaged. In fact every seduction, whether achieved easily or with difficulty, must seem to him at
the time as the pursuit of the only woman he could ever love; he is simply not interesting otherwise.
As for Zerlina, I absolutely do not think she takes this lightly, though she certainly follows her natural
instincts which ultimately win out over her prudence. I will certainly concede to Abert that, once
convinced, she sets out to enjoy it and does not allow lingering guilt to cloud her pleasure. She is certainly
warm, she may well be impulsive, but she is not uncomplicated. Kerman’s point about the careful musical
calculation that went into this duet is well taken. Giovanni’s proposal is very simple, in regular rhythm,
contained within a limited compass. Her responses are extended, irregular in phrase-length, filled with
unexpected syncopations, and either stretching his vocal compass or contracting it to obsessive fluttering
around four semitones. I think we have to see her resistance as being as genuine as her desire is
palpable. Hence the danger. Hence the acute embarrassment that Benn talks about, and I quite agree.
This does not need to be a hot staging in terms of fumbling caresses; it is hot in the naked transparency
of Zerlina’s desire struggling with her conscience. Ideally, the staging (at least until the 6/8) should have
virtually no flesh contact at all.
I wonder what Sir Peter Hall did to make each phrase conceal its opposite? Don Giovanni certainly knows
he is lying; he has no intention of marrying Zerlina, and he will not change her station—or at least not for
the better. But does she, at any level, know that he is lying? She suspects it, certainly: “Io so che raro
colle donne voi altri cavalieri siete onesti e sinceri.” Does he really convince her otherwise? Or does he
merely give her enough reasons to set aside her doubts and go with her desires? The difference is
between a one-stage process and a two-stage one. The simple seduction is that he convinces her that
she is worthy of becoming a lady and she goes with him because she thinks he will make her one. The
complex one is that by treating her as a lady, he flatters and arouses her, and it is this arousal that makes
her give in to him, even though she does not believe his promises. I find the second far more interesting.
It also makes sense of her “Batti, batti” aria (of which more later), and her second fall, which surely cannot
be motivated any longer by belief in his honorable intentions. And of course it gives special strength to
her denunciations in the finale, because she is angry at having betrayed herself!
Recitative. Don Giovanni’s technique, as I have often said, is to treat the contadina as a lady and the girl
as a woman. He does this by flattery, certainly, but this is mixed with an almost brusque dismissal of
opposition; it is the contrast between the two that works so well. So he starts with the outrageous
assumption that he has done her a favor by getting rid of her husband. Zerlina is not prepared to go that
far, so he counters with a touch of honey: “quell visetto d’oro, quell viso inzuccherato”. She still objects,
so he comes in with one of the most sensuous lines of recitative that I know: the sequence beginning with
“quegli occhi bricconcelli” and ending “…e fiutar rose” —undressing her not merely with his eyes, but with
his fingertips and his nose. How could she not be turned on? We certainly are! But she has worries. He
dismisses them, well, cavalierly—but sensing that she needs more, he improvises with his promise to
marry her. At least I think this is an improvisation; I don’t imagine that Giovanni spends more capital on a
conquest than he strictly needs. And with this proposal, he launches the duet with four lines of recitative
so melodious they are almost a lyrical outpouring in themselves.
I mentioned above that if we are to focus on Zerlina’s psychological vulnerability, we don’t want to do too
much too soon with physical contact. But does that apply here? I have them ending the previous number
at opposite sides of the stage: he on the bench DR, she at the DL corner. It might be a nice rehearsal
exercise to keep them this way throughout the recitative, but I think that the verbs “toccar” and “fiutar”
later in the recit imply extreme closeness. So let’s keep him seated at the start, and have her come CS a
29
little on her first line. He can then get up on “un nobil cavalier come io mi vanto” and begin a slow circle
US of her, still several feet away for the “viso… visetto” lines, but getting really close, now to her left, for
the “un altra sorte” sequence, ending with his kissing her hand and, most erotic of all, smelling it. She
virtually drips away from him, not daring to look at him, until he turns her (perhaps with the tip of his cane)
on “ha dipinta negli’occhi l’onestà.” The eye-contact is made once more, and we need to show its effect
on her: a further retreat, I think, either going back to the bench, or crossing him again to D½L. I think I like
this more, since he can stop her with mention of the word marriage, come up to her right shoulder, point
out his “casinetto” (house left), and begin the duet.
Duettino. Not touching, I think, although he can still use the knob of his cane to caress her shoulder. But
ultimately, she is going to have to come to him, and he is going to have to leave her room to do that. So
we are going to have to set up a taxis, a direction of movement that she either goes along with or breaks
from. Right now, I am thinking that this is DL. If he starts behind her, pointing out the place, he can end by
moving to her left as though escorting her off. She would pull back, I think, and probably run DR on the
second “Ma può burlarmi ancor.” This gives him room to make a wide circle UL of her, coming close again
(but not touching) on the “Vieni, vieni!” I can see her running away again at the big syncopated “Ma—” at
measure 38, but this time running towards their ultimate goal. He can follow to DC, holding out his hand,
which she ultimately takes….
And draws him to her for the 6/8. I have never done this before, but it seems right because it makes
Zerlina an eager participant rather than merely a victim. They can hold each other for a moment, then
spin so that he is on her left. I am also playing with the idea that he might have left his hat and/or his cane
on the bench and that she goes back for it on her second “andiam.” It could be a lovely touch of childish
innocence, combined with womanly eagerness. There might even be a little lord-and-lady byplay in the
postlude, leading perhaps to a kiss that is no longer playing at all.
One other thought occurs to me. Is there any possibility that, once he has got her acceptance, Giovanni
prepares to take Zerlina here and now, on the bench, and so by going back for his things she is spoiling
his plans by taking him at his word? No; it may be an interesting passing thought, but there is not time to
set it up or act on it, and besides Giovanni would not be such a fool as to take Zerlina by broad daylight in
a public square! But this leads to another question: what happens to Zerlina’s bouquet, if indeed she has
one? Does she throw it away, or hide it? Does he take it away and perhaps chuck it? Does she say “What
the heck, it will do as well for one wedding as for another!”? Or does she perhaps keep it, until he unties
the ribbon on it and showers her with flowers? It is as good a symbol of taking her virginity as any other!
Specifics
Recitative
1
G sitting DR. Z standing nervously DL.
5
Z XC.
7
G gets up and begins to circle clockwise to UL of Z.
16
G closing in on Z from SL, pointing to her eyes…
18
…and her lips. She puts a hand to her mouth in embarrassed pleasure…
19
…which he takes and kisses.
21
Z melts away to DL of him, facing ¼L.
30
27
G, UR of Z, stretches out his cane to make her turn to look him in the eyes…
28
…marking the moment with a click of his fingers.
29
G XCD.
30
Z comes to him. He moves behind her r. shoulder, pointing out the “casinetto” (house right).
Duettino
5
G moves to L of Z, and offers her his hand.
9
Z almost takes the hand, then pulls back, but does not increase the distance between them; the
closeness should be almost embarrassing.
16
Z runs DR to escape.
19
G begins a slow unhurried circle US back towards Z, who remains DR struggling internally.
28
G, now very close to Z…
30
…touches her with the tip of his cane, and begins to stroke her dress with it.
38
Once more, Z runs away, this time D½L. G tosses the cane from one hand to the other in triumph
then, setting it down on the bench, follows her slowly in his own time.
47
G, now within arm’s reach, holds out his DS hand…
49
…which she takes…
50
…eagerly pulling him into a passionate embrace that is initiated as much by her as by him.
56
Still embracing, G and Z rotate, so that she is now SR of him. There is a moment when they both
realize that this cannot be continued here.
64
G moves L and holds out his hand.
68
Instead of taking it, Z touches him then runs XR to get his hat and cane…
73
…which she presents to him.
79
As though playing princesses, Z curtsies to G, who bows in the same spirit…
81
…then grabs her, swings her to his left, and kisses her passionately.
31
Don Giovanni
1/3 Elvira’s Interruption
Structure
A. Recitative
Elvira comes in just as Giovanni is (presumably) leaving with Zerlina, and
is determined to get the girl out of his clutches, despite his pleas to allow
him his little amusements.
B. Aria, allegro, D, 3/4
A baroque rage aria, dotted but feeling double-dotted. It is baroque too in
the continuity of its form, although there is a distinct return to the opening
lines at measure 25, which thus gives the 10 measures or so before that
the retrospective air of a B section. The aria ends with a spitfire coda one
third the length of the piece, replete with crackling scales.
Dramatic Issues
Recitative. I will not easily forget Francesca Zambello’s staging when we were together in Tel Aviv. She
had Don Giovanni and Zerlina screwing on top of the grand piano, and they simply refused to stop when
she sang her first line, or her second, or even her third, until she was forced to come right up to them and
use the handle of her umbrella to drag him off her! It was very funny, but I fear it was also cheap. A semistaged production in a concert hall is one thing, but a Giovanni who takes Zerlina in a street corner is a
different person from the one we need for the rest of the show, and her subsequent behavior is likely to
be different as well. Besides, the idea will only work if they are actually supposed to be copulating, and
that is simply not possible here.
So Elvira enters—where? They are D½L, and we still have the peasant wall in, so that leaves us with UC,
CR, or DR. Probably the doorway entrance is the easiest, though CR might also work. Zerlina pulls aside
DL, straightening her dress. Giovanni, with a muffled curse, goes to intercept Elvira and bargain with her
D½R. Zerlina comes to his left, asking about Elvira. He leads her a little aside SL again to explain the
situation, but she is having none of it and interrupts with her aria, pushing in front of Don Giovanni and
leading Zerlina firmly DL.
Aria. Again, I have been looking at the quotations from my Idea Notebook. “For frenzied passion is the
essential keynote of this aria, and it is directed much less at Zerlina than at Don Giovanni” (Abert) and
“Elvira is less interested in saving Zerlina from Don Giovanni, than in getting Don Giovanni away from a
rival girl” (Liebner). I see both of these. But jealousy is not the only emotion in the aria; there is real
suffering in the middle section, especially that long hemiola on “Ah, fuggi, fuggi” at measures 22–24. She
is certainly revealing her pain to the girl, though whether it is truly for her benefit is another question. For
sure, she cannot care for her greatly as an individual. But she is another woman, and Elvira is extending
her own suffering to all womanhood. I think the suffering is necessary as a contrast to all that rage, and to
give it validity. For while there is indeed something comic about this scene also, I think it can also mark
32
the point where we begin to shade off the comedy of Elvira’s first entrance—a process that will be
continued in the Quartet that will shortly follow.
So, anyway, we have her DL with Zerlina at the start. I think Zerlina would not know what to make of this
strange woman, though, and would run back XR to Don Giovanni at the first interlude. This makes Elvira
turn to her, facing SR, putting the girl into a quandary between the two poles. I would have her touch,
even embrace Zerlina on the hemiola, and move her out of the way again. But only to gain direct access
to Giovanni himself, driving him DL on the first scale, so that Zerlina counters by running to her arms. She
grabs Zerlina by an arm and pulls her out UC and thence UL as the set flies out.
Specifics
Recitative
1
E enters CR (or perhaps even over the end of the duet?) and begins to move down towards the
couple DL, who pull apart at the sound of her voice.
8
G takes E a little DR, craving her understanding and indulgence, but she is not persuaded.
12
Z XC to G.
13
G goes DL again with Z, to explain the situation confidentially.
16
G XR back towards E as though to take care of her…
Aria
1
…but she simply walks right past him and XL to Z.
11
Z XC back to G, but is now not sure enough to go all the way. She is now caught between the two
poles.
21
E now close to Z, half-embracing her, warning her as woman to woman.
29
E moves behind Z to address G directly.
34
G goes back to Z as though to convince her, but E rounds on him…
38
…driving him DL.
42
E takes Z firmly, and exits with her through the door in the wall and thence UL. G remains DL.
33
Don Giovanni
1/4 Quartet
Structure
A. Recitative
Giovanni, feeling cursed today, feels even more so when he is caught
onstage by Donna Anna and Don Ottavio. He brazens it out, however,
and almost succeeds until Elvira re-enters, thinking that he is once more
making false love to a lady.
B. Quartet
See below for a fuller musical analysis. It comes over, though, as a
quasi-sonata form with a distinct break (the “development section”) with
the sequence of solo lines at measure 50, and a rather more obscure
return to the first material at measure 79. The whole is 88 bars long.
C. Recitative
The very brief recitative in which Don Giovanni takes his leave, but in
such a way as to arouse Donna Anna’s suspicions.
Musical Characteristics
Abert analyzes this as a “three-part cycle” in which “the middle part… by far the longest… falls into
several independent sections which have only one thing in common: that they all revolve round the
dominant of B flat major and avoid the principal key. Only at the end does the latter assert itself again with
full effect.” I am not entirely sure what he means. One of these independent sections is surely the
sequence of solo lines beginning with “Io di qua non vado via” [50]. This does visit a number of keys (F, c,
and g) before touching Bb again, and I suppose you could say it doesn’t stay there. However, there is a
Bb pedal for a few bars at “Non sperarlo, o scelerato” [70], though this soon shifts back to F. I think that
what Mozart is doing in this section is playing with the expectation of coming home, but never quite doing
so. Even what surely is the recapitulation at measure 79, returns with only the tag end of the theme, and
that in some of the parts only; the hallmark of this number is its inconclusiveness, its fade-out.
Do Abert’s “independent sections” start before measure 50? You could certainly describe the first quartet
section, beginning at “Ah non credete al perfido!” [28], as revolving around the dominant, but equally well,
it could be the second subject group in a sonata exposition. Whatever way we look at it, I certainly hear
the cadence on F at measure 49 as representing some degree of closure. Dramatically, it marks the
transition from passive bewilderment to the active search for a solution.
The number begins with each character (treating Anna and Ottavio, almost throughout, as a single voice)
making a statement or reaction to their own version of the same thematic material. Elvira, in contrast to
her spitfire outburst earlier, comes out with a tone of dignified pathos that undoubtedly has more effect
than anything else would have done. But there is no reason to suppose it is insincere; this is her own
language, not borrowed Handel. The reactions of Anna and Ottavio come in smooth parallel tenths,
further developing Elvira’s final phrase, which becomes, as Abert suggests, the Leitmotif of the entire
piece. Giovanni is more conversational, “aristocratically condescending” as Abert calls it, but it is the
34
same music. So the stage is set. The quartet that follows, the first example of all four singing together, is
nothing but a repeat and intensification of the previous attitudes. But how marvelously Mozart racks the
tension, using the repeated triplets of the other three to launch the lightning sixteenth -notes of Elvira—
her spitfire mood again, but quite different in this context.
Then we have the first major change. The four solo lines, each modulating to a different key, are marked
as asides in the score, but they need not all be. Ottavio and Anna are beginning to doubt, and he at least
is determined to find out. Elvira is still raging against Giovanni’s duplicity, and he is wondering how he
may escape. These lines are followed by two brief exchanges: the men to one another, and the women
likewise; one of the comparatively rare instances in Mozart where the musical form indicates the stage
blocking. But Elvira’s “Mentitore!” [65] breaks this private mood, and the grouping returns either to its
original version or the mirror image of it. By the time we have reached B flat again at measure 70 (even if
only temporarily), the pairs are once more separate. The information is all on the table; it is just a matter
of seeing what they will make of it. Somehow, Giovanni persuades Elvira to leave (more on that below),
but Anna and Ottavio remain. When the main theme—or rather the tag of the main theme—returns, there
may not be any big epiphany, but the quiet echo of pathos will have its own effect.
Dramatic Issues
A. One issue that I may have to address is how Anna changed from the wild Fury of the midnight scene
earlier to the restrained consort in this one. We know that the genie will not long remain in the bottle, but
the alteration now is striking. It is not merely her physical appearance that has changed, but her musical
demeanor also. For almost the entire quartet, she is singing with Ottavio in smooth parallel sixths and
tenths, which is clearly her expected public demeanor that she wears as a mask. Does this mean I need
to tone down the earlier scene to make the transition less surprising? I think not; the music won’t let me.
But I think I do have to play up the mask image, by giving her a very stiff costume, and a veil which
remains down at least for the bulk of the quartet. Her control, both visually and musically, should be in
strong contrast to Elvira’s unbuttoned wildness. I’d even play with the idea that she has been sedated.
There is a question here, though: why is she out on the street and not in a darkened room at home? This
is no morning passeggiata; it must have a purpose. To report the crime? No need; they could send a
servant to fetch the authorities to the house. To go to church? That is possible, although the
Commendatore would probably have had a private chapel, and again a priest could have come to them.
To go searching for the murderer, as Abert suggests? This is psychologically possible, knowing Donna
Anna’s mental state, but it is also impractical. What did she expect to do—conduct a DNA test on every
man she meets? The only way to make this clear would be to have her enter in full bloodhound mode, but
this is quite different from the controlled way in which she presents herself. I fear that this is a question I
am simply going to have to leave not merely unanswered but unposed, although I think the idea of going
to church is probably the best solution; this would give her some kind of devotional book as a prop.
There are several small points of interest in this brief recit. First, Don Ottavio and Donna Anna, on seeing
Don Giovanni, treat him as a man beyond reproach, a friend of both their families, and someone they can
count upon. Perhaps Ottavio also welcomes him as someone who can help him calm Donna Anna.
Second, Donna Anna is not prepared to let Ottavio do all the talking; she goes immediately to Don
Giovanni and asks him questions of a personal nature that one supposes she normally would not do.
Third, there is the counterpoint of farce in the oops/whew reactions of Giovanni himself, as he works out
just how much the other suspect (nothing as yet). Fourth, there is the fact that neither of them actually
mentions the death of her father; I don’t know when this becomes common knowledge, but clearly not yet.
35
And finally the fact that there is something about the ending of this scene that immediately raises Elvira’s
suspicions. Clearly, she must see him bending over Anna’s hand without noticing that there is another
man there. This requires a position in which Ottavio is out of her immediate sightlines, either DDR in front
of the proscenium if Elvira makes an US entrance, which I would prefer, or out of the way UR if she
makes a DL one. All in all, I think the first is stronger.
Is the Zerlina bench still onstage, incidentally? [Note that I have not yet blocked “La ci darem” and “Ah,
fuggi” at the time I am writing this.] I don’t think I have any real use for it here, though I can see it in
Anna’s recitative that will follow. Yet there is no real way to remove it earlier, short of a real scene
change. In a truly comic staging, I might see Elvira picking it up and marching out with it. I could easier
see two of the girls removing it during Masetto’s aria, but I think we will need it for the recitative at least of
the duet. The only other possibility would be to keep it onstage and have Ottavio over it with a cloak for
Anna to sit down upon, thus getting rid of the inappropriately pretty associations. But this is not easy, and
needs further thought. Perhaps the easiest would be to see if I can block the duet without it, and either
have Leporello remove it after Masetto’s aria, or cut the business with Giovanni sitting on it during the aria
itself, so that we can thus remove it earlier. [However, see now below.]
B. Blocking-wise, the scene is determined by the moves at measure 50ff that I discussed in my musical
analysis. The quartet begins as two pairs, say AO–GE; it then separates by sexes into AE–OG, and
returns to the original pairing: either AO–GE as before, or EG–OA, its mirror-image. The very opening
position, though, has Giovanni bowing over Anna’s hand, say D½R, Ottavio further DR, and Elvira
entering from UL. She needs to come CS; Ottavio comes in to be with Anna, and Giovanni moves L to
regroup, giving the position AO–E–G. Somehow Giovanni and Elvira have got to reverse positions. In the
final section of the quartet, he will persuade her to quit the field; so I think it better if she pull aside of her
own accord now.
Suppose the bench is still there. Then, if Ottavio and Anna came to meet Elvira CS, she could cross in
front of them to sink down in tears on the bench DR. Anna and Ottavio would counter a little, and
Giovanni would come in to them, urging them to go on their way DL while he attends to Elvira. As he
approaches her at the bench on her final phrase, she would spring up as though to pull them back, but he
would restrain her, in his guise as a concerned guardian. I think she would struggle with him a bit, but
eventually give up, possibly sinking back on the bench.
This new [for me] blocking puts the positions at measure 49 as Es–G–OA. Ottavio speaks his line to
Anna; after she replies to him, he can then begin a counterclockwise US circle to reach Giovanni.
Giovanni, meanwhile, is looking for a way to escape; I think he might try an exit DDR before realizing (on
his aside, the only genuine aside of the four in this version), that this would give the game away. Elvira
takes advantage of his distraction to make a quick cross to Donna Anna to appeal to her as woman to
woman. Ottavio has now reached Giovanni and can check his story; Anna similarly questions Elvira. Don
Giovanni notices and XL on his “Infelice!”, but she attacks him physically on her “Mentitore!” This makes
Anna counter quickly out of their way, joined by Ottavio UR. Both have their suspicions raised, but Elvira
has shot her bolt; she is now vulnerable to Giovanni’s assertion that she will only make a fool of herself
and prove his point if she continues in this vein.
I see the ending section as a furious sotto voce struggle between the two of them, both trying to keep the
other two from noticing the underlying violence. In one production, I had Giovanni twisting Elvira’s arm
behind her back, which is right metaphorically, but might not be literally necessary. In any case, much as
happened earlier with Donna Anna, I would like to see his threats turn to a reminder of their love—some
sort of overt caress that occasions the glorious blossoming of her line at measure78, but then reduces her
to utter impotence.
36
C. In the end, Elvira more or less dribbles out DL, perhaps with one last mute appeal to the other two, and
Don Giovanni excuses himself to follow her. I do not know yet what it is exactly that he does to make
Donna Anna recognize him as her almost-seducer; perhaps in a later stage we can find something to tie
in with that earlier scene. For now, it is enough to assume that she does make this connection; she is
already half persuaded in the quartet anyhow.
Specifics
Recitative
1
G D½L.
4
G XR to get his hat from off the bench DR, and returns as though to exit DL. Overlapping his line, O
and A are heard offstage R. O enters UR just in time to see G about to exit DL, thus stopping him in
his tracks.
8
A comes DC (not directly to G, but to his level). O remains UR-ish.
15
G curves in to L of A, addressing her with exaggerated courtesy.
19
G walks A DR, as though to get greater privacy.
23
E enters UR. G breaks from A and XDL in renewed frustration (an awkward move, though; may
need to rethink it).
Quartet
1
Positions are now: A DR, O ½UR, E CS, G D½L.
8
E XDR to A, and sinks on the bench.
10
A quickly joins O, and more slowly they circle to C½L, watching E all the time.
19
G comes to L of A/O, persuading them to continue on their way DL…
27
…while he goes DR to look after E.
28
E springs up as though to stop A/O leaving. G catches her and pulls her back DR, while making
gestures over her head to A/O.
36
G pulls E across him to DDR and holds her there in his force field for the rest of this section.
50
O indicates to A his intention to look into the matter. They switch places as A moves DL to get a
better look across stage at E. Meanwhile G, feigning concern, sits E on the bench, then makes to
exit DDR…
55
…but realizes that this would give the game away, so stops. O meanwhile is circling to UR.
58
E XDL to talk to A.
61
Two same-sex pairs: O talking to G DR, A talking to E DL.
63
G XCS to pooh-pooh anything that E may be saying, but she turns on him a fury, even beating at
him on the chest.
66
A XR fast to O as G masters E and pushes her DL. From now on, she will not act so conspicuously
again for fear of proving his allegation that she is mad.
37
75
G switches tactics from restraining E to making love to her…
78
…causing a thrill of sensation that completely undoes her…
84
…so that he can simply step back and watch her…
86
…as she makes one more futile attempt to appeal to A/O, then runs off DDL.
Recitative
1
G XR to A/O.
4
G bows over A’s hand and kisses it…
7
…then takes his leave and exits DDL after E.
38
Don Giovanni
1/3 Anna’s Narrative and Aria
Structure
A. Accompagnato
Perhaps the greatest recitativo accompagnato in Mozart and, at 69
measures, probably the longest. It has three major parts. First, Anna tells
Ottavio her conviction that Don Giovanni was her seducer and her
father’s murderer; the loud dotted phrase with which this opens will be
repeated throughout the first part of this section and again at the end.
Now, as she goes over the detail of what happened in the night, the
orchestra goes into an andante in g minor, and the middle section
begins. This is more like unaccompanied recitative, with only chords in
the orchestra until she is in the arms of her seducer and crying out, at
which point the opening dotted theme bursts out. Then back to recit, as
she tells of getting free from him, bursting out three times more as she
now takes on the pursuit, ending in the death of her father.
B. Aria, andante, D, 2/2
Though grand in sound and implied scale, this aria is actually quite
simple in structure, being an ABA plus coda. The A section is powerful,,
like riding a tidal wave, and ending in a very characteristic figure on
“vendetta ti chiedo.” The B section is shorter breathed, beginning more
softly over a panting pulse, with bassoon and viola lines intertwining
beneath the voice. But almost immediately, it borrows a figure from the A
material, and soon we are back to a full-fledged reprise. The coda is
curious, beginning with the most disjoined phrases we have heard yet
(mss. 117–8), but immediately returning to the “vendetta ti chiedo”
theme, the third time we have heard it. Two rising arpeggios follow, and
then a curious almost fade-out, as though she is losing steam. A
triumphant final phrase and orchestral tag fade out similarly into a whole
note V–I cadence. The aria is remarkable not only for its elemental
power, but also for its vision of the failure of that power.
Dramatic Issues
A. I have just checked what I wrote in the Idea Notebook. “First image: Donna Anna pulling away from
Ottavio, keeping a distance between him and her memories of the attempted seduction; she sees
everything with surreal clarity—the bedroom, the masked intruder, her own excitement, betrayal, guilt…
but none of this can she really share with him, any more than she can escape it in herself…. Second
image: Donna Anna suddenly directing all her energies at Ottavio, gathering him up in her whirlwind
vortex, trying to fill him with her passion and strength, in an embrace which teeters between divine
madness and obscene sexuality, and leaving finally, depleted and drained, but not purged…”. The
contrast between these is important, I think: Anna needs to fill Ottavio with resolve, but she needs to keep
39
secret from him exactly what happened in her bedroom. So some kind of approach and retreat is an
essential ingredient of the scene. In neither state should Anna be at the normal comfort distance from
Ottavio: either far away from him, as though rejecting him, or else disturbingly close.
I think we will start with Anna DR. But at some time, probably at the “Oh Dei!” lines, she will run DL as
though pursuing Giovanni once more, and turn to Ottavio, pointing behind her, on “Quegli è il carnefice
del padre mio!” He comes up to her immediately. She grabs his wrists, as though he doubts her (which he
does) and seems about to tell all. But at “…nel mio appartamento” she breaks off, realizing that she will
have to tell some sort of a story and not knowing what this should be. So she crosses back to the bench
DR; I am not sure whether she should play behind it, as though it were a barrier between her and him, or
simply sit down and try to control herself; probably the latter.
How is she to control him? She needs to keep him at a distance, psychologically if not also physically.
She can do that by simply gesturing to him with her hand to stay away. But he could come in anyway and
sit on the bench behind her at “Stelle! Seguite.” He means only to console her, I know, but she cannot
take this from any man right now, so I think she gets up from the bench on the orchestral outburst at
measure 38, and crosses to CS. He would follow her, but this turns into the fight between her and Don
Giovanni. He is trying to calm her down, but she will not be settled. I think that on the “…svincolarmi,
…torcermi, …piegarmi” sequence she could be pushing him away, back to the bench SR, leaving herself
free to enact the chase sequence and so on from SL. I would want a big pause before his “Ohimè,
respiro," and take its subtext as “I don’t understand anything at all.”
Aria. What does she want of Ottavio? To get him to be everything he is not. An avenger, not her suitor.
Ruthless and amoral, rather than bound by reason and convention. Passionate rather than tender. I can
imagine her coming up behind him on the bench as though to infuse him with her own passion. I can also
imagine his utter bewilderment at this, pulling away after the A section, so that she has to pursue him,
reminding him of the pool of blood (in the same place on the floor), reminding him of their oath (palms
slapped together as before). I can see him gripping him to her, forcing him to his knees. I can see him
making the sign of the cross and getting up again. Conversely, I can see her collapsing on the breathless
“Rammenta la piaga” lines, and clinging onto his legs on the rising arpeggios, laying her head on his
shoulder when he lifts her up, in the softer section from 129 on, then rejecting him once more for the last
forte, and exiting DDR, though with a look back of utter defeat.
Props. Before starting work on this, I was trying to find some prop for the Ottavio aria that follows. There
are several possibilities. I’ll just list them now, and think in detail later:
(a) Ottavio could have a prayer book, rosary, or cross that she could have taken from him.
(b) She could have ripped off her hat and veil, or possibly discarded her own rosary and book.
(c) The bench she is sitting on has been decorated for a wedding. Since it is incongruous in this scene
anyhow, could we perhaps make something of the incongruity, having her pull some of the
garlands off it. That is the action of a distracted person, though, not a focused one, so this would
have to take place in the recitative, since the aria is so totally focused.
(d) We still have not dealt definitively with Zerlina’s bouquet, which could indeed still be lying
somewhere intact on the stage. The scattered flowers is quite an appropriate image for Ottavio,
though again I don’t yet quite see how Anna might relate to it.
(e) She could have a handkerchief, either her own or one that Ottavio gives her, use it in the scene,
and even possibly rip it, leaving it behind at the end.
Still, five ideas are better than none…!
40
Later: thinking through this and discussing it a bit, I think the handkerchief offers the best possibilities, and
I like the idea of tearing it. If so, does she tear the handkerchief with realizing that she is doing so, or as a
deliberate gesture to Don Ottavio? The various possibilities for the former— at “Grido” [37], “da lui mi
sciolsi” [51], or directly before the aria—seem rather weak, and we have other options for all of them.
Most of the aria is so much about strength, that it is hard to see her doing anything accidental; we also
don’t want to make her a victim. However, there is a very good possibility at the last “Vendetta ti chiedo”
[119], tearing the handkerchief deliberately on the high A. This would really shock him.
The handkerchief would have to be established earlier. If it is her own from the beginning, it could be in
her hands from her first entrance, thus motivating Don Giovanni’s line “Ma voi, bella Donn’Anna, perchè
così piangete?” She could pull it out again as she starts telling the story to Ottavio at “Era già alquanto
avanzata la notte.” I think this could be quite effective. An alternative would be to have Ottavio actually
give his own handkerchief to her during the recit. But that would make the symbolism different: tearing her
own handkerchief would simply say that the time is past for weeping; tearing his would be a rejection of
him, which may come later, but is too early now.
Specifics
Recitativo accompagnato
1
A DR staring at her hand as though a stain were spreading over it.
9
O reaches out to touch A, but she runs DL as though pursuing G.
14
A DL, looking back at O, but pointing off DDL. O comes up to her as though she must be having
some delusion, or is just overexcited…
16
…but she grips him by the arms as though to make him believe her.
20
Realizing that she has painted herself into a corner, and now will have to tell O what happened in
the night, A breaks from him and XR to the bench, not fast, but working out what to say.
24
A sits on the DS end of the bench, handkerchief in her hands, not looking at O, but staring into
space, at the same time recalling that night and trying to edit it. O is CS.
32
O comes to sit US of A on the bench; concerned but not over-agitated—at all costs, we must avoid
comedy in this scene; he can be tender, bewildered, relieved, but never fatuous! He can even
stretch out a hand to her, but she cannot be close to any man right now.
38
A gets up and breaks fast to DC.
44
O follows her, to give her his support…
48
…but she struggles in his arms, with the air of thanking him for his concern, but actually pushing
him away.
52
A has pushed O to SR, and moved SL herself. A long pause before his “Ohimè, respiro” (potentially
the dumbest laugh line in the scene!), and its subtext should be “I have no clue what’s going on”! A
meanwhile is reenacting the blocking of the opening scene. O sits back on the bench.
64
A now back CS, reliving her version of the fight and her father’s death.
41
Aria
70
A moves strongly US of the bench, fixing all her energy on O.
82
A grips O’s shoulders from behind, putting steel into his spine.
86
O gets up and begins to move away, but A comes round the bench and points to the place where
the pool of blood had been. [Yes, we are in quite a different space, but it is the same place on the
stage and in her mind.]
93
Somewhere around here, A transfers to the memory of the blood on her own hand.
98
A claps his hand as in the Vengeance Duet, palm to palm, and forces him to the ground (or he can
sink to the ground in horror).
101
A now directly behind O, as at the end of the Vengeance Duet.
107
Now A’s own memories take over. No longer concentrating on O, she moves forward into her own
vision of her father’s death…
100
…so that this “vendetta” is no longer specifically to O, but as though crying “Is there no one to
avenge him?” O gets up as soon as she has moved DS, and stands slightly UL of her.
116
Distraught, A falls to her knees DC…
119
…and raises the handkerchief…
122
…which she rips almost in two on the high A. O comes up to her in alarm.
125
A on her knees to O’s right, clasping him tight, both begging him and attempting to fill him with an
energy that is virtually sexual.
128
O raises her up.
130
A lays her head on his chest.
133
She touches his cheek almost lovingly…
135
…then with sudden strength, holds him at arms’ length (or clasps his hand in the same oath gesture
as before).
137
A suddenly pushes O away SL, then makes to exit DDR…
139
…gesturing back on the last chord to prevent his attempt to follow her. O sinks to the bench and
remains there for the applause and the first chord of his aria. A leaves.
42
Don Giovanni
1/3 First Ottavio Aria
Musical Content
This is really an exquisitely simple aria (difficult though it is to sing). It starts as a simple ABA binary form,
with a smooth, almost suspended 16-measure A section, and a slightly longer B section, followed by the
A section exactly as before. Although neither part implies action, the B section has a lot of emotional
movement, characterized as it is by the sighing, sobbing, and unexplained passion he has just seen in
Donna Anna. The really beautiful thing is how he calms everything down for the reprise.
After that, though, we get a coda that is in fact a variant on the A material again: the opening eight
measures compressed into a panting four, then the cadence extended in chromatic sequence, before
ending in something close to triumphant radiance. The whole thing is thus ABAA`.
I have also noted, though it bears repeating, that this aria does not begin in the closing key of the
recitative as usual, or further round the circle of fifths from it, but by pulling back to the dominant of the
recitative cadence. It is the only example in Mozart that I know that takes a step backwards from its
musical context. The modulation may have occurred accidentally, as a result of inserting this aria for the
Vienna performances, but its effect is palpable in performance, and definitely something we should use. I
would love to do this without the intervening secco recitative, though. True, it will take away the special
effect of the C-minor to G modulation, but it might make an even stronger continuity if Ottavio were to
start already stunned from the previous aria.
Dramatic Issues
I fully see the dramatic effect I want from this moment: Ottavio having been knocked backwards by Donna
Anna, and seeking desperately to regain his bearings. But how to achieve it is a different matter entirely,
Is there any image we could use, perhaps? What occurs to me is something broken that must be painfully
reassembled, if indeed it is possible to do so. Or at least that is the metaphor. What is broken is his sense
of order, his sense of knowing and in some way enclosing his fiancée, and just possibly his own selfworth (although that is really the subtext of the Act II aria). Were this an indoor setting, there might be a
lot that could have been disturbed in the previous aria: a chess game scattered, a sculpture shattered, a
vase of flowers tipped over. Outside, though, it is more difficult; there is no reason for the flowers as yet,
and nothing solid that can be disarranged or broken. My wife suggested a rosary, which makes a kind of
sense, though the action of spilling beads—still less kneeling to pick them up—is not really suited to a big
stage presentation.
How about costumes? Could Anna have perhaps removed her hat, or torn off the veil? Is there something
else that she might have ripped in her passion? Since starting this, I have gone back to look at the
preceding Anna aria, and think that a handkerchief is best. I have also tested a few ideas on the singers. I
think that a combination of great stillness and obsession over this torn reminder of the past is probably
the way to go, and I know our singers can carry it off.
43
Specifics
1
O almost motionless on the bench, very slowly raising himself to a sitting position as he sings.
16
O gets up and pulls back to CS, where he can relate to A’s exit DR, without singing into the wings.
22
To some extent, O retraces A’s steps in the narrative, moving DL-ish.
33
O to DC…
36
…where he kneels to pick up the handkerchief.
37
All this on one knee with the torn handkerchief, trying to seeing if it can be repaired, then folding it
lovingly.
48
O rises and backs to CS.
52
Fairly fast move SR of the bench…
55
…then once more to DC. Essentially stands and sings from here on.
70
O makes to exit DDR after A, but realizes that this is not the time to pursue her, and goes out UL
instead.
44
Don Giovanni
1/4 Champagne Aria
Structure
The actual aria here is so short that most of the scene takes place in recitative. But it is an important
recitative that further clarifies the relationship between Don Giovanni and Leporello (beyond that shown in
the recitatives surrounding the first scene with Elvira).
A. Entrances (1–9)
Leporello enters, disgruntled, wanting to quit. Giovanni enters in high
spirits. Immediate contrast between the two of them.
B. Leporello’s story 1 (10–19)
Leporello, to score points, tells how he got the peasants to the villa and
distracted Masetto. All punctuated by Giovanni’s bravos.
C. Leporello’s story 2 (20–29)
As Leporello continues, with the story of the arrival of Zerlina and Elvira,
Giovanni guesses all his punch-lines, eliciting now-ironic bravos.
D. Leporello’s story 3 (30–38)
Leporello, recovering, tells of how he got Elvira out of the garden and
abandoned her.
E. Giovanni’s riposte (39–45)
Giovanni cries “Bravo, bravo, archibravo!” and lays out his own plans for
the evening, which will be further explained in his aria.
F. Aria, presto, Bb
Really, although this is 160 measures long, it is so fast and so closely
tied to its basic driving rhythm that it will seem as a single piece, not
easily divisible into sections. Though one might think of it as having three
sections textually: collecting the girls, mixing up the dances, adding
names to the list, all of which are then repeated in the same order, but
with different proportions; the repeats beginning at measure 86, which
has the distinct effect of beginning a coda, even though only half-way
through the piece.
Or we can treat it as a kind of rondo, and use the flourishes with which
Giovanni returns to the main theme as the dividing points; these happen
at measures 70, 97, and 120. The two forms do not entirely coincide, but
measure 70 marks the end of his specific plans, when all that is left
Dramatic Issues
Recitative. The huge problem here is that the content of the words and music do not obviously tie in with
my idea of using this scene as the first major articulation of the effect of the wound. The end result is
right: Giovanni rises to a new peak of hyper-energized confidence. But the way he gets there is wrong; it
is clear from the text that Don Giovanni is on a high from beginning to end. Nevertheless, I wonder if we
can shade this somewhat?
45
There may be a clue in the clear sectioning of the recitative into five sections of 9 or 10 measures each.
In particular, the three stages of Leporello’s story, which go from clever, to dejected, to clever again. Is
there a way that we can give Giovanni the reverse of this pattern? Not dejected in his case, perhaps, but
at least preoccupied, so that his later ebullience is something that he creates, rather than just having it
from the get-go. This makes sense, actually. He has just suffered several unexpected reversals; why
should he exclaim “va tutto bene”? So I wonder if we can see this as a deliberate assumption of
confidence on his part. It would mean that he would come on limping perhaps, but change his manner
immediately upon seeing Leporello; the “indifferenza” in this case would not be a bounce in his step, but
maybe that he was already half undressed, casual rather than formal—not the original meaning of the
word, I know. I am thinking that his responses in the first section of Leporello’s narrative are preoccupied,
those in the second section are in pain, and those in the third section in mounting enthusiasm leading to
the triumph that leads into the aria.
What might he be doing? I had thought he would be getting dressed: removing his pants, attending to his
wound, putting on another pair of pants (all this before the aria), and then working on the upper part of his
attire and accessorizing during the aria itself. In the aria, though, there are only the 8 measures of the
introduction plus two badly-needed measures in the middle when Giovanni is not singing, so anything that
is done here has to be simple; there are really no more chances for him to put on clothes after the
introduction, so I may find myself having to think of something else.
However, if he comes on and immediately imposes himself on Leporello (you know, it occurs to me that I
could do with writing something about all these recitatives in conjunction with one another—and I have
now done this), we might be able to start it: Leporello removing his shoes; he himself removing the pants;
pushing Leporello away to deal with the wound; stealing Leporello’s scarf to bring around it; then putting
on the other pants and boots; and finally standing just before the aria itself, which would begin with
putting on the jacket, or just possibly the vest.
Aria. What is he actually doing? Giving orders for his servant to carry out: set up the party, collect the
girls, arrange the dances, and be ready with the catalogue. Leporello might need some way of taking
these down, but there are not too many, so he can probably remember them. If we give him some
valeting chores to do, we can have him trying to take everything in as he works, but get scared about not
remembering everything. Then when he finally does get to write them down, Don Giovanni just adds more
(or more repetitions) to the list. I think the idea of Giovanni not giving Leporello enough time to write could
indeed be parlayed into business for at least half the aria, especially if he were to demonstrate some of
the dances with him.
But I also think that we need something different for the second section, beginning at measure 86 or
possibly earlier. Before, taking my cue from Franco Enriquez, I had him pushing Leporello to the floor and
riding above him like a bronco buster; this could still work, though I think it would be better kept as a
slightly later image.
Another possibility, that I was considering with Luke, was of presetting the Chorus for the garden scene,
and having the lights come up on small groups of them as he sang. But there are several things against
this: it is going to be hard to handle in the lighting; it is going to require valuable tech time in the theatre
(both for setting the cues and for running them with the people); and most importantly, it bears no
relationship to the words—Leporello has already described the situation in the garden; it is the next scene
that Giovanni is setting up now. On the other hand, I do think we might take the change into the garden a
vista, if Giovanni ends his aria by turning US and making all this happen—or not make, perhaps, though
he might watch. If we wanted to go a little further with this, it might be possible to have chorus women
enter in the latter half of the aria, perhaps as simple background without interaction, perhaps as
motionless figures among whom he could weave, perhaps as brief participants in his action. I know I am
46
moving into less realistic territory here, and would need to give it quite a bit more thought. There is also
the danger of diluting what should after all be a concentrated supernova of energy. But still, the transition
into the next scene does have to happen somehow, and I am anxious not to take any more time on it than
we have to. All in all, I think I am prepared to use the postlude for at least part of the change, but would
rather keep the actual aria between Giovanni and Leporello only.
Specifics
Recitative
1
L enters DDL with a chair and a valet stand. He throws his satchel on the floor.
3
G enters CR. He is limping but deliberately perks up when he sees L.
9
G sits in the chair and has L remove his shoes.
17
G removes his pants and turns around to work on his wound. Preoccupied and in some pain.
28
G takes L’s scarf to bind up his leg, then puts on his pants.
39
G seizes L as though to congratulate him, but instead throws him to the ground to put on his shoes
for him.
Aria
1
L helps G into his jacket (or vest)
9
G giving L orders while he works on his appearance; the joke is that L is trying not to forget
everything.
32
G moves DC a little. L gets to pick up his satchel, but the orders keep continuing. G can perhaps
mime the various dances.
44
L is just starting to write when G goes back to him and uses him as a dancing partner.
57
G comes in behind L, embarrassing him by making love to him as though to a woman.
70
L gets out the catalog.
78
G gets it from him and moves with it DC, stopping him from getting it.
86
Possibly have girls enter quickly behind him in the half light, followed very slowly by the men?
105
L gets the book and starts to write, but G keeps plying him with orders.
120
G throws L to the ground again and stands above him; perhaps as though riding a horse, and using
the loop of the satchel as reins.
144
G turns sharply US, to start the scene change, then exits fast DDR, L following.
Review Notes
After hearing Leonardo work with Jeff Gates, I realize that much of the success in the singing will come
from control of the breath. I may therefore have to omit the putting on of the jacket or get it earlier, and
also reduce Giovanni’s actual movements during the aria itself.
47
Don Giovanni
1/5 First Zerlina Aria
Structure
A. Recitative
Zerlina has rejoined Masetto and the other peasants. But he will not
listen, instead cataloguing all his (justified) grievances. She protests,
making him even more angry, until she tells him to bring it on.
B. Andante grazioso, F, 2/4
This looks like it is going to be a rondo, with a theme [1–16], the first
episode [16–36], a return to a decorated version of the theme [36–52],
and what looks like the start of the second episode [52–60]. But this
turns into a cadential tag phrase instead, leading to the…
C. Allegretto, F, 6/8
A very simple rocking theme with extensions and decorations. This is
Zerlina’s third 6/8 in the opera, more relaxed than the second, which in
turn is more relaxed than the first. The essence of the theme, actually, is
in its extensions: first the wonderful eight-note blossoming on “passar,”
then the same thing repeated in cascading sixteenth-notes. Then two
repeats of the theme in a dance rhythm with an implied hemiola. Then
two sets of scales of little kisses or finger-walks on his nose, finally
rocking to a contented close.
Dramatic Issues
Recitative. In the remark that I quoted in my Idea Notebook, Hermann Abert says “There is no question
of repentance or of sentimentality.” Is this so? Well, Zerlina certainly wants to make things right with
Masetto. But she is not prepared to admit the extent of her own involvement, or that he still has the power
to turn her to liquid inside. So she lies outright about what happened; however chastely we play it, he
certainly touched more than the tip of her finger, and both intended that he should touch a lot more still.
Indeed, it is her uncertainty about her own feelings that makes her protest so strongly to Masetto.
I have been thinking again of Nick Muni’s slap that knocks Zerlina to the ground; it was certainly a
stunning moment. He had him do it, I think, after “vorrei…” but I think that is too early, because of all the
lines that have to follow. But if he could show at least the potential for violence here, it could give her the
idea of putting him into the wrong instead of her. So she would set up the “punta della dita” line
specifically in order to push him over the top. And it works. But I would not have him slap her, rather grab
her by the wrists and throw her to the ground. That should be enough, so long as she registers a moment
of triumph, and he a moment of loss. Now he would be at her mercy; for although she still couches it in
terms of begging his forgiveness, she now has his guilt to work on also.
Aria. So to the rest of Abert’s remark: “She tries to ensnare him with an ingenious mixture of genuine
affection and shrewd calculation; it is as if Masetto were also subjected to the seductive spell to which
she herself had succumbed in the scene with Don Giovanni. After all, the two pieces are identical in form
48
and time signature; and in both cases the andante and allegro have the relationship of courtship and
fulfillment… We can see that since her contact with Don Giovanni, [Zerlina] has become fully conscious of
her feminine powers.” Yes; this is striking. I was reminded of it when noting that this was the third and the
most relaxed of her six-eights. It is almost a repeat of the “La ci darem” duet, and it is effectively a duet, in
that everything Zerlina does is intended to elicit a response, angry, apologetic, lustful, or forgiving.
“Batti” — do we translate it as “hit me” or “spank me”? Da Ponte is supposed to have taken it from a
Venetian source in which a man is indeed spanking his wife in public, and I do think the erotic connotation
is useful. But I just don’t see how to make it more than verbal, because she can hardly get herself over
his knee, or bend over while singing. The most we can do is a suggestive gesture with her skirts on “le
tue botte ad aspettar.” But that may be enough. The thing, though, is that we can’t play “hit” and even the
implied “spank” at the same time; the first is meant to make him feel guilty, playing out of her own
feminism; the second is submissive, meant to remind him of his desire. But we can perhaps transition
from one to the other, starting with “hit” and moving to the merest suggestion of “spank.”
This aborted rondo or binary form, is this of her making, and was it part of her master plan if so? Or to put
it another way, do all her moves work out as she expects? Does every stage of her aria proceed in a
linear direction, or are there setbacks and recalibration? Well, to answer this, let’s look at the purpose or
at least the effect, of each section, whether intended or not?
1.
The soothing music is the very essence of patient meekness. I think, however, that she puts it on to
manipulate him. The “batti, batti” at measure 9 could be a response to him turning away in awkward
embarrassment, or to another impulse of anger on his part.
16. The words here—tear out my hair, gouge out my eyes—are as violent as anything gets in in this
aria, but the music is almost playful. I can see doing this in two ways: either as a response to a
violent impulse from him (thus better fitting the words), or as a way to get close to him, to make him
look at her most attractive features: her hair, her eyes, her mouth.
36. The wonderful thing about this passage is how she slides back into the theme. If he has moved
away (he is not going to give in that easily), it is more to spin out the time before the inevitable
forgiveness than because he is genuinely angry—and she knows it.
52. This is a kind of peek-a-boo game, in which he tries still to appear stern, but she catches him out.
I don’t think there is any arguing with the last of these sections; the peek-a-boo is too clearly written into
the music. In terms of staging, it could perhaps be done standing, but it would be even better on a bench,
with her working behind him from one side or another, and eventually sitting beside him.
It is the opening that is the real issue. At one extreme, she could come up to him, rubbing herself against
him like a cat, figuratively jumping back into his lap if he pushes her away. At the other, she could play on
his guilt, making the music distinctly passive-aggressive. This is the more interesting dramatically, but I
could only justify it musically if she really melts by the time the theme comes around again at measure 36.
And as I stand on my feet and try it out, it just doesn’t work for me. So I think we need to make most of
the recit leading up to it very aggressive, really turning the tables on him, and then switch to pussy-cat
mode on the last five notes. Perhaps she could make the slight gesture of lifting her skirts at the first
“aspettar”? He turns away, say SL, and she goes after him, in renewed pussy-cat mode. But he crosses
in the other direction, say D½R, perhaps after once more making to hit her.
Now she becomes more active, going to him and offering him her hair, offering her eyes, kissing his hand,
perhaps even kneeling to him. He pulls his hand away, and she might turn this into a fall to the ground,
rolling over on her back on the music, slowly getting up on her elbows, perhaps even rolling onto her
front, no longer pursuing him, but willing him to come over to her. She succeeds, and he does pull her up,
embarrassed by her just lying there and trying to turn away, but she won’t let him avoid eye contact.
49
I like the switch here from pursuer to pursued, but the trouble is that it may get us into the ground action
too soon. I had really been thinking of ending the aria on the bench and moving thence to the ground, and
don’t think there is time to bounce down to the ground, up to the seat, and back down again. Yet the
rollover move goes so well with the music. So how about if he came to pull her up as discussed, offering
his hand but not looking, and she pulls him to his knees, doing the peekaboo business from there? I think
we would make this very effective and have it melt smoothly into the six-eight, which really needs very
little staging at all.
Specifics
Recitative
1
M enters angrily CL, Z following, touching him to hold him back. He shakes her off.
8
Z tries to touch him again.
10
M counts her offences on his fingers.
16
M is about to give Z a backhanded slap, but collects himself and moves further DR. Z now gets the
idea of transferring the guilt, and sets to provoke him.
20
Z waves her finger under his nose. M grabs her wrists…
21
…and throws her to the ground SR of him (need to experiment with the timing).
22
Immediately M wants to take this back, gestures to her for a moment, then XL to the bench in
frustration. Z, meanwhile takes every advantage of this.
25
Z comes meekly to SR of M on the bench. M turns angrily to her, then away.
Aria
1
Z offering herself to M, ending with “spank me” implications.
8
M moves further DL; she follows and goes to SL of him.
16
M goes D½R. Z thinks a second, then follows, offering her hair…
21
…going to his R and offering her eyes…
25
…taking his hand (which he raises as though to hit her again)…
29
…and sinking to her knees kissing it.
34
M pulls away XL. This makes her go to the ground, and roll over into the reprise of her aria.
44
M crosses to Z and, without looking at her, puts out his hand to pull her up.
46
M stands a moment, enjoying her attention, but determined not to show it. After a few bars, he
returns to the bench and sits.
52
Z plays peek-a-boo with him, from one side or the other, eventually sitting on the bench UL of him,
trying to make him smile…
60
…which he eventually does. Z pushes him playfully to the ground D½L.
68
X comes to M, gets to her knees, and nature takes its course.
50
Don Giovanni
1/5 Garden Scene
Structure
This is the first part of the Act I Finale, which I divide into the part of the garden scene involving Zerlina
and Masetto, the part involving the Mask Trio, and then the ballroom scene. As always with Mozart
finales, the main divisions are indicated clearly by changes in tempo, key, meter, or personnel—or some
combination of these.
A. Allegro assai, C, 4/4
Masetto and Zerlina each trying to get into hiding, she to escape Don
Giovanni, he to spy on them. A beautifully shaped little scene, with a solo
for him, a complementary solo for her, an implied stretto, and a coda in
which he repeats much of his earlier music with interjections from her
over it.
B. Giovanni with the above
Don Giovanni enters with his servants. A 16-measure solo for him, which
his servants begin to repeat, fading out as they exit with the chorus.
C. Andante, F, 3/4
The second seduction scene between Don Giovanni and Zerlina. This is
in two clear sections: the first between the two of them alone, the second
after Masetto appears. The music of the first section manages to be both
sensuous and agitated, with Zerlina fluttering like a moth in a lampshade,
but utterly unable to tear herself from the light. The second shifting,
menacing, until Giovanni manages to laugh it off with easy courtesy.
D. Allegretto, F, 2/4
This is the first of two sections in the finale where the action is motivated
by music from within, in this case the contredanse that will be heard
again in the ballroom. [Similar effects will be used by Massenet in Manon
and by Verdi all the time, but is this a Mozart invention?] The effect is
one of enforced gaiety, dictated by the outside force of the music, not
emanating from the characters themselves.
Dramatic Issues
Recitative. I think the recitative between Zerlina and Masetto belongs here rather than with the preceding
aria. She has managed to calm him by using her sexual allure, and they are now like any of the other
couples around them. Although I haven’t staged this yet, I think I will have him lying on his back on the
ground, with her kneeling over him to sing, then cuddling beside him at the end. This can raise him to one
elbow, gesturing to some of the others around him, before rolling on top of her to kiss her some more.
It is getting dark, and now a light shines from the top of the stairs as Giovanni’s voice is heard (it can go
out later). Zerlina tries to get up from under Masetto (we will need to work on the mechanics of this), but
he is only interested in going on kissing. She tries to escape to SR, which makes him suddenly
suspicious. He rises and grabs her by the left arm.
51
A. I still don’t know for sure what Luke intends for me to use as the “niches”; for now, I will assume they
are little potted trees placed in front of the proscenium DR and DL. I do not think that Masetto is speaking
to Zerlina at first, which means that he must throw her over DR at the end of the recitative, and then move
D½L himself, checking on the lie of the land. He sees the niche and moves towards it. She, realizing that
he is about to risk them both, tries to pull him back into the open; I think her concern and fear here is
genuine. At the “faccia, dica quell che vuole” section, he begins to drive her XR back to DC. Her
responses are in the third person, so they are like asides, but the kind of asides that are meant for the
other person to hear. They throw the last lines at each other at measure 33, then flip back to back.
Although Zerlina can toss quick looks over her shoulder at him, this position essentially lasts for the whole
section, after which they each fly to their respective niches—or Zerlina, perhaps, to just DS of the stairs?
B. Don Giovanni and the Servants appear on the stage. If we can do it this way, the ideal would be for
two Servants to enter first with lights, then Giovanni, then the other two servants. In any case, there
should be a burst of light surrounding him, while dusk falls that much more quickly on the rest of the
stage. He will sing two phrases from this position, then all will begin to move down, Giovanni crossing SL
of the servants, so he can turn round and speak to them. While the Servants are gathering up the Chorus
and sending them up the stairs into the house, Giovanni needs to hover US looking for Zerlina. I am not
sure when he actually sees her; we may need to do this empirically. If she is hiding in the DS shadow of
the steps, it might be effective to have him begin to go up the stairs after the chorus, and so to be right
above her as she finds a more permanent hiding place.
C. The key here, I think, is to show Zerlina drawn into Don Giovanni’s web by sheer sexual attraction, and
only minimally by physical persuasion. So I would not want her actually to have reached the trees before
he sings to her, and the “la prende” which is written as the stage direction at measure 100 should be
either light, or amorous, or both. One way of doing this is to play it with both on ground level: she
beginning to cross DR, and he coming up behind her. But another possibility is to have her remain at the
stairs, putting her left hand on the railing for one last look around. He therefore comes in from above her,
which could certainly be very pretty, would give a better angle for the next cross, and might foreshadow
what will happen with the Commendatore. We need her in his arms, essentially, as he slowly begins to
move from CR to DL, the actual movement beginning at “Vieni un poco.” I like using Zerlina’s fluttering
sixteenths in measures 117 and 119 for her to pull back before he reels her in again.
But now they run into Masetto. Who sees whom when? I think he should emerge from hiding more or less
at measure 121, Zerlina should see him and move back, and Giovanni should see him in her eyes, most
probably before turning round himself. All the same, I do think he is nonplussed by this; Mexican standoff. We need to see him regain the upper hand on 129, “La bella tua Zerlina,” handing her over with great
courtesy to her bridegroom, who immediate pulls her to the side away from Giovanni, while bowing
ironically to the Don.
D. Now we hear the dance music from offstage, once more accompanied by a flood of light down the
stairs. I wish I could think of a way of having Don Giovanni actually cue this music, but I can’t; there is no
way he would have had it set-up in case he needed a diversionary tactic. No, I think we just have to treat
it as convenient dramatic irony. The point, though, is that this is forced jollity from all three characters, and
although Giovanni is chivvying them up the steps and inside, he too has encountered yet another
setback, although he is still confident of his power to triumph eventually.
52
Specifics
Recitative
1
Z and M on the ground D½L. She has been above him, but now the positions are reversed. He is
talking to other couples around him.
4
Light from the steps CR. G’s voice is heard. Z tries to get up, but M wants to continue making out.
9
Z tries to move off SR (or maybe just looks around in fear). M sees this and completely changes,
rising and grabbing her by the left arm. However we do it, need to end in the positions Z–M DC.
16
M throws Z across to DR (could also try with her storming off).
Finale A
1
M, on his own, spies the niche DL and begins to move towards it.
12
Z runs DL after M to pull him back. She is being quite conciliatory here.
24
M, refusing to be sweet-talked again, pushes her R to DC. She gets exasperated.
33
Shouting in each other’s faces…
35
…and flipping angrily back to back. Zerlina, though, can look over her shoulder occasionally.
Finale B
50
Lights down the steps again. D appears CR escorted by Servants with candelabra. M goes to DL
niche. Z in panic, hides in the shadow of the stairs.
59
G moves down off the stairs to UC, then turns to address the Servants.
68
G moves US to look for Zerlina. Servants wake up different groups of the chorus, who begin to
move off up the stairs. G meanwhile comes DS, and is DL when he sees Z.
88
G follows the last of the Servants up the stairs, but pauses when he is directly above Zerlina.
Finale C
92
Still at the stairs for shelter, Z begins to look around, seeing the niche DR.
97
She begins to head there, by G catches her hands from above.
109
Now down at her level, G begins to lead Z DL to the other niche.
117
(and 119) Moments of futile fluttering from Z.
121
M steps out. G sees this in Z’s face and turns. Z pulls back.
129
Recovering, G hands Z to M with exaggerated gallantry. He pulls her to SL of him.
Finale D
139
Light down the steps again. G organizes an exit for all three of them, all putting on a false jollity for
the occasion.
53
Don Giovanni
1/5 Mask Trio
Structure
The continuation of the garden scene, after Zerlina, Giovanni, and Masetto have left. Whatever the actual
tempo markings, the effect in each of the two large sections in the scene is of a fast section followed by a
slow one, articulated by a burst of dance music coming from the house. The main difference is that the
dance music in the Zerlina scene breaks in at the end and has the effect of speeding up the tempo,
whereas the incursus of the minuet here has the effect of slowing down the agitation of the entrance
music and preparing the stasis of the Mask Trio.
A. Allegretto, d mi, 2/4
It is amazing how much the simple change in tonality and the move to
16th notes in the accompaniment changes the quality of the accompaniment, which makes the atmosphere seem one of apprehension
rather than forced jollity. There are 9-measure solos for Elvira and
Ottavio, followed by 25 measures for Anna: a standard Shakespearian
line + line + couplet shape extended even further. And how it all comes
to rest on Anna: Elvira says something, Ottavio backs it up, and Anna
takes it all upon her own fear, but typically soaring on her lines rather
than staying within the confines of the staff; there is always an extra
dimension to this character.
B. Menuetto, F, 3/4
After a 2-measure incipit, we get 32 measures of the offstage minuet
(AABB), now in F rather than the G which will be the key of the ball itself
(a nice touch on Mozart’s part, as presumably the “real” players would
not have had two different keys on their stands!). Suddenly the music
becomes poised and courteous, despite Leporello’s laughing up his
sleeve, the atmosphere of courtesy intensified by the fact of the Maskers
singing homophonically. With the B sections, the dialogue is now
between Leporello and Ottavio only; nothing shows his breeding so well
as this.
C. Adagio, Bb, 4/4
Actually adagio in cut time, which seems to imply a subdivided 2 or a
broad 4. Although only a 54321 scale, the dotted rhythm of the
descending phrase transitioning to the new key seems to take us into a
new world as surely as does the rather similar phrase prefacing the last
tempo in Figaro. Including its coda, the trio is only 20 measures long, but
it seems enormous. It is basically constructed as a homophonic
invocation by Anna and Ottavio, with Elvira inserting contrasting phrases
between them (AO+E). Then Anna develops an independent line, so that
it seems the two women are duetting together over Ottavio’s fill (AE+O).
This takes us to the cadence at the half-way point. The second half
essentially repeats the first in the opposite order, the AE+O grouping
giving way to E+AO, only this time with Elvira leading. Anna decorates
54
her last phrase with descending scales, which are taken over in
concertante fashion by the solo winds, ending this extraordinary piece of
music—so extraordinary that it cannot but represent some major moral
turning point in the drama.
Dramatic Issues
A. My staging here has always been imagistic, based on my view of the three characters flitting around
like bats at dusk. But it is also a musical image, because that’s what I hear in the febrile accompaniment. I
want the movement to be fast and the manner to be fearful—but fearful on the verge of panic rather than
that fear so cautious that it inhibits motion. I would do this by having Elvira come on first from UL, looking
anxiously SR then DL, singing as she moves. She is really the only person who can set this kind of
movement up; she can also continue moving during Ottavio’s line. Ottavio would come more sedately
with Anna, perhaps to the foot of the steps. I would like Anna to take off on her line also, though, joining
Elvira DL. Ottavio would join them at or just before the repeat of “Temo pel caro sposo,” putting the group
into a huddle OAE, DL.
I suppose, though, that I ought to consider a version in which the agitated music is entirely internalized,
and the actual onstage movement is slow. I would be willing to try it in rehearsal, but with the cloaks and
the masks (though these are still hand-held at this point) and the generally dim lighting, I don’t think we
will make out enough of the inner feelings of the characters to be able to eschew showing the outer ones.
B. All very static. The sequence begins with the opening of the terrace door (ie. light flooding down the
stairs) as the orchestra plays, not an incipit as I said above, but the tail end of the previous period.
Leporello comes out on the top of the stairs, speaking back to an unseen Giovanni inside the house. The
Maskers put on their masks, and remain in a huddle, not yet acknowledging the summons. Before Ottavio
speaks, though, he makes a circle to CS, so that he is at least on Leporello’s US level. Leporello’s manne
changes to more elaborately courteous, though he has a scurrilous aside as Ottavio returns to the ladies
and he goes back inside.
C. I want the three figures entirely motionless, isolated DS, but with space between them, lit by downlights, ideally one for each character. Partly, this is to invoke the power of heaven for the first time (what
we will call the “spiritual down-light”), partly to enable the set to be changed US of them. Ideally, the only
thing still to be accomplished on the Eb allegro will be to fly out the tree unit and remove the stairs.
The question of grouping needs some consideration, since it is both a dramatic question and a musical
one. Let’s consider the alternatives:
(a) AOE. This is the conventional symmetrical arrangement, given that Ottavio is escorting both ladies.
There would be space between them, with Ottavio possibly a step or two behind the others.
(b) OAE. This takes into account that musically, Anna is the pivot character, changing the implied
groupings from OA+E to O+AE, depending on which of the other characters she aligns with vocally;
this arrangement would all be on the same plane.
(c) OEA (or mirror-image). This treats Elvira as the odd-one-out, since she is both outside the pairing
of Anna and Ottavio, and (as we shall see) the one who will be most directly in touch with heaven;
this would be most effective with Elvira a step or two ahead of the other two.
I can say now that, despite its musical appositeness, I like option (b) the least of the three, since Anna
does not in other respects behave like a leader. Option (a) would work and would offend no one; it can be
achieved simply by Ottavio escorting both ladies to DC, and them separating slightly just before they sing.
55
Thematically, however, option (c) works best for me, because of the prominence given to Elvira. It is
harder to get into, though, and it involves the separation of the engaged couple. I can only imagine it by
having Ottavio escort Anna only to C½R, with her on his left arm; then she pauses, and moves quickly
down into the D¼L spot just in time to sing, with Ottavio taking up the symmetrical position D¼R, and
Elvira coming in between them to DC just before her line. Option (c) gives greater urgency to their prayer;
option (a) has the most stillness.
At the end, Ottavio makes to escort Anna once more to the foot of the stairs, which she ascends before
him, followed by Elvira, followed at last by him. We will need a little bit of light shining into their faces, but
it won’t be much.
Specifics
Trio A
169
Lights cut off on the stairs and fade on the rest of the set to full dusk.
172
E enters UL, agitated, carrying her mask and her cloak flying behind her. She comes CR then ½DL,
in big swirly movements. O and A follow more slowly to UC, he on SR of her.
183
O escorts A to the foot of the steps. E meanwhile is still looking around on SL.
192
Frightened of going up the steps, A moves quickly DL to E (now back DL, however she had moved
before).
208
O joins them DL, making the grouping: O A E.
Trio B
218
Light suddenly pours down the stairs as before. L emerges to take the air, then sings back to an
unseen Don Giovanni.
227
AEO put on their masks. L tries to get their attention.
236
O moves ½UC on an upstage curve, so that he may sing to L on the steps. All very formal.
247
O returns to the women. L exits with a scurrilous gesture.
Trio C
251
Light disappears on steps. O escorts A to C½R, with her on his left arm; E makes to follow. A
pauses, then moves quickly down into the D¼L spot just in time to sing, with O taking up the
symmetrical position D¼R.
253
E comes in between them to DC just before her line.
270
O makes to escort A once more to the foot of the stairs, which she ascends before him, followed by
E, followed at last by him. Minimum light on their faces.
56
Don Giovanni
1/6 Ballroom Scene
Structure
The scene is structured by its music, which has several distinct sections separated off by meter, tempo,
and key, each of which implies a different dramatic sequence:
A. Allegro, Eb, 6/8
The bright bustle of the ballroom. Don Giovanni calling for refreshments
for everybody, Masetto trying to warn Zerlina, Giovanni complimenting
her, moving to stasis while Giovanni and Leporello observe the
quarreling couple.
B. Maestoso, C, 2/4
A march to introduce the Maskers. All very formal and courteous.
Giovanni proposes a toast to freedom, which all drink, despite its hidden
message.
C. Minuetto, G, 3/4
Formal minuet, presumably danced by the Maskers. Giovanni (still
honoring her like a lady) partners Zerlina. As the other bands enter in
their contrasting rhythms, Leporello himself dances with Masetto to
distract him as Don Giovanni leads Zerlina off.
D. Allegro assai, ~, 4/4
Zerlina screams. Confusion as Masetto and the others try to rescue her.
E. Andante maestoso, F, 4/4
Don Giovanni enters with Leporello, whom he casts as the culprit. All
unmask and accuse him instead. This leads to an ensemble in the same
key and tempo, “Tutto, tutto già si sa”.
F. Allegro, C, 4/4
Stasis, all closing in upon Giovanni, who is musically isolated with
Leporello. The remaining sectionalization is a matter of musical analysis.
Dramatic Issues
A. I don’t see any problems with the body of this section; it is simply a matter of determining playing areas
for the principals and distributing the chorus. I am thinking that Giovanni and Leporello will play DL and
center, while Masetto and Zerlina will play DR and center, the contact between Giovanni and Zerlina
taking place CS before the two pairs move to their respective sides. The rest is a matter of filling
everything in with the chorus and waiters.
The opening, on the other hand, is more problematic. Were the curtain to rise on a full stage, I would like
the idea that a dance has just ended, and so the peasants would all be tired and in the mood for
refreshment. But if we are going to do a scene-change a vista, we will either need to have the chorus rush
on with the music, or have at least some of them preset behind the trees as they fly out. The alternative
would be to have them come on as part of the scene change, and then freeze until the lights come up, but
this would take time, and it is probably what we are going to do for the opening of the garden scene
anyhow. So I think the best plan is to have Don Giovanni make the first entrance, accompanied by
57
Leporello, and followed by the girls, the men coming in behind them. I would take the calls for coffee,
chocolate, and so on as part of their specific girl-pleasing routines, not as part of their general duties as
host and servant. We would set up the left/right side division pretty early on, with Giovanni deliberately
crossing the centerline to bow to Zerlina. After that, the scene can look after itself.
No it can’t! In working out the actual blocking, I find myself in some doubt as to how to handle Zerlina’s
lines such as “Quel Masetto mi par stralunato.” She is anxious, but what is she anxious about? Further
advances by Don Giovanni, or driving Masetto away entirely? Yes, I think she would prefer to be left
alone, but she cannot resist Don Giovanni when he approaches her. And it is more important to her not to
be controlled by Masetto than it is to keep him; her oppositionality surfaces every time. So I don’t think
she ever shares her apprehension with Masetto; the two remain in close proximity, but edgily so. There
are four pages of the “stralunato” ensemble, though, too many to take from a single position. So I think
she must be looking at him from a distance at first, uncertain of what to do; perhaps the business with
Leporello and Giannotta and Sandrina has given her an inkling just what kind of a party this is. But then
Masetto blows it by trying to control her once more, and she shakes him off.
B. The arrival of the Maskers at the top of the stairs is going to immediately change the composition of
the picture. I see them remaining somewhat above the action, with Leporello at the foot of the stairs,
Giovanni DL-ish, Masetto and Zerlina DR-ish, and most of the chorus US and UL. However, I want to
keep a few peasant girls (perhaps the less conventionally attractive ones?) DL for him to put his arms
around, as a deliberate insult to counterpoint his apparently courteous toast. The arrangement of the
Maskers on the stairs would probably be Anna lowest, Elvira a step above her, and Ottavio a step above
her and further back. Presumably they have to be given drinks for the toast: this can either be done by
Leporello or an anonymous servant; I think the latter. He would need to go a few steps up to their level,
holding the tray at shoulder height; Leporello meanwhile returns to Giovanni.
It now seems, however, that Luke would prefer not to use the stairs in this scene, which means we need
to find another entrance for the maskers. I think the best is probably UR, which means that we need to
clear the chorus out of sightlines on that side, keeping them mainly UC and SL, gawking at the
newcomers.
C. The dance is a combination of a dramatic problem and a choreographic one. The general intent is
clear: to get everybody occupied in a situation of increasing confusion to cover Giovanni’s flirting and
eventual exit with Zerlina. But everyone has to dance in a reasonably convincing way,and there has got to
be a reason for each group to dance in the way they do.
Musically, there are 16 measures of the A section of the minuet, followed by 16 measures of the B
section. With the return of the A section, the contredanse begins (eighth-note equals eighth-note, but in
2/4 against 3/4), over 16 more measures of the minuet (8 of A and 8 of B). We then settle in for a repeat
of the same two dances, but now with an alla tedesca (one 3/8 measure to every beat of the original
minuet). Rather than going the full 16 measures this time, this is cut off by Zerlina’s scream. The whole
thing, therefore, is just short of 64 measures.
Clearly, the aristocrats dance the minuet, and continue to do so. They must remain in close contact with
each other during this, and be able to both watch and sing. Since there are three of them, we have
several options. Don Ottavio can dance with Donna Anna, while Donna Elvira sits out, perhaps spelling
Donna Anna on occasion. Or we can arrange a version of the dance with all three of them. Or we can
possibly add a fourth person, a peasant intervening. My preference is to keep it to the three of them only,
in some loose version of the dance that will serve the dramatic intent, while a few more audacious
peasants try their hand at a crude imitation of the dance upstage of them.
58
During this section, Leporello has to cross to Masetto DR, which is easy enough, but Don Giovanni has to
get Zerlina. I think the neatest way of doing this is to have Leporello cross behind the Maskers, pulling
Masetto away from Zerlina, enabling Giovanni to cross in front of them to play court to Zerlina. The two of
them begin to dance DL, specifically to the contredanse music. I am thinking that he can gradually begin
to work her to DDL, isolating her from the others. Leporello, meanwhile, can try to get Masetto to dance
either the minuet or the contredanse or both alternately. He is trying to keep an eye on Zerlina;
Leporello’s blocking is determined by the necessity of stopping him.
On the alla tedesca section, we need to see the chorus join in, either weaving through the other dancers,
or forming a ring around Masetto.
I need to think carefully about what I had planned to do with Zerlina. Taking my cue from Claus Guth, I
had wanted her to get his blood on her dress, which is what makes her scream. My idea was to have him
take her DDL, start to embrace her (with or without lifting her skirt), and then pull her offstage when she
pulls back from him, sees the blood, and screams. But this does not quite fit the music. Let’s look at what
is actually there. Giovanni does not actually sing once he starts to dance with her, until his line “Vieni con
me, mia vita.” She immediately sings “Oh Numi, son tradita!” Why? What does Giovanni do that makes
her realize that this will not be the feather-bed union she had hoped for, but something far less pleasant?
I can only think that she sees the naked hunger in his eyes. Does she try to resist then, or does she go
with him, even knowing what will happen? I think the latter makes more sense, with her moving off even
as she is singing; this is not yet the scream that will alert the others (except for Leporello, who recognizes
danger ahead, does something to incapacitate Masetto, and runs off after them). I can see Giovanni
starting the dance with Zerlina relatively formally, and then turning it into something very close indeed, or
increasingly static, so that its sexuality becomes more and more obvious. I can even see him coming
around behind her, and running his hands over her, so that she is already exiting backwards on her “Oh
Numi” line.
The key, I think, is whether to make “Oh Numi” about her half-unwanted submission to him, or about the
blood. I don’t think it can be both. As a director of actors rather than scenic effects, I like the ambiguity of
the “Oh Numi” not being a protest so much as an acceptance, so I don’t think the blood should get in the
way. But is there time to handle it afterwards? I think there just may be, if he can turn her to him
immediately after the line and take her in a passionate embrace. She would scream on the downbeat of
465, as he is hustling her offstage. Leporello would have to have signaled the servants to make a wall DL
so that Giovanni and Zerlina are effectively in a separate room, and he would have had to make his own
exit CL. I think all this could be done, but if not, there is no real problem; the pyschology is more important
than the symbolism. Zerlina can still re-enter with blood on her dress.
D. This is fairly easy. Now that we have the servants DL, they can beat off any attempt by the others to
follow Zerlina. Actually, they only need to prevent Masetto; none of the others will have his courage. The
Maskers would congregate UC when Masetto is hurled back, allowing Zerlina to enter UL, and move
down to Masetto, with the others closing behind her. The position would thus be M Z E A O, all on the SR
half of the stage. All the other peasants would flee at this point, the Servants either pushing them out, or
retreating SL after Giovanni’s entrance.
E. There are two keys to this, both blocking issues. One is to get a nice entrance for Giovanni with
Leporello; I am still attached to Richard Van Allan’s at Glyndebourne, letting himself be thrown in a huge
diagonal from UL to DR by Giovanni, who follows with his sword-stick drawn. The second, and more
important, is to get good positions for the sequence of unmasking. The order is Ottavio, Elvira, Anna; I
can either achieve this by altering the position in the paragraph above and simply having the group
countermove clockwise on Leporello’s entrance, or by having them regroup. However, Don Giovanni
59
mentions the names in a different order: Elvira, Ottavio, Anna, so I think that should be the key. The
Maskers counter, Ottavio steps forward with his gun, and Anna comes round to DL of him.
The next section is led off by Zerlina, and it is not contrapuntal. I would like to try having her go right up to
him, driving him DL, and slap him on the face, and have him then grab her by the wrist before casting her
off. Leporello runs over to join his master. Zerlina, returns to Masetto.
F. We now have the vengeance quintet SR bearing down on Giovanni and Leporello DL. There is no
obvious indication of what to do here, or how Giovanni escapes, but whatever it is, it should be
established by the music. At first, the texture is one of massed threat on the part of the Quintet and
confusion on the part of the Duo. There is a major repeat of 28 measures which could imply that they
drive Giovanni and Leporello to the other side of the stage, but somehow that seems too mechanical for
me—unless there were some way of having Giovanni make that cross as a bluff; something to think on a
little more.
The major turning point is at measure 234, with Don Giovanni’s “Ma non manca in me coraggio.” This is
the old Don, with his confidence restored. Now I think that he wins against the others by calling their bluff,
by going up to them and daring them to do their worst. The order is important: he can either start or end
with Zerlina; he can either end or start with Ottavio. Let’s try the first alternatives, using the “Se cadesse
ancor il mondo” sections. So he goes first to Zerlina, holding her for a moment, then throwing her to
Masetto. Then to Elvira and to Anna, both of whom retreat. Then to Ottavio, daring him to fire. At the end,
he might take the gun that Ottavio is already lowering, fire it into the air, then toss it away, catch the
sword-stick thrown him by Leporello, and leave UR. It is a bit swashbuckling, but I think we can make it
work. There remains the question of the wound, and how low to bring Giovanni in the first few pages of
this section. I think I might well have him at least on one knee, perhaps with Leporello giving him
something to drink. The main problem comes on that cross, but I think we do need it after all. I think he
would have to summon all his strength to make it, but then collapse again at the other end. Perhaps
Leporello needs to tighten his tourniquet? No, too anatomical for such music, unless it is something worn
over the costume. Perhaps the drink alone is enough.
Specifics
Finale A (opening)
273
Set flies out. G UC with L to his left and a few girls. Other girls flood in from UL and UR, followed by
the men. Servants also enter two each side and execute the orders. G always has a girl on each
side of him, as does L, though with less success.
295
Z enters CR, obviously still in a fight with M, who follows her. G of course notices.
307
These asides of Z and M are not taken to one another, but she turns her back on him. G meanwhile
is zeroing in on her.
318
G touches Z on the cheek or chin. She looks back at M, who moves further DR, fuming. G calls
over a Servant, who gives Z some grapes.
324
L mimics G with two chorus girls DL; they don’t have much time for him. Z notices this, and G goes
back to rein L in.
328
Z hesitating in the middle of the stage, grapes in hand; M fuming DR, G and L watching from SL.
341
M makes the mistake of coming to restrain Z physically. She shakes him off and comes DR of him.
60
Finale B (entrance of the Maskers)
360
A, E, and O enter UR. If we are not using the stairs, he would be in the middle, with E on his left
and A on his right. Chorus pull back. L makes a curve to UC to welcome them. G is standing D½L
with his arms around two girls.
384
G signals servants to provide AEO with drinks.
388
All toast, L probably grabbing a girl also.
403
G gives orders to [?imaginary?] orchestra, then more quietly to L who joins him.
Finale C (dances)
406
Either O and A can begin dancing immediately or, perhaps better, they hesitate until L encourages
them. E meanwhile is looking around for Z.
414
O and A now dancing CS, encouraged by L. E comes back to them and joins in their figure.
424
G and L are watching from UL now.
429
G sends L DR to look after M, which he does, “accidentally” pushing Z out of the way first.
433
G intercepts Z and leads her D½L.
439
G begins to dance with Z D½L, beginning relatively formal, then moving further DL and getting
closer. Servants intervene to provide a human screen DL. Meanwhile, L DR tries to make M dance.
454
G drawing Z backwards as though offstage DDL. She cannot resist him.
460
L stamps on M’s foot, making him hop in pain, and exits CL. G meanwhile has Z pressed against
the wall DDL and is lifting her dress.
465
Z pulls back, sees the blood on her dress and screams. G whisks her offstage DDL. The actual
timing here depends on whether we want her scream onstage or off, which is a vocal matter.
Finale D (rescue)
471
M, limping badly, tries to go DL after Z, but the Servants push him back. AEO are in a group UC,
not certain what to do. The Chorus mill around uncertainly, adding to the confusion.
479
M gathers two or three peasant men, and they try again, but are once more pushed back.
488
Z enters CR, and runs to M, forming the grouping M Z E A O. The Servants get rid of all the
Chorus, and exit themselves.
Finale E (unmasking)
499
G enters UL with L, whom he throws across the stage so that he falls DR. He follows…
504
…and draws his sword. Everyone else counters UL.
507
O steps forward with his pistol drawn. A counters to SL of him.
509
O unmasks.
510
E unmasks.
511
A unmasks.
514
G, sheathing his sword, walks up to them in the order shown (E, O, A) on a circle to DL.
61
519
Z begins a slow walk to him, from UR to DL.
528
Z slaps his face and returns to M UR. He staggers (though more from the wound than her slap) and
sinks to his knees (or possibly not until the second time?). L runs DL to join G, giving him
something from his flask.
Finale F (ensemble)
537
Basic position is M Z E A O (still holding the gun on G), with G and L DL.
565
Everybody start a slow press DL towards G, who faces them Xing DR defiantly…
571
But this brings him to his knees DR.
573
L rushes DR to join him, and help either by giving him something to drink or helping him deal with
his wound.
594
Everybody closes in again on G DR.
615
G gets to his feet with renewed vigor.
623
G challenges each of his opponents in turn, handing Z to M, embracing E, merely touching A…
639
…and facing down O, who gradually lowers his gun.
649
G takes the gun, fires it into the air, catches the sword stick from L, and escapes UC in the
confusion.
Review Notes
There are four sections here that still need a good bit of work:
(a) The chorus in the opening, to give variety among the various groups, some sitting out to stuff
themselves, some flirting with one another, some trying to dance, and so on.,
(b) The dance sequences, especially as these involve the chorus. But we will get Carol Bartlett into a
rehearsal pretty soon to handle this.
(c) The rescue, to make Masetto’s failure and the Maskers’ inaction both seem realistic. Part of the
solution here may be the treatment of the chorus, and how Masetto gets support for his second
attempt. Indeed, it might be interesting to have him succeed the last time, so that he actually comes
back in with Zerlina.
(d) The long final ensemble. I do not think that Giovanni should go to his knees both times, and
certainly not because he has been slapped. So perhaps only the second. What is the purpose of
the cross to DR in the middle: defiance, or to recover the sword-stick? How does Leporello minister
to him: just with the contents of his flask, or by helping him bandage his wound? In this case, do we
want to omit the tourniquet business in the Champagne Aria?
62
Don Giovanni
About the Act Two Arias
All the secondary characters in Don Giovanni have arias in the second act (except for Masetto who
doubled the Commendatore in the original production anyhow). Having staged the Act I versions, it is now
time to think about how the Act II arias differ, both individually and possibly as a pattern.
I say this because the arias provide a special case of the differences between the two acts in general.
While the first is horizontal and thus socially connected, the second is vertical and connected only to
heaven or hell, which makes it that much harder to stage scenes in which the various characters retreat
into themselves one after another, especially since many of these arias occur back to back in typical
Mozart second-act mode. All the arias in Act I involved interaction with others, the sole exception being
Ottavio's "Dalla sua pace," which is a reaction to one such particularly intense interaction. In Act II,
however, whereas there may be somebody else onstage for all of them except Elvira, the connection is
merely one of convenience; there is really no essential dramatic interaction between the person singing
and the one listening. The single exception—and it is a total exception—is Zerlina, who is completely a
social animal to begin with and has no awareness of the vertical plane whatever; both her two arias
involve making love in some way to Masetto; the second differs in honesty and intent, but not otherwise.
But Elvira is alone with heaven above and hell below. Ottavio is theoretically singing to the others on the
stage, but two of them at least lack the status to help him, which essentially makes all three listeners
irrelevant. And while Anna sings directly to Ottavio in answer to his accusation, the whole intent of the
aria (if she is capable of intent any more) is to separate herself from him for a year at least, and possibly
for life; on a different set, I could see him locked outside the graveyard railings and her already inside.
In many ways, Donna Anna is the most difficult case. I always knew that I would be treating her "Non mi
dir" as a kind of mad scene out of Lucia di Lammermoor, and assumed that a certain degree of
derangement in a bloodstained nightdress carrying funeral lilies through a ground fog would do the trick
all by itself. But I find I have already brought her to quite a degree of derangement in her Act I aria, and
that is already almost as much about rejecting Ottavio as it is about energizing him. So I need to think of
her music less in terms of two arias, but as a sequence leading in a certain direction. The Vengeance
Duet, apart from the hallucinatory opening, is all about recruiting Ottavio to her service; the Act I aria is
ambiguous in its alternating recruitment and rejection; the Act II one is all about rejection, or at least selfisolation. To extend this further, the little duet in the epilogue should see Anna entirely ice-cold, catatonic,
going through the conventions of devotion without moving a single muscle; I am not sure that she should
come out of it even for the "Questo è il fin di chi fa mal" at the end; it is something to think about anyhow.
Cutting the recitative before Ottavio's Act I aria makes it no longer about his determination to avenge
Donna Anna, and entirely about his love and concern for her; in no sense is it an action aria. This
immediately makes it different from "Il mio tesoro," whose two substantial B sections at least are very
strong declarations of action. The A sections, though, are once more about his love for Anna. But the
difference is that now he is delegating his concern to somebody else; she has made it clear that, short of
coming back with Giovanni's head, there is nothing he can do for her, so he has to call upon somebody
else to intervene, which is in itself an admission of failure. This is why I stage this with only Elvira there,
but Ottavio is not trying to persuade Elvira, so much as to park his feelings somewhere else. Laurent
Kuehnl describes my interpretation of Don Ottavio as "a tragic character who is also a victim of Don
63
Giovanni." I had not articulated this myself, but this suddenly puts into perspective something that I had
been reaching towards only dimly. I am most grateful.
Zerlina. The principal difference between Zerlina’s Act I and Act II arias, as I have said, is one of moral
context. In both she uses her sexuality to get something from Masetto. In “Batti, batti,” she was asking
him not so much to forgive her as to paper over the bad behavior that she committed and is not at all
confident she would not commit again. By “Vedrai, carino,” however, things have changed. She has learnt
what Don Giovanni is really like; she has learnt something about herself; and Masetto has risked his life
to avenge her. She is now truly repentant, and she owes him. The delicious thing about it is that she uses
her sexuality almost as though seducing him, but she is really offering the long-postponed consummation
of their marriage. There is a rightness to it that is deeply satisfying and is only sharpened by the tease.
Ottavio. To recap, I have made the Act I aria entirely internal, about his feelings. The Act II one should be
external, an action aria, focused at least partly on Don Giovanni, though part of it is still about Donna
Anna. Or is it? Does not the real subject remain Don Ottavio himself and his sense of self-definition? He
is no longer able to define himself entirely in terms of his love for Anna, it seems. He has failed already to
define himself as a man of action, for Don Giovanni has escaped his clutches. Now he makes an attempt
to reclaim both territories. But he has to address Anna through an intermediary, Elvira. Is his talk of “stragi
e morti” (such extravagant plurals!) to be equally second-hand? I think it must be, though I do not yet
know how to achieve it. There is a fine line to be drawn, since I am determined to keep him a tragic figure.
So his heroism and his intent must be entirely genuine; it is just that the audience must know that he is
doomed to fail, but to do so without undercutting his stature. There is something magnificent in that
postlude, and we absolutely need to play towards it.
Elvira. This is actually the third of Elvira’s arias. The first of these, “Ah, chi mi dice mai?”, was an
outpouring of rage against the man who betrayed her, essentially a soliloquy, though placed into a comic
context by her exaggerations and pauses, her incongruous dramatic situation, and the presence of three
other people on the stage. “Ah fuggi il traditor” was also an outpouring of rage, and skewed towards
comedy by the perfect mistiming of her appearance, but it is very much a directed aria and it contains
moments of real feeling. “Mi tradì” is once more a solo aria, but all trace of comedy has gone; this is just a
woman alone with the thought of a man whom she still both hates and loves, pinned between an
avenging heaven and a welcoming hell. I think we can do a lot by scenic framing, by using the staircase
and posing her, as far as possible, in mid-air. But I think we need dramatic framing also. It may be an
accident that this arises directly out of the Ottavio aria, but we can still use it. Elvira’s charge to take the
message to Anna is not the only thing that would affect her; I would like to see her reaction to Ottavio’s
arming himself for battle also. The Elvira that sings the aria is not the same Elvira as the woman to whom
Ottavio addresses at the start of his own aria. I also want to consider the possibility of showing Giovanni
onstage during at least part of her aria, though this is a thought that will take time to develop.
Anna. I am convinced by the idea that “Non mi dir” is about Anna’s rejection of Ottavio and retreat into
madness. The trouble is that we would thus have three dramatically soloistic arias almost back to back
(Ottavio, Elvira, and Anna). It is true that Anna has Ottavio to play against here, but we have already seen
her ambivalent treatment of him in the Act I aria. I feel he is basically irrelevant here, and should leave by
the cabaletta at least, if not before. But can I get some other objective correlative for Anna to play
against? The flowers and the blood-stained nightdress, certainly, the lighting and the ground fog. But not
another person, at least in the imagination? Her father up there on his pedestal (could she herself climb
up?). Or a spectral return of Don Giovanni? Probably not, but I will think some more.
64
Don Giovanni
2/1 Quarrel Duet
Structure
A. Allegro assai, G, 3/4
Leporello wants to leave Giovanni’s service because he tried to kill him.
Giovanni says he was only joking. See below for the musical details.
B. Recitative
Giovanni buys Leporello off. They start talking about Giovanni’s attitude
to women. Giovanni claims that it would be impossible for him to give
them up. He explains that he is here to seduce Donna Elvira’s maid, a
task that would be more easily carried out in servants’ clothing.
Musical Content of the Duet
This is a buffo number if there ever was one. It is almost insolent in the mechanical clarity of its structure,
yet it flies by so quickly that it just seems right. It starts on the principle of repetition: four measures from
Giovanni, four for Leporello; then two and two; then four and four again; then another four and four, these
really launching the mode of buffo patter that characterizes the whole, especially the word repetitions of
“matto” and “burlo.” Then a page (roughly) of duet, again immediately repeated, in which Leporello merely
replies the word “no” the first time and “sì” the second. [There is no meaningful syntactic reason why he
changes, other than buffo convention; this is not an interrogation like the Count’s duet with Susanna in Le
nozze di Figaro from which this was surely developed. Leporello’s “no” and “sì” simply mean “No, I’m not
staying” or “Yes, I am going” respectively, both essentially the same thing. Although, as the rest of the
sentence that completes the “no” or “sì” comes much later than the words themselves, it is very hard to
tell what his literal meaning is.] There is a 12-measure coda with both singing together homophonically,
then a 6-measure orchestral tag.
It seems clear that the musical structure is a matrix for some staging, probably with a good deal of
slapstick, that will involve a lot of repetition, and actions mirrored or repeated with a twist.
Dramatic Issues
The major issue here is that if Don Giovanni is to have been suffering from his wound, this is the place
where we need to do something about it. There are two parts to this. We need to shape the duet so that it
is not a mere bit of fun, but actually introduces a Giovanni in pain. And we need to get him to take some
drugs (I think opium) in the recitative. I am worried that the latter may now be more difficult because of the
many cuts we have made in the recitative; right now, I have little idea of how this plays out in practice.
I wrote this earlier about the recitative:
As I said, I am struck by the similarities of this to 1/2: complaints followed by plans for the future. It helps
that both the business of quitting and the physical violence can have been channeled into the duet,
since this means the recit can begin in more relaxed manner, as conciliation. And Giovanni does not get
mad this time when Leporello criticizes his moral conduct. Rather, he tries to explain himself for the only
65
time in the opera. This recitative, therefore, will not be played for violence nor as comedy, but almost as
a kind of romance, slipping fairly easily into the magical mood of the Balcony trio. I am not yet quite sure
how to do it, but this is the scene’s distinguishing factor, it seems to me.
For this to work, we need a tense and edgy duet that is nonetheless comic in nature, and then to relax
into the recitative. I had wondered if we could in some way combine the two, so that Giovanni would
make the duet be about taking the opium, but this just seems wrong: the action is too small for this big
stage, too unphysical for the music, and too unusual for the audience to pick up on until much later. So
we have to play this in terms of a different prop. The symbol of Leporello’s servitude is the satchel with
the Catalogue. If he could start by throwing it down at Giovanni’s feet, all the rest would be about getting
him to pick it up again.
Later: With a little playing around, I found I was able to work the duet in terms of a different symbol: the
flask that Leporello drinks from and that Giovanni needs to take from him. Given this motivation, the duet
works quite well in slapstick terms. The Catalogue stays on the ground, and is picked up later.
Also later: I was able to solve the recitative problem by restoring the original cut in Leporello’s first long
response. This gives enough time for Giovanni to get out the opium pipe (though a marijuana cigarette
might work as well) and for Leporello to light it. And he has just about time to establish the “high” mood he
will need for the next two numbers.
Specifics
Duet
1
G enters fast UL, moving DR. L follows, carrying the satchel with the Catalogue. A quarrel is
obviously in progress.
9
L throws down the satchel DC.
11
G XL a step to L…
13
…who XR in disgust.
15
G makes a bow/shrug…
19
…which L imitates, following it with a FU gesture, on which he XDR and takes out a flask to drink.
23
G, seeing the flask, XR to L…
29
…and slyly takes it from him.
30
G XDL. L realizes that he no longer has the flask and moves UL a few steps.
39
L moves fast to get the flask from G, but he whisks it away at the last moment, so that L is left DL,
empty-handed.
43
G XR to sit on the bench. L moves US a few steps as before…
48
…and makes a bee line for G to get the flask as before.
50
G sticks out a foot and trips him, so that he sprawls DR.
53
G makes to help L up, but he brushes him off and gets up himself.
60
Somewhere about here, G takes the hat off L’s head. L realizes it has gone, and reaches for it…
64
…but G throws it D½L beyond the satchel, so that L has to XL for it.
66
70
L folds his arms and stands facing ¼L, back turned to G in disgust.
Recitative
1
G, sitting again on the bench, calls to L, who only growls, and shakes his head in refusal.
3
G throws a purse to L, who catches it and looks inside, taking out one coin and examining it.
5
G meanwhile takes out an opium pipe…
8
…which L XR to light for him.
11
L XDC to pick up the satchel, then returns to wave it at G…
13
…who only laughs, standing and moving DS a bit, as his philosophy towards women merges with
the euphoric effect of the smoke.
29
G XCL to the balcony to talk about the chambermaid.
41
About here, G returns to L at the bench DR.
43
G takes off his own hat or cloak and urges L to do the same. But when L objects…
45
…he pushes him offstage DR, and follows after him.
67
Don Giovanni
2/1 Balcony Trio
Musical Content
Once again, a trio for these three characters begins as an aria for Donna Elvira, with comments from the
other two. This is the second trio between them, and they show a distinct progression. The first “Ah, chi
me dice mai?”, was essentially her entrance aria, with the other voices mere obbligati; the piece can
actually be sung in audition as an aria. The third of them, in the second scene of the Act II finale, although
once again beginning with a fairly extended statement by Elvira, is much more an action number, with
Giovanni and her taking equal parts, and Leporello merely commenting. This is somewhere in between.
The mood is established by Elvira, and for once it is not angry, but vulnerable and tender. It also becomes
a duet for Giovanni and Elvira, but in the mood established by her, with Leporello involved as a
commentator as in all the others, but also as the physical embodiment of Giovanni’s voice. That
commentary, moreover, is not a question here of the two men laughing at the deluded woman, but of all
three joining into what seems a special moment of magic. Everybody has a buy-in to the music;
everybody is affected, though in different ways; the wonderful passage in the coda where everyone sings
the same line (“Deh, che cimento è questo” &c.) in overlapping waves, is unique in this opera and indeed
in most others (although Wagner was surely thinking of this in the quintet from Die Meistersinger).
Joseph Kerman (Opera as Drama, 1956, 80–84) has a wonderful analysis of this number simultaneously
as a miniature sonata form and as a piece of evolving drama, that takes three characters, brings them
into contact, reveals them, and transforms them. Nobody comes out of this terzetto the same as when he
or she went into it. It is a pivotal moment in the drama that most clearly sets up the character of Elvira,
establishes the complexity of her involvement with Giovanni, and reinforces the romantic quality (what I
call the “vertical” quality or in some ways the supernatural) that was introduced in the Mask Trio and will
become increasingly prominent throughout the second act. While the magic is established by the quality
of the opening theme (“the harmony between her mood and the southern summer night” says Abert), its
dramatic outcome is achieved in terms of the musical development, with the resolution achieved in music,
through the return to the sonata recapitulation (Kerman) or the completion of the ternary form (Abert).
Edward Dent goes further still, saying that “as soon as the three voices unite to repeat Elvira’s opening
phrase their individualities become merged in Mozart’s; they cease to be persons—they are merely
representatives of musical themes.” I agree, and yet don’t agree; the characters remain, but it is true that
the ending of the trio involves all three characters in what Kerman calls a “mysterious humility.” Indeed.
Whether in ternary or sonata form, the number does divide into three major sections. First, an exposition
(or A-section) consisting of Elvira’s theme in the tonic and Giovanni’s response on the dominant, with that
little eight-note tag after each of them. Then the development (or B-section) launched by another abrupt
shift to the flattened submediant (cf. Leporello’s Catalogue Aria) for Giovanni to serenade Elvira using his
own tune (a kind of preview of the Serenade), followed by her anguished responses to the increased
emotional pressure. Finally, the recapitulation (or A-prime section), in which the three voices melt as one,
and all the action is essentially done. It is a magnificent number that seems more magnificent the longer I
study it. It scares me.
We should also consider the recit that follows, a deliberate descent from the sublime to the ridiculous.
68
Dramatic Issues
The analyses of Kerman, Abert, or Dent show clearly how much of the dramatic narrative here is carried
by the music; it would work almost as well on a recording. Elvira, indeed, is on her balcony, above the
main action, and virtually motionless. Giovanni too is restricted, and cannot show himself. Only Leporello
is at the center of the physical action, and his role is virtually entirely buffo. The question, then, is how
much we should give to the physical staging in proportion to the musical one. It is a delicate question of
taste—not that we want to keep vulgar slapstick out of anything so beautiful, but rather that we need it
there as seasoning for such beauty, but at the same time cannot let it get out of hand.
For some time, I have been circling around the idea of giving Don Giovanni drugs at the beginning of this
act. If we did, it would have to be in the recitative after the Quarrel Duet, so he would be already in a
different mood here, unnaturally relaxed, more than willing to let Leporello do all the work—though I think
something significantly different has to happen when he breaks into the C-major preview of the Serenade.
What is the physical arrangement? Elvira is on her balcony, of course, CL. I see Giovanni on the bench
DR, easy, visible to us but not to her. Leporello would be the only moving figure, CS, alternately facing
¾L and ¼R, though there is the increasing possibility of a ¼L angle, in which he gestures to Elvira, but
we see his face.
What can be done for the magical switch to C major? Giovanni can stand on the bench, maybe after
another hit of the opium. But is this enough? If he moves at all, where does he go to? If we could find
some way to have him cross the stage to the DL proscenium, we would have a distinctly different picture,
though it would involve some clever play with Leporello in order to have him do it; he might even end up
at the foot of the balcony itself, though this will be a significant position for the Serenade. [Which is an
intrinsic problem, since there are so few positions available to us for a serenade to a fixed balcony, and
we need to space them out not over one number, but two.] Another possibility is to have him UR, but
there is more chance of Elvira seeing him, and the sound would not be so good. So I think I am on for the
change of sides, and will take the physical problem as a challenge rather than a barrier.
So what about the recapitulation? The first thing is to give some indication of Elvira’s surrender. Probably
the easiest is to have her drop a handkerchief. But how? If she simply lets it slip from her hands, it reveals
her inner feelings to Giovanni and the audience, but before she has admitted them to herself. If she drops
it as a deliberate signal, she would expect an acknowledgement from “Giovanni.” Leporello could bend to
pick it up, which is fine for him, but it doesn’t much alter the position for Giovanni. On the other hand, if it
were a very lightweight piece of fabric, and she let it flutter down, Leporello could pretend to catch it, but it
would really fall to his feet, where Giovanni would kneel to pick it up. I like the picture of this, with Elvira
high, Leporello standing, and Giovanni low, but I don’t entirely like the means of getting there. I think it
would be better if the handkerchief drop were un-intentional, and that Giovanni simply slipped to
Leporello’s feet, under cover of his cloak, to pick it up. We would hold this position for 12 measures, and
then move back to the original groupings. I see a rather wonderful rolling move on the “Spero che cada
presto” lines, in which Giovanni spins XR, making a double shape with Leporello, who probably pulls back
a little U½R. He certainly needs to come into view at the very end, with two final gestures to Elvira on the
chromatic thirds, slowing into immobility, the buffo finally giving way to romance, even for him.
But in the recitative we are clearly back to farce. Giovanni and Leporello argue a bit, but he sends him out
once more to meet Elvira, who enters UL, and watches as he gradually warms to his task, before
pretending to be the street fight that makes them flee. If this looks too dull, he could move UR to do this,
but I doubt it is necessary.
69
Specifics
Terzetto
1
G and L are offstage DR changing clothes DR. E emerges on the balcony CL, a handkerchief in her
hand, singing to the night.
11
L enters DDR, strutting as “Don Giovanni”; G follows.
14
L tries to get G to get offstage out of E’s sight, but G takes the opposite course…
19
…and pushes him into view. L is just about to go back R when G sings, trapping him in place.
23
L gestures angrily at G, who is installed on the bench DR, but he simply indicates that he wants him
to imitate his gestures…
25
…which he does, very awkwardly at first, going back to G between phrases.
32
Using L as cover. G XL to the foot of the balcony…
35
…spinning out and singing from there. L, now facing him, gets into the act more fluidly.
46
E gets angry, wringing her handkerchief. G signals L to kneel and make big gestures of pleading…
50
…and of stabbing himself (which he does slightly behind the beat, while trying to contain his own
laughter).
53
L stands, gesturing to the balcony.
54
E, without noticing it, drops her handkerchief, which falls in front of L. G kneels to pick it up. The
three of them are now in a motionless, almost vertical composition.
68
On a smooth spin move, rotating with L as though dancing, G XR again. L pulls back U½R.
77
On a gesture from G, L comes CS and makes two rather poetical gestures on the ascending thirds,
romantic rather than funny.
82
E blows him a soft kiss and goes in.
Recitative GL
1
L goes DR to G, complaining. G simply gives him the rest of his instructions, perhaps adjusting
some things in his appearance.
14
G pushes L to CS, and pulls back.
Recitative EL
1
E enters UL and comes to SL of L, who basically tries to hide from her at first.
12
L is beginning to warm up here.
16
…and is really into it by here, though not beyond making asides!
25
G makes a noise. E and L flee SL.
70
Don Giovanni
2/1 Serenade
Musical Content
This is arguably the simplest number in the score (no, not to sing!). Two identical stanzas, conventional in
both words and musical form. Four lines in each stanza, each split in the middle, 2 + 2 measures = 4. The
only unusual thing is the 2-measure orchestral bridge between each pair of lines. Harmonically I–V, V–I.
Rhyme scheme abab cdcd. Even the images are standard post-renaissance romantic tropes. So this is a
thing that Giovanni has done many times before, as have many other wooers before him. But is it his
invariable approach to use such a classic form on women of the lower class? A point to consider.
The aria is famously accompanied by solo mandolin, with minimal pizzicato string accompaniment to fill it
out. Does this necessarily involve our taking it literally? In most productions (including my own), he has
brought his own instrument and mimed playing it onstage. But since the mandolin (or lute) is also part of
the classic serenade trope, could this not also be something imported, so to speak, for the occasion?
Could we not imagine him simply lying back and singing?
Dramatic Issues
When writing my essay “Borrowing an Idea,” I said the following about the Serenade and the scene that
contains it:
With Act II, we are approaching the endgame. In the quartet of numbers which open the act, I can see
his determination not to be brought down by weakness as fueling the anger simmering behind the duet
with Leporello and lending a dangerous edge to the aria with Masetto. Oddly enough, I can see the
possibility of using the dramatic irrelevance and musical blandness (despite its beauty) of the Serenade,
as though he were phoning it in, not moving about the stage, maybe even engaged in something else
(like bandaging his wound perhaps?) while he is singing. I don’t think I would even have him play that
mandolin. This is not a musical direction on my part; the singing must be every bit as beautiful as it
would be otherwise; it is just the dramatic context that is changed.
But let’s step back from that a moment. What is the nature of a serenade? Essentially, it is disembodied
flattery. The woman being courted hears first a voice coming through her balcony windows. She must be
half persuaded by that voice before she even comes to the windows and looks down. It is the voice, not
the body, that does the work. So I have always staged such scenes so as to emphasize this, not
necessarily looking up at the balcony or the window, simply making sure that the voice carries to the
beloved. So I can well imagine a Giovanni, for whatever reason, phoning it in.
Even more so here, I should think, since the previous Balcony Trio was an exception to this, in that
Elvira’s sight of the person she believes to be Don Giovanni is an important part of the comedy; we do not
need physical action here at all. By the same token, though, I could as easily argue this the other way.
Any action in the trio was Leporello’s, not Giovanni’s, so there is all the more need for him here to take
center stage. Clearly, I am going to get no help from context!
So let’s do what I have done before in problematic situations, listing the possibilities, here from most to
least involved:
71
(a) He can be fully engaged in the seduction, playing his own mandolin, directing himself to the
window, and playing the role of Leporello whenever there is a chance the maid might watch.
(b) He can be fully engaged, but without any attempt to physically embody the character of Leporello.
(c) He can be engaged at the start, but move into concealment directly below the balcony for the
second verse when the Maid comes out, so that she cannot yet see him.
(d) He can sing the whole serenade from a place of relative concealment, letting his voice do the work,
and focusing only on that.
(e) He can sing while doing something else entirely, such as attending to his wound.
(f)
He can be singing through intense pain.
(g) He can have taken some drug, such as opium, to assuage the wound.
In approaches (a) through (c), and possibly (d) and (g) also, I think I would indeed have him play his own
mandolin; there seems no good reason not to. My preferred approach in a “straight” production would
generally be (c), since this allows him to sing beautifully, provides striking pictures, and yet enables him to
maintain aristocratic mastery, like fighting with one hand behind his back. Scenarios (e) and (f) do not
really work with me, since the music that comes out has no connotation of pain whatever.
Right now, this inclines me most of all to the opium scenario. I do need to think this through some more,
but there should be time to take it (smoking a pipe, I should think) in the recitative before the Balcony
Trio. What I imagine the mood effect to have been—I have not tried opium, though we might possibly
transfer this to hashish, which was historically available at the time, and which I have tried—would
certainly play well into the trio and this serenade also. My concern would be how it would work for the
“Metà di voi” aria and the scenes that follow. Clearly, I need to do more research!
But the “high” version worked surprisingly well in rehearsal….
Specifics
1
G CS, looking up at window, decides what to sing and plays the introduction.
5
G moves to DR bench, and puts a foot on it.
12
After looking back at the window, G sits on the bench.
22
G goes back to the window. A light comes on. G leans back against the base of the balcony.
32
Maid comes out on the balcony. G senses her (scent and a backwards glance) and moves DL to
lean against proscenium.
42
G finishes up and moves in a clockwise circle back to the window.
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Don Giovanni
2/1 Giovanni’s Disguise Aria
Structure
A. Recitative
Giovanni is just about to call up to Elvira’s Maid when Masetto is heard
arriving with his posse. Giovanni hides for a moment to find out what
they are after, then reveals himself as Leporello, who has just as big a
grudge against his master as they have. He agrees to tell them how to
find Giovanni.
B. Aria, andante con moto
For the musical content of this quintessential acting aria, see below, but
its dramatic content is as follows. Giovanni divides the men into two
groups, telling them how they may recognize Giovanni, both from his
appearance and his behavior. He tells them to beat him up, then sends
them once more in their separate directions. Alone with Masetto, he tells
him that they will do the real work here, then leads Masetto around the
stage, apparently looking in every corner.
C. Recitative
Giovanni asks Masetto if it wouldn’t be sufficient just to break a few
bones. When Masetto says he wants to kill him, he asks to inspect his
weapons, then beats him with them before running off.
Musical Content of Aria
The first part of the aria has what appears to be a kind of sonatina form. Several themes can be
distinguished in the exposition: the syncopated conspiratorial theme, the rising scales in thirds in the bass
when he describes Giovanni’s actions, the falling motif (again syncopated) when he urges the peasants to
attack, and finally the bravura flourish when he describes himself. All these except the last are primarily
orchestra; the voice really emerges lyrically only once, in Giovanni’s self-portrait. Anyway this leads to an
emphatic cadence on the dominant on measure 33. Immediately, in what could either be sonatina
recapitulation or an abbreviated development, Mozart repeats fragments of these themes out of order,
ending with the opening idea at measure 44, which completes the sense of recapitulation. The brief coda
introduces a significant V–I cadential figure in the winds that will become important later, before this
section ends at measure 56. This coincides with the exit of the chorus.
As soon as Giovanni and Masetto are left alone, we sidestep into a coda beginning on the subdominant.
Although many of the materials are taken from the opening exposition, the feel is different. There is one
striking new theme at “Noi far dobbiamo il resto,” sung in unison between the voice and orchestra. The
wind cadential figures also become very prominent towards the end. The whole section ends with a return
to the opening conspiratorial motif for an unusual 8-measure orchestral postlude.
The main musical point to work out dramatically, I think, is how to reflect the structure (whether sonata,
sonatina, or ternary) in the staging, in particular how to justify two separate sections of Giovanni dividing
the troops. I can only imagine that they come together again in the middle with their blood-lust.
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Dramatic Issues
Set questions. I had considered going back to the “peasant wall” for this scene and the Zerlina aria. The
advantages are that it suits the change in level of this episode, makes a more intimate backing for the
Zerlina aria in particular, and that it covers the removal and reversal of the staircase unit prior to the next
scene. The main disadvantage is that it has to happen during another scene, without interrupting it; it may
also reduce the space too much for the latter part of Giovanni’s aria, but I think we can get around that. If
it does come in, when could this be? It has to be after Giovanni has gone into hiding, and also after the
peasants have come on, unless they enter from extreme downstage, which could have a certain effect of
its own, though my first idea had been to have them enter UR, on a diagonal.
One other idea, which might work well too, would be to keep the set unchanged until the end of the aria,
then to have Giovanni lead Masetto US in the postlude, take the scene change, and have them both reenter through the peasant-wall door at the very end. Let’s try this.
First Recitative. Masetto’s voice is heard from UR. Giovanni goes into hiding DL. The Maid beats a rapid
retreat. We have the sense of Masetto leading his group, who are clustered in a phalanx behind him, but
cautiously as yet. Giovanni reveals himself by sound first, then steps out. Masetto comes for him, and is
about to attack him when he says he is Leporello, but Giovanni simply steps clear (so that Masetto XL of
him), while defusing the situation with his “birbone.” Masetto’s tone changes, and Leporello has no
difficulty in leading him DL a bit, to separate him from his people.
Aria. This is a question, though: to what extent do we want Masetto separated? At the end, certainly, but
whatever exit he is in would either block the chorus from using, or cover him while they were using it. So I
think we want Masetto sidelined enough at the start to enable Giovanni to address the chorus directly, yet
attaching himself to one of the groups once they had formed up. He might even appoint himself as a 2i/c
to Giovanni, moving to whichever group he was not talking to, to back his instructions up.
So let’s have Giovanni splitting the chorus DR and DL, with Masetto joining the latter group to start off
with. He first sets his DR group then immediately his DL on, crossing SR again for the second “Lontan
non fia di qua.” His first mention of the balcony gets him up to the balcony, essentially repeating the
actions of his own aria. Masetto can get back into the action then, so that the “Ferite” lines are taken to
him. Every mention of “ferrite” triggers a wave of violent gestures spreading through the chorus. Giovanni
should be CS for the section beginning “In testa egli ha un cappello”; this is one that he really acts to the
max, acting Leporello acting him. The “E spada al fianco egli ha” lines can be done by miming the swordstick, first to right, and then to left; this is just a reminder: this man is dangerous!
When words and music begin to repeat at measure 33, I’d like to have him take a smaller member of the
chorus SL and walk with him DR for the “uom e una ragazza,” then get another member of the SR chorus
to take with him to the balcony. When he gets into his orgy of “ferrite” lines, I would have all the rest of the
chorus cluster round, making a spiky ball of bellicosity. So Giovanni has to separate them again at the
repeat of the opening words at measure 44; this time he starts with the DL group and moves DR later. I
can imagine him looking out into the audience at “lontan non fia di qua,” so that other members of the
chorus close in and do this also. I would like to try him clapping his hands to get them offstage, first SR
then SL, so that Masetto is last.
Giovanni holds Masetto back. The latter is uncertain about begin separated from his gang, crossing him
DR on the second time, by Giovanni reassures him each time with the “Noi far dobbiamo il resto” line. By
the last page, they are moving backwards, making a big deal of checking one side or the other, then
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doing the same US as the wall flies in and the balcony rolls out. There will probably be some nice staging
I can do to work with this, but that’s something to be handled in the theatre.
Second Recitative. Very simple. Giovanni and Masetto come through the door in the peasant wall.
Masetto is always on Giovanni’s right. It is a straight discussion between them until Masetto hands over
his pistol and musket. Giovanni pockets the pistol then beats him with the butt of the musket, perhaps
adding a few kicks for good measure. He exits DR, leaving Masetto groaning on the ground ½RC.
Specifics
Recitative
1
G is approaching the balcony, when M’s voice is heard offstage UR. G does back DDL.
4
M enters UR, armed with a musket. Peasant Men follow behind him, looking like a hedgehog
bristling with weapons.
8
Peasants raise their weapons.
12
G steps out DL.
16
M goes for him, Xing him DL as G steps back on “Certo.”
19
Realizing what G has said (that they are on the same side), M comes to L of G, asking his help.
The Peasants come around them, already semi-splitting into their two groups.
Aria
1
G gestures the SR group (Al-Sabir, Butterman, Carey, Hirsch) to go DR.
3
G gestures the DL group (Diaz, Sheline, St. Louis, Tallman) to go DL and follows them. M
meanwhile, counters all moves just US of him.
8
G XDR again.
11
G XC again…
13
…and up to balcony.
15
G demonstrates the “Ferite” lines to M, though not actually hurting him. Peasants taste blood.
19
G DC, beckoning the others a little closer, as he demonstrates the attributes of his master.
27
G XR to warn DR group of the dangers posed by this armed man…
29
…then does the same on the opposite side.
34
Taking one Peasant by the hand (St. Louis), G XR as though on a date.
36
G takes another Peasant (Hirsch) up to the balcony…
39
…takes his weapon from him, and urges him to lay it on. The Peasants, meanwhile, getting quite
into this “ferrite” thing, gather tightly round, much like the opening of the aria.
44
G pushes the SL group (now including Hirsch) DL…
48
…and the SR group (now including St. Louis), DR.
49
G looks out into the house, and all the other Peasants start looking out also.
75
53
With a sudden handclap, G disperses the Peasants on either side.
57
G pulls M back, just as he is about to exit DL.
60
M makes to go off DL, but G winds him back ever so smoothly and XR a few steps with him.
65
M makes to go SR, but G reels him in in the same way.
69
With his arm around M throughout, G backs up, looking first one side and then the other, but always
moving US.
78
The “peasant wall” flies in and the balcony disappears.
83
G and M reenter through the UC door.
Recitative
1
G walks D½R, to the left of M, very friendly in manner.
10
M gives G the musket and then the pistol, which M pockets.
13
M starts beating M with the butt of the musket then with his feet, sending him to the ground D½L.
20
G runs off CR.
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Don Giovanni
2/1 Second Zerlina Aria
Musical Content
A. Recitative
One of the most delightful of the secco recitatives, and pure comedy of
the most tender sort. Masetto is lying on the ground, very much hurt,
though perhaps not as badly as he makes out. Zerlina’s reactions are
marvelous: first alarm, then scolding, then asking after his wounds,
making each better as she counts it off. Then her relief at discovering
that Masetto is still working all right as a man, which in turn leads to her
suggestion that they go home together to consummate that long-delayed
marriage.
B. Aria, grazioso, 3/8
A lovely graceful 3/8, with the poise of a minuet though without any of the
pretension. It falls naturally into two parts, dividing almost exactly at the
half-way point. Not a cavatina/cabaletta situation, though, since both
halves are in the same tempo and meter. But the move from primarily
eighth-note to sixteenth-note motion certainly gives the effect of a faster
tempo. However, you could also call it an ABab form, since the long and
wonderful postlude (20 measures) recapitulates material from both
previous parts.
Dramatic Issues
Let me start by copying what I have already written about this aria:
[In most of the Act II arias] there is really no essential dramatic interaction between the person singing
and the one listening. The single exception—and it is a total exception—is Zerlina, who is completely a
social animal to begin with and has no awareness of the vertical plane whatever; both her two arias
involve making love in some way to Masetto; the second differs in honesty and intent, but not otherwise.
And again:
The principal difference between Zerlina’s Act I and Act II arias is one of moral context. In both she uses
her sexuality to get something from Masetto. In “Batti, batti,” she was asking him not so much to forgive
her as to paper over the bad behavior that she committed and is not at all confident she would not
commit again. By “Vedrai, carino,” however, things have changed. She has learnt what Don Giovanni is
really like; she has learnt something about herself; and Masetto has risked his life to avenge her. She is
now truly repentant, and she owes him. The delicious thing about it is that she uses her sexuality almost
as though seducing him, but she is really offering the long-postponed consummation of their marriage.
There is a rightness to it that is deeply satisfying and is only sharpened by the tease.
Zerlina has been almost seduced (at least twice!) by Don Giovanni, but now Masetto has gotten himself
beaten up on her behalf, so this is an aria of commitment to him, before going off to consummate their
marriage of that morning. What I like so much about it is the combination of sexual teasing with complete
sincerity of intent. But it occurs to me now that I have always looked at it from her point of view; what
77
about his? Is he really that naïve as not to know immediately what Zerlina’s “rimedio” is? I don’t think so.
While the aria certainly works as a woman sharing a private secret known only to her kind, and the
childish approach fits in with the kissing-it-better routine she had been through in the recitative, I wonder if
Masetto cannot be in on the game too and, knowing that it is a game, play along with it?
What would be different in this approach? I think he might try to grab Zerlina much earlier, but she would
put him off: what she wants now is foreplay; the rest can come later (not too much later; she clearly gets
as turned on as he does). And yet, when I try to look for a cue for this, it is a little difficult to find one. Just
before the aria would possibly work; he wants to get it on, but she uses the minuet as a way of telling him
to take it slowly. My previous approaches have had him lying there in too much pain to do more than
listen, which does work, as I say, at least as a fallback measure. But if we are to try the more knowing
approach, then I think we need to set it up sooner, with quite explicit treatment of “se il resto è sano.”
There is also the question of staging and sightlines. I don’t think we can take the entire aria on the
ground, so he has to get up sometime. In my most recent production of the scene, I had her get him to his
feet at the start of the aria, and play most of this at the bench. But it was a freestanding bench, and that is
the difference: she could get all the way around it. Right now, though, the only bench I have in the scene
is DR against the masking flat as though built into the wall. I suppose I could move this away when the
pastoral wall comes in, but that involves stagehands coming onstage in the middle of the action. The
other approach would be to set the bench DS from the very beginning of the scene. But there have been
other benches in almost exactly the same positions before, so this might seem just a repetition.
OK, how would it be if the benches were in the same positions, deliberately and permanently so
throughout? What would be gained or lost? I grade each scene from 1 to 5, with 5 being good, 3 neutral,
and 1 bad:
1/1 The DR bench could be quite useful as a parking spot for Leporello, though it would potentially get
in the way of the rather wonderful interaction between Giovanni and Anna that we currently have. I
don’t think it would significantly affect the vengeance duet. [3]
1/2 The DR bench is no problem, perhaps even an advantage. We have the DL bench there already for
Elvira and use it quite extensively in the catalogue aria. However, it was further on and at a
different angle; I would be worried about pushing the catalogue so much to the side, and we would
need to modify the staging to accommodate the angle. [2]
1/3 The DR bench would take the place of the bench carried on for Zerlina; the girls would simply bring
garlands to decorate it. The DL one would replace Masetto’s chair, which cuts out a bit of good
business. We might need to rework the end of the seduction duet also. [2]
1/4 The stone bench DR would be much better for the Anna/Ottavio scene, though it is really a bit too
far right to use as focus for her aria. I don’t think either bench would harm anything else in the
sequence. We might also use the SL bench instead of the chair for the champagne aria. [4]
1/5 The benches would serve well (with perhaps a little set dressing) for the “niches.” Something may
need to be modified in the Zerlina aria (much as in the catalog aria above), but that need not be a
deal-breaker). [4]
1/6 The benches have no place in the ballroom, but they are unlikely to get in the way either. Yet they
could be useful in the very last part of the finale as places for Giovanni to go to. [3]
2/1 I had assumed the bench would be against the wall, but I guess it needn’t be, and it is certainly
better for the Zerlina aria we are currently discussing. [4]
2/2 For the courtyard scene, I had imagined a bench just slightly off-center. I would need to change
quite a bit of my previous staging to use the side positions, but it would not be impossible. [2]
2/3 There is no place for a bench in Elvira’s nightmare scene, but they would not hurt either, if
sufficiently far to the side. [3]
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2/4 Similarly, there is no call for benches in the graveyard scene, but as that is a fairly concentrated
space, they should not matter, or can even be decorated as tombstones. [3]
2/5 The benches are also irrelevant to the finale. They might slightly reduce the impact of the scene
itself, though could possibly be useful for some of the characters in the epilogue. [3]
No 1s, no 5s; all in all, these calculations come out pretty much even. The real questions are aesthetic
(whether Luke wants two such normal-looking object symmetrically framing his deliciously off-kilter set)
and practical. For if the benches are not to get in the way of the big open scenes, they need to be pretty
far out. But far out may be too far in the case of the numbers which really use the benches as foci: the
catalogue aria, Anna’s Act I aria, and both Zerlina arias. I’ll ask Luke.
A possible alternative to the bench business might be to use the dance quality of the music and move
away from Masetto whenever he starts taking things too fast. Or ostensibly moving away, but really
leading him on. The second section would then have her with her back to him, facing the audience, and
just using his hands on her body; it is her reactions that we both hear and see, but his are not hard to
imagine. At the end, they would go down to the ground, until they realize that they are not going to
contain this, and so go off. I rather like this, actually, even a bit better than the bench.
Leonardo pointed out, when I told him of this, that such a position also implies a slight ambiguity as to
whether the man behind her is Masetto or an imagined Don Giovanni. He is right, of course, but I would
rather treat this as distant subtext rather than making any of it explicit. Zerlina’s main task here is to make
up to (and out with) Masetto.
This is all about foreplay!
Specifics
Recitative
1
M lying on the ground D½R groaning. Z enters CL, with lantern. She begins the recitative offstage
and enters while singing.
7
She rushes to him and sets the lantern down to kneel by him.
12
Z scolds M, even hitting him to drive the lesson home—which obviously hurts!
16
Z softens and starts asking him about his wounds, kissing each part as he mentions it, or
transferring kisses via her fingertips.
22
Much depends on how explicit we make “il resto.” The audience should be in no doubt, but we will
need to experiment with how clear she make it with Masetto. I would like to try her actually
massaging his thigh until he gets up (pun intended). Then “vientene meco a casa” can be putting
him off, and thus triggering the aria. She helps him to his feet.
26
M makes a grab for her, but she puts him off…
Aria
1
…by moving gracefully out of his way to D½L.
5
Z beckons, and M XL to her, but a little too eagerly; perhaps his hands go immediately to her skirt
(though we don’t want this too reminiscent of Don Giovanni).
9
Z stops him with a finger to his chest (or possibly face).
79
17
Z XR a few steps in front of him. M still wants to get it on more immediately; she holds him off.
28
Try having Z take these three “nos” as gentle little “down boys” to M.
32
Z pivots round in front of M to SL of him again. They should now be DC.
37
Z makes just the lightest gesture to her breast.
41
M knows better than to grab. Z crosses behind him to his right shoulder.
46
Z undoes a ribbon (or something else symbolic of a top button)…
51
…takes M’s left hand and…
53
…places it on her left breast.
60
Z takes his other hand, and places it on her right side. He is now standing behind him, and she is
manipulating his hands to place them wherever she wants to on her body, though very soon she no
longer has to manipulate them!
75
Z’s climax (take that how you will).
78
She pulls him round to DR of her, so that he is facing ¾L, now running his hands all over her body,
and we see and hear her reactions over his right shoulder.
85
Z and M make to continue their embrace, but she realizes they had better get to a bed and quickly,
so pulls him as though to go offstage CL (possibly DDL, depending on the angles).
92
Somewhere around here, she realizes they have left the lantern. M goes back to get it, but is
overcome by a twinge on the way back. Z runs to him in concern, and helps him off limping slightly
on the last few measures. All this will need to be timed empirically.
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Don Giovanni
2/2 Sextet
Structure
A. Recitative
9-measure secco in which Leporello leads Donna Elvira into a dark
courtyard and tries to abandon her there.
B. Andante, Eb, 2/2
Complex action music, almost all of it kinesis, in which all the characters
(other than Don Giovanni, and he is represented in absentia by the
disguised Leporello) are introduced, the intruder is captured, and
revealed as Leporello. See below for further discussion.
C. Molto allegro, Eb, 2/2
Rich reaction ensemble, almost entirely stasis, with various changes in
texture and detail, though none of it altering the essential situation. See
below for further discussion.
Musical Content
The first section of the Sextet shows the movements of the various characters leading to the discovery of
Leporello. Although Mozart ties it together musically, its basic internal structure is dramatic, following the
various stages of the game of blindman's buff:
(a) Elvira and Leporello trying to find their separate ways in the dark. Even this short section contains
several different themes: one for Elvira’s fear, one for Leporello’s frustration, and a third (with a
prominent dotted arpeggio motif), for his attempted escape.
(b) Entrance of Ottavio and Anna, and their respective solos. The most startling thing about this is the
aural lighting cue with the change to D major. The music of Ottavio and Anna that follows—like
their exchange in the epilogue—is pretty predictable in its balanced periods and smooth lyricism:
he firmly in D major, she modulating from d minor to c minor (the relative minor of E flat).
(c) Elvira and Leporello again. Nine measures, first introducing a tighter chromatically descending
dotted motif, and then returning to the dotted arpeggio “exit” figure that ended section (a).
(d) Entrance of Zerlina and Masetto, and the capture of "Don Giovanni.” Strong dramatic music
accompanying the capture, vaguely related to the opening of the number.
(e) Elvira's plea to spare his life, and astounded reaction to this. The dotted chromatic figure now
working through the orchestra in chromatically descending lines. All very eggshelly, with occasional
outbursts from the others that their captive must die.
(f)
Leporello's own pleas. A mostly new theme, with chromatically weeping violins; quite over the top!
(g) Stunned reaction when he unmasks. Deceptive cadence leading to hushed reaction, and a return
of the chromatic dotted figure. Cadence on G.
The molto allegro which follows is, by contrast, structured musically. Leporello's anguished babbling is
contrasted with great outbursts from everybody else onstage. The music essentially repeats in shortened
version halfway through, then leads to a stunned coda, sung virtually a cappella, until almost the end.
Specifically , I would see the following sections:
81
131 Mille torbidi pensieri. E flat. Leporello has a chromatic patter phrase leading into…
152 Che giornata. Diminished chords over a dominant pedal. Once again, Leporello has a bridge to…
166 Che impensata novità. E flat again, harmonically stable, with contrasted chromatic phrases for
Leporello and a striking melisma for Donna Anna.
184 Mille torbidi pensieri. Syncopated downward scales in sequence. Leporello’s bridge leads to…
197 Che giornata. As measure 152.
211 Che impensata novità. As measure 166, also with a melisma for Donna Anna.
229 Che impensata novità. Syncopated like measure 166, but the texture is quite different, emotionally
suspended, in longer note values
240 Che impensata novità. Staccato cadential phrases.
251 Che impensata novità. Subito piano, almost unaccompanied, a striking contrast.
260 Che impensata novità. Forte to the end. 7-measure orchestral tag.
Dramatic Issues
The first thing is to work out how to use the set. Is it the same as the opening of the opera? Logically, it
should be; Luke has also designed an alternative, though I find it too light to work with the pervasive
darkness. I do not think it can be entirely the same, however; the scene is much easier to stage if we
have a bench onstage. Now if we use permanent benches (see discussion on the previous number) that
is not so much of a problem, except in that the bench might be too far to the side. But I think I would
prefer simply adding a bench for this scene alone, C½R; probably nobody will notice the discrepancy.
An even more vital question is that of entrances and exits. Leporello brings Elvira onstage by some
means; he parks her on the bench, and then begins to look for an exit himself. His first attempt at escape
is stymied by the entrances of Don Ottavio and Donna Anna, so he has to hide again. Somehow, they get
out of the way after their little duet, and Leporello resumes his search for an exit, but this time Elvira is
simultaneously looking for him. Anyway, once more Leporello is about to escape, when he runs straight
into Masetto and Zerlina, who are coming in—by the same entrance as Anna and Ottavio, or a different
one? It has to be the same, I think, because on our set, any other decision to allow some wings to be
notionally open and others notionally blocked would be an entirely arbitrary one.
A one-entrance solution would place this URC. This is fine for Anna and Ottavio, and pretty good for
Leporello’s first entrance with Elvira, but difficult for subsequent exits, since it means backing up each
time—though actually this does not feel as strange as I feared. More to the point is what happens to
confuse Leporello’s spatial memory, to prevent him from going straight back there each time? The first
time, especially, there seems no good reason for him not to go straight out again after taking Elvira to the
bench. This problem remains, actually, no matter how many exits there are. The only ways I can think of
solving it are either to bring Leporello on by a small door that closes behind him, which is going to be hard
to show on our stage, or to place Elvira where she would essentially prevent his exit by the way they had
come in. Or—and this may get us somewhere—that he is deliberately trying to make her dizzy, and so
circles round and round in the recitative, only to discover that he is more dizzy than she is! So whereas
she staggers to the bench, he makes quite the wrong decision, and ends up DL, say.
OK, following this through, we can keep him recovering himself during most of Elvira’s solo, then looking
around SL. We cannot show that the stage is closed off; he will simply have to act as though it were. So
his move to UR again would probably start from CL, and be a big cross, partially sideways, and partially
backing up. We need to get Elvira out of the way for this; I think I would have her crossing DL on the last
page of her solo (though this might also be DR).
82
Ottavio and Anna bring lights with them, so suddenly there are no more dark corners. Leporello has to
hide very fast; let’s say he goes DR; he will soon find that this is no way out either. Ottavio takes Anna to
the bench. She sits on her line, and Leporello begins tiptoeing behind them once more. But the main exit
is blocked by the two Servants, who are standing in it with their backs to the stage. So when Ottavio gets
up to take Anna back into the house, he would have to hide, most probably behind the bench, just diving
for cover, or just possibly at the foot of the stairs. The two Servants could take their torches and lead the
way up the stairs as Ottavio and Anna ascend. This will give Leporello a chance to exit. Elvira,
meanwhile, is making the same move from DR to UL that Leporello had made earlier. Leporello, backing
up, has almost reached the door, when Zerlina and Masetto appear, she putting a noose around him and
he shoving at him with a pitchfork.
Positions are now as follows: Masetto, Leporello, and Zerlina UR; Ottavio and Anna on the stairs, with or
without the Servants above them; and Elvira CL. Leporello runs DL but he is pulled up short by Zerlina. I
think it should be possible for the two groups to cross so that before long the positions are: A O (L) Z M E,
with Elvira slightly off to one side. I would rather keep Leporello standing for the time being. Elvira comes
to the different individuals in turn, but all reject her. She has four pleas: the first, perhaps, to Zerlina; then
Ottavio and Anna, and finally back to Masetto, who shoves Leporello to his knees, triggering his pleas for
his life. He removes his hat at the end, and all pull back in amazement: A O L M Z E. However, if I go with
my thoughts in the third paragraph below, I would have Anna closest to him with a gun to his head. For
this to be effective, Leporello would have to be on the ground earlier, pushed down, I imagine, by Masetto
at measure 90. Elvira would then cross to Anna and Ottavio on her two impassioned cries of “Pietà,” but it
would be Anna who snatches the gun and comes to Leporello at the end. Yes.
Thunder and lightning. I don’t know yet if I actually want the rain, but let’s think a little further. Ottavio can
have an umbrella, which he holds over Anna. I suppose Elvira might have one too, but it is a curious thing
to bring on a romantic date. Zerlina might also have brought something, or Masetto could hold a coat over
her. We still, however, have servants in the house, and it is not impossible that they might run out with
umbrellas, certainly for Anna and Elvira, with just possibly an extra that Masetto could grab to hold over
Zerlina. Doing so might reduce the effect of their awe at what might seem the heavenly message of the
thunder and lightning, by turning it into quite simply a storm, but provided that the entrances of the
Servants were relatively quick, this should not be a huge problem. The advantage is that it allows for a
rapid rearrangement of the characters if one should be needed, and it gives an effective moment for that
quasi-a-cappella passage near the end, which in the last scenes program I staged with everybody close
together on the bench, as though in a momentary letting up of the rain. It may give a difficulty in the use of
the presumably-wet bench later, but we’ll solve that when we come to it.
The molto allegro is too long to hold as a stand-and-sing, but not sufficiently articulated dramatically to
make many meaningful changes. Three types of landmark stick out for me. Working backwards from the
end, there is that quasi-a-cappella passage just mentioned. Before that come the two melismata for Anna,
which could be very useful in setting up a further stage of her growing madness. And before that again,
those little patter bridge passages for Leporello, of which he has four. They suggest to me scurrying to
safety, crouching, looking around, making a dash for it, only to be pulled back by Zerlina’s rope. But that
rope does make a difficulty, in that Leporello cannot just go anywhere he wants, and—for now—must be
very careful about how he gets entangled. On the other hand, the other characters do not really care
about him for the moment; he is a minor cog in Don Giovanni’s machine who deserves punishment,
certainly, but is far from being the prime mover. So I think we can allow him a certain amount of freedom.
The Anna passages seem the most significant, since she can actually move without restraint, and I think
we need a way-stage between her relative order in the Act I finale and the near-total madness that will
come over her at the end. What tips her over the edge, though? It is surely her inability to close the story
on Don Giovanni, just when she thought she had him in her grasp. Can we make more of that moment?
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When Leporello begins to plead for life, could it perhaps be not Masetto, but Donna Anna who most
closely threatens him, and if so how? Two possibilities occur to me: she could go to him and make to
strangle him (though that may be too physical for her), or she could seize the pistol from Don Ottavio and
hold it to his temple. What would Leporello do? I think he might grab hold of Donna Anna’s wrist, turning
his head away at the same time, maybe even pulling her to the ground with the urgency of his pleading.
So that it would be she who is the closest to him at the unmasking. I can see her completely gobsmacked
by the revelation, and crawling away in horror rather than getting up and walking. It would not alter the
positions at the thunderclap, but it would certainly affect how they got there, and change the focus of the
sextet from its previous configuration of E–AZOM–L to A–EZOM–L, which is how the music of the molto
allegro is. [These are voice groupings, of course, not stage plans.]
The first sections would indeed be just stand and sing, with the essential grouping AOE at CR and MZL at
DL, with Leporello trying different ways of trying to escape his immediate captors, but most of the
movement being local. I need two strong moves for Donna Anna, both on the melismata. The first could
be motivated by Leporello crossing to her, but it might be stronger to have her come to him as though to
have it out with him again, only to realize once again that she has been cheated of her prey. Leporello
could get out of the way behind her, and cross R or at least to CS, as Ottavio comes DL to be with Anna.
Zerlina and Masetto could counter XR also on the syncopated sequences, so that we would essentially
have reversed the stage picture, which is appropriate for the repeat of the old music.
With Anna’s big move, the focus is no longer on Leporello, but on Anna. I think this is appropriate, for the
scene is not really about Leporello so much as the absent Don Giovanni. Can we make something of this,
perhaps by having Leporello drop Don Giovanni’s hat DL when Anna descended on him, and make Anna
now fixate on that hat, kneeling to pick it up on Leporello’s patter, slowly standing on the “Che impensata
novità,” and breaking SR with it on her second melisma, only to realize that everything was hopeless and
slowly pull back to the bench. Ottavio follows her, of course, and perhaps takes the hat to wipe the bench
with it before she sits. Rather than having Zerlina and Masetto also counter at this moment, though, I
would keep them at the bench, making a concentrated group for the quasi-a-cappella passage, during
which they would indeed lower their umbrellas. Leporello, who does not sing in it, would try to creep away
behind them, and exit DL, until pulled back by Zerlina’s rope, as everybody stands once more for the end.
Finally, I think Anna tears herself away from Don Ottavio and runs up the stairs. He comes after her, but
she pushes him back. This way, the recitative can start D½L before Ottavio has descended to rejoin
them. He will still have Don Giovanni’s hat in his hand.
Specifics
Recitative
1
L enters with E UR. He deliberately moves her around in circles to make her dizzy…
9
…so that she staggers to the bench, while he ends up DL, obviously more dizzy than she!
Sextet
1
E sings from the bench C½R. L meanwhile, after recovering a bit, begins to look around SL, but
cannot find an exit.
10
E rises and…
13
XDL, in front of L, who is now C½L. They do not see each other.
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18
L gets his bearings, and points to the door UR. He begins to cross to it, in a combination of
sideways crabwalk and backing up.
28
O and A appear UR accompanied by two servants with torches. Light build. L scurries for cover DR.
31
A comes to CS, with O at her right shoulder. The Servants remain in the doorway, but turned to
face US. [E remains DL throughout, still in hiding.]
41
L once more tries to inch US, but…
45
…when A comes to sit on the bench on her line, he freezes like a statue.
52
L very cautiously begins to tiptoe US again, but…
58
…O gets A up and begins to lead her up the stairs. L dives DS of the bench.
61
The Servants precede A and O up the stairs. E now begins the same cautious crab move UR that L
had done earlier. L remains crouched for a moment…
67
…then starts backing up with Pink Panther steps towards the UR door. M and Z come in, carrying a
rope and a pitchfork, so that we see them before either of the others do.
70
Z puts the rope round L, who tries to flee DL, until pulled up short by the rope. L, A, and M thus
move D½L, while O and A, countering down the stairs, come in UR of them. E remains in the
shadows UL. O draws his pistol once more.
77
E comes into the circle, which is now: O A L E M Z. All the others pull back a step. L just tries to
hide his face from her.
86
E pleads with M and Z, but M intervenes and…
90
…thrusts L to his knees (or threatens him with the pitchfork, so that he goes to his knees?). E XR to
plead with A and O, but A snatches O’s gun…
96
…XL with it, and presses it against L’s temple.
98
L catches A’s wrist with both his hands, and pleads for his life.
107
Somewhere around here, L pulls A down beside him, although she does not relent.
112
L turns to A and, removing his hat, shows who he really is.
114
A falls away from L, and pulls herself a little XR on the ground. All the others take a step back.
116
Here or a little later, O helps A up and takes back the gun. All continue to pull back. At some point,
L can get up, with a shrug of self-exculpation.
131
Thunder and lightning. L falls to his knees again. Servants enter UL with umbrellas, which are taken
by Elvira and Ottavio (also possibly Masetto, though he may also protect Zerlina with his coat).
General grouping is AOE at CR, and MZL at DL.
147
L looking for ways to escape, without success.
163
L stands suddenly. He is the most downstage of the group. A zeroes in on him…
179
…and XDL to him quickly as though to tear him to pieces…
183
…only to realize that he is really a bit-part player. L pulls back US of her, dropping his hat.
184
O XDL to A, LMZ counter to SR, E comes CS. Positions now: MLZ E OA.
194
A fixates on Don Giovanni’s hat that L has dropped…
85
197
…and kneels to pick it up.
203
L tries another escape DR…
208
…but is again pulled back.
211
A rises slowly with the hat in her hand; it is now her one symbol of Don Giovanni.
224
A runs XR in front of the bench, in despair at the futility of ever capturing DG. O follows.
229
All stunned. O takes the hat and wipes the bench so that A can sit down. All form around her in a
tight group: A seated, E seated behind her, O standing to SL of the bench. M and X SR of it, and L
off to the side, almost forgotten. [M and Z might exchange umbrella and rope about here?]
251
The rain stops. All lower their umbrellas. L attempts a tiptoed XL behind them…
260
…but is pulled back by M and Z, as everybody stands once more. This returns us to a position very
like the beginning of the Sextet.
271
A runs from O and goes up the UL stairs. O follows her, but she pushes him back.
Recitative
1
All around L C½L. Z to SL of him, E to SR. M behind him.
6
O comes down and in to SR of the group.
8
Z threatens L with M’s pitchfork.
9
E threatens L with her umbrella. O makes to hit him with the hat.
10
M uses his sheer strength to push him to his knees once more.
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Don Giovanni
2/2 Leporello’s Escape
Musical Content
This is a chameleon aria, in which Leporello tries to talk his way out of a very sticky situation by using a
different voice with each person he is talking to. Leporello does not really have a musical theme of his
own here. The opening is a direct repeat of the syncopated descending scales on “Mille torbidi pensieri”
earlier. The nearest thing he gets to a theme (though it proves to be a protean one) is a sort of upward
inversion of his “escape” motif from the first part of the Sextet, which seems to long ago now. At first he is
just casting around wildly, but Mozart soon has Leporello using this with kind of hypnotic effect, a
magician distracting his audience’s attention before absconding with the rabbit. All the rest of the music is
essentially stock phrases and bluster. But it might be worth listing the various stages:
1
Begging for mercy, to a theme from the Sextet.
8
Admitting that they are right to blame him; the first appearance of his rising-arpeggio theme.
22 Blaming Don Giovanni, contrasting his master’s arrogance with his own weakness.
33 Addressing Donna Elvira, in scurrilous asides concealing a covert blackmail.
46 Addressing Zerlina, denying involvement in the beating of Masetto; nothing covert her, just
emphatic denial.
50 Referring again to Donna Elvira, though I think not speaking directly to her.
54 Still continuing to talk about Elvira, I think, but now more as though filling in time, as he considers
his options.
64 To Don Ottavio, this time not with a separate theme of his own (after all, he says “non dico niente”),
but a return to the music in which he addressed Elvira.
72 Return to his “escape” theme. He is essentially BeeEssing as he moves about, maneuvering for a
way to escape…
103 …as he finally does.
Dramatic Issues
The first, and almost the only, thing to handle in the staging is to determine who Leporello is addressing
at any given time, since that will affect not only the vocal delivery but also the blocking and stage action.
The number is very much in the traditional buffo mode, with this combination of fast talking and changing
voices; it is high time, I think, for the opera buffa to reassert itself after so much intense seriousness.
While we have had moments of buffo in many other numbers (most recently the Balcony Trio and the
Sextet itself—but not the Zerlina scene, which belongs to romantic comedy rather than farce), and a piece
like “Metà di voi” takes the buffo tradition and subverts it, it is really time to get opera buffa back into play
in its simplest form. There are few enough chances to establish it: in this act, only the opening duet, this
aria, and the first part of the finale; in Act I, only the first Donna Elvira scene, the Catalogue Aria, and
some early moments in the Ballroom. Buffo is a remarkably rare commodity in this so-called comic opera.
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So I make no apologies in using the basic staging that has worked for me before, or that I have basically
stolen it from the Franco Enriquez production at Glyndebourne on which I first worked. Leporello goes
around the various people onstage, talking to them in apparent sincerity, but all the while winding the rope
around Masetto so that, when he gets it off his own waist and pulls, Masetto comes toppling to the
ground, thus creating a distraction in which Leporello’s departure is virtually unnoticed. I think that the
positions of the four others should be essentially unchanged, so that Leporello initiates all the movement.
The grouping is thus: O, M, Z, E, with Leporello moving clockwise around Masetto. [It may also work if we
start E, O, M, Z, and have Leporello himself move Donna Elvira to DL.]
How many times? Two is easy to achieve, if he starts by taking Elvira a little DL, then turning to Z, then
crossing behind Masetto to Don Ottavio, then in front of him again, making this circuit one more time
during the last two pages. But is it enough? If not, we can increase it by having him go strongly to Don
Ottavio on the “Il padron” line, and taking the hat from him. We can also increase it by having Masetto
himself turn in the opposite direction; if Zerlina countered to his right shoulder when Leporello crosses DL
to Elvira, he could turn ¾R to her and then continue to turn as she goes to interrupt Leporello with Elvira.
Leporello can also circle Masetto again on “Un oretta, circumcirca,” illustrating his wandering with Elvira,
returning once again to Elvira, who makes to hit him, thus sending him back to Ottavio again. Indeed, it
should be possible to get up to five turns of the rope around Masetto, which are probably too many.
I need to think a little bit about the ending too. If Leporello is to escape, we need to clear the sightlines to
his exit UR. We also need to show the others not merely bemused, but in effect giving up. For what has
this slippery minion really got to do with them? I suggest that the key move is for Ottavio to XD½L to
Elvira while Leporello is reenacting his moves at the first part of the Sextet; he is worried about Donna
Anna, and simply does not want to hear any more of these trivial explanations. This could give us a
grouping at the end, on a diagonal from UR to DL thus: L, MZ, and OE. We will need to experiment a bit,
but I am sure we can make it work.
Two small details. Zerlina needs to find a time to give the end of the rope to Masetto; this can happen
either during the recitative, or directly on the start of the aria. And I think we need to have some way of
distracting Zerlina and Masetto’s attention also at the end of the number, without either of them noticing
what is happening with the rope. I think it would be lovely if she just turned to be hugged by him, and
even funnier, to have her pull away just before Leporello’s escape, notice the rope around Masetto’s
waist, and become aware of Leporello’s plan a fraction before he executes it!
Specifics
Aria
1
Positions are: E O M L Z. L still on his knees.
8
L gesturing to O and E.
15
L up, apologetically, to M and Z.
22
L crosses fast behind M to O, and takes the hat from him. Rope business starts here, with ½ turn.
33
L to E, whom he takes confidentially aside DL. Rope 1 turn.
38
Z (if necessary ) counters to US of M, who turns (to his R) US to face her. Rope 1½ turns.
44
Z taps L on the shoulder. M continues his turn. Rope 2 turns.
1
1
Omitting this move and the next would reduce the rope business by 1 turn.
88
46
L turns to Z, categorically denying everything.
50
L indicating E, who is a little bit apart from the group.
60
Illustrating his “wandering,” L pulls back and XUR of M. Rope 2½ turns. He can even make another
whole circle, making the rope 3½ turns.
64
L finds himself addressing O, very polite but with a built-in shrug.
75
Somewhere here, O XDL to E, not interested in hearing more of his. L follows. Rope 4 turns.
83
L continues to retrace his steps from the opening of the Sextet, addressing Z and M, moving XR
behind M again to SR. Rope 4½ turns.
91
Z, suddenly tired of all this, turns to be hugged by M, giving L an opportunity to back up to the UR
door, removing the noose as he does so.
100
Z pulls away, sees the rope wound around M, and suddenly realizes what is going on…
105
…but too late! L pulls, and M falls to the ground. L escapes UL. All gather around M.
Recitative
1
All take their lines more or less from places. O takes a few steps after L, then turns back.
9
Positions are a diagonal: O M Z E.
12
Moving DL, O takes one phrase to each of them in turn: “dover” to M, “pietade” to Z, “affetto” to E.
M and Z, though, counter his move, and will slip away together over the first measures of the aria.
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Don Giovanni
2/2 Second Ottavio Aria
Musical Content
There is a 14-measure recitative following Leporello’s escape. After brief expressions of surprise from
Elvira, Masetto, and Zerlina, Ottavio takes all in hand. It is worth noting what he says:
My friends, after such enormous excesses, we can no longer have any doubt that Don Giovanni was
the wicked murderer of Donna Anna’s father. Please remain here in the house for a few hours. I will go
and inform the proper authorities, and in a short time I promise you vengeance. This is the call of duty,
of respect, and of affection.
The aria is very straightforward in form: ABAB`. The two sections are strongly contrasted. The first is both
loving and elegant at the same time: go to my beloved and dry her tears. The second is full of movement
and action: tell her that I go to avenge her wrongs, and will only return with news of slaughter and death.
A wonderful (and very difficult) written-out cadenza leads back to the second A-section, which is an exact
repeat of the first. While the manner of the two B-sections is similar, and their words are the same, the
musical setting is different. The first is in the relative minor; the second is in the tonic, and is developed as
a substantial coda, with even more vocal fioratura. The aria ends with a triumphant postlude, switching
briefly back to the language of the lover, before ending triumphantly once more.
Dramatic Issues
Let me start by copying what I have already written about this aria:
Cutting the recitative before Ottavio's Act I aria makes it no longer about his determination to avenge
Donna Anna, and entirely about his love and concern for her; in no sense is that an action aria. This
immediately makes it different from "Il mio tesoro," whose two substantial B sections at least are very
strong declarations of action. The A sections, though, are once more about his love for Anna. But the
difference is that now he is delegating his concern to somebody else; she has made it clear that, short
of coming back with Giovanni's head, there is nothing he can do for her, so he has to call upon
somebody else to intervene, which is in itself an admission of failure. This is why I have staged this with
only Elvira there, but Ottavio is not trying to persuade Elvira, so much as to park his feelings
somewhere else.
And also:
To recap, I have made the Act I aria entirely internal, about his feelings. The Act II one should be
external, an action aria, focused at least partly on Don Giovanni, though part of it is still about Donna
Anna. Or is it? Does not the real subject remain Don Ottavio himself and his sense of self-definition? He
is no longer able to define himself entirely in terms of his love for Anna, it seems. He has failed already
to define himself as a man of action, for Don Giovanni has escaped his clutches. Now he makes an
attempt to reclaim both territories. But he has to address Anna through an intermediary, Elvira. Is his
talk of “stragi e morti” (such extravagant plurals!) to be equally second-hand? I think it must be, though I
do not yet know how to achieve it. There is a fine line to be drawn, since I am determined to keep him a
tragic figure. So his heroism and his intent must be entirely genuine; it is just that the audience must
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know that he is doomed to fail, but to do so without undercutting his stature. There is something
magnificent in that postlude, and we absolutely need to play towards it.
The first question to consider is this: Who stays onstage for this aria? Ottavio asks all three of them to
stay, but it seems unlikely that he would ask Zerlina and Masetto, who belong to quite a different class, to
dry Donna Anna’s tears. But Elvira is a perfectly appropriate recipient for the first part at least of his
request. It may be that Masetto and Zerlina can stay on, if they would also be helpful to Ottavio in the
second part, but it is equally easy to have them leave. If I go with the idea of having the Elvira scene take
place around a bed (see the discussion of the next number), then I need to get rid of her also. The
simplest time for this would be following his second A-section, but it could also be earlier. The dramatic
question is whether she does indeed go up to Anna as Ottavio asks, or finds the task impossible,
because of her own conflicts. If the former, then Ottavio can proceed undisturbed, and Elvira’s
subsequent scene starts an entirely new phase of the story. If the latter, then Ottavio has had one of his
major supports removed from him, and is knocked off balance. It also gives further indication of the
disturbance in Elvira’s mind, which virtually propels her into the next scene. In this case, she probably
should not leave at a convenient time, but an inconvenient one, say at the start of the second A-section,
not its conclusion.
Another question: Why the discrepancy between Ottavio’s words in the recitative and those in the aria?
He distinctly says that he is going to report the matter to the proper authorities, i.e. the police. They do not
generally indulge in “stragi e morti” if they can help it, and still less would he. In our production Giovanni
has already called his bluff as an avenger, but however the Act I finale is staged, the result is the same:
Ottavio has failed. So whom is he trying to impress:
— Elvira? Hardly; she has her own concerns, and her status has been reduced anyhow as the result
of her fling with Leporello (all right, she was the victim of deception, but it shows her as at best an
ambivalent ally against Don Giovanni).
— Masetto or Zerlina? Just possibly, if we keep them onstage; but it would be because he wants to
impress them rather than console them in any real way.
— Anna? She is not even there, but he can send her a message through Elvira, and perhaps he
needs to impress her that much more given that the message will not be conveyed in person.
— Himself? This is the most likely: that he needs to boost his own confidence. Much as the earlier aria
emerged from his need to reinforce his love for Anna, this one strengthens his view of himself as a
competent man of action.
Yes, it is over the top, and there is a danger that it could once more be funny. But, as I said earlier, I don’t
want to allow it to be. The audience should realize that Ottavio is boosting his own self-worth, but they
should pity him for it, not ridicule him.
I am thinking of a structure somewhat like the following. First, something in the orchestral introduction that
he can give to Elvira to take to Anna. Then the first A-section sung directly to her, pouring out his love for
Anna through her. The first B-section could either be still to her, until it becomes impossible for her to
keep listening to him, or to Masetto and Zerlina after Elvira has gone, or just possibly to his two servants.
I would like him left alone, though, by the cadenza, so that he has nothing to do but fall to his knees and
pray for the second A-section; this could really be very moving. I would like to take the final B-section and
coda with him preparing to do battle, as it were, but (while never depriving him of his honor) in no way
living up to the bloodthirstiness of his words. I can see him calling to his servants. One could bring his
gun, which he would reject as having already failed. Another might bring a sword, which he might try
wielding for a few strokes, but also reject. The third (or the first again) could bring a document that he
would read over and sign, and/or something to add to his appearance—a different hat or pair of gloves, a
chain, or a sash—to at least give him status. As the lights faded, he would walk out alone.
91
Editing this down, I think we can omit Masetto and Zerlina entirely; their story has essentially ended, and
we have no need for them here. In the introduction, Ottavio goes to the bench to pick up the stole or cross
whatever it was that Anna had left behind. He then goes a few steps up the stairs as though to go to Anna
himself, but stops and turns back to Elvira instead. Masetto and Zerlina slip out. Ottavio comes down to
Elvira, consigning the stole to her and perhaps adding a ring or some other token of his own. He might
raise her hand to his lips to kiss it during the long high F, then gently motion her to cross him up the
stairs. For the B-section, he would move down to the bench, saying this over his shoulder almost as a
post-script. Elvira listens in increasing horror and comes back down to him (thrusting the stole back to him
or taking the cross with her, depending on which we use), and eventually running off on his “Si!” on
measure 41, making him to realize he is in this alone. He sinks to his knees by the bench at the end of
the cadenza and begins the second A-section as a prayer, getting up at or around the second high F. At
measure 70, with the second B-section, he summons in two servants from SR. One of them holds out his
gun and a sword. He contemplates the gun for a moment and rejects it on the fermata at measure 78,
picking up the sword instead when the music resumes. But he gives it back by the end of the page, and
turns to the second servant, who has come in with a writing desk. He quickly signs a document and folds
it, while the servant puts a sash or chain around his shoulders. He stands for a moment, holding the
document in his hand as though it were a weapon, then goes once more to the bottom of the stairs before
making a firm exit DR.
Later: I have staged the Sextet now without involving any business with Donna Anna’s cross. I could still
add it, I suppose, but it occurs to me that this could be Ottavio’s own cross that he gives to Elvira. For
Anna to leave her stole behind is a much better possibility—and this might even be the thing that Elvira
will tie around her hair in her aria, though perhaps better not. I have also staged the Sextet with Ottavio
and Anna both using the pistol, so the idea of having the Servant come on with it makes no sense. But he
could simply give the pistol back and exchange it for the sword, before rejecting that also.
Review Notes
I experimented with Anna leaving both a cross and a stole on the bench. We ultimately went with the
cross, since it is what Elvira will need for the next scene. But it makes Ottavio’s first exchange with Elvira
that much harder-edged; it also gives Elvira a cross that is not her own. I am now thinking that I may just
have to introduce Elvira’s cross in her aria for the first time, not as a recycle from an earlier scene. So we
would need to redo this aria using the stole alone.
We also need to revisit the bit with the sword to make clearer why Ottavio is rejecting this approach as not
being one for him.
Specifics
1
O goes UC, sees that M and Z are leaving.
5
He sees the stole that Anna had left on the bench, picks it up, and XD½L to E, who meets him.
[NOTE: I am substituting the stole for the cross with which we had rehearsed.]
8
O sings tenderly to E, giving her the stole.
23
O ushers E XR across him to DC.
29
E goes quickly UL and up the steps. O, meanwhile, sees the pistol he had left on the bench, and
picks it up.
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35
Alarmed, E, comes down to his left shoulder and tries to persuade him out of his thoughts of
violence, but he is adamant.
41
Giving up, E runs out UR. [We still need to experiment with what happens to the stole.]
43
O, seeing her go, realizes that he is alone in this now. He looks at the pistol, realizes it is useless,
and lays it down on the bench…
49
…as he gets on his knees to pray.
64
O gets up.
70
O summons two Servants, who enter SR after a few measures. S1 (DS) has a sword. S2 (US of
him) has a portable desk.
78
O takes the sword, and makes several determined gestures with it…
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…before realizing it is not for him, and handing it back.
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O goes to S2, signs a paper on the desk, folds it…
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…and goes to the foot of the stairs for a moment before…
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…exiting UR. Lights.
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Don Giovanni
2/3 Second Elvira Aria
Musical Content
This is another of the great recitativi accompagnati in the opera. Donna Anna has two such recits, one
longer than this, the other shorter; no other character has any. It marks the full ascent of Elvira from the
mezzo-carattere or even comic role of the opening to a true opera seria figure. But even here, despite her
sense of being poised between heaven and hell, she still keeps one foot on the ground; she never loses
her vulnerability. The structure of the recitative, if one can talk in such terms with such a free-form piece,
follows this basic duality: the first 22 measures are eschatological, about Don Giovanni’s soul; the last 14
are personal, about Donna Elvira’s heart. But you can hear the division on a smaller scale too. The
opening ritornello consists of a deeply-felt two-measure theme repeated higher, followed by a violent
cadential figure; feeling and violence will alternate with one another throughout the recitative. Or we can
look on a smaller scale still: that two-measure theme itself consists of a violent start ending in a suddenly
hushed sighing figure; it is both public and personal within a mere six beats. By controlling the proportions
of the two qualities over the entire recit, Mozart opens the anatomy of Elvira’s soul in a way that we have
really only seen before with the Countess Almaviva, and will only see again before Fiordiligi’s “Per pietà.”
Neither of these is as deeply revealing as this one, however. Both the Countess and Fiordiligi are trying to
convince themselves about a situation that, in their hearts, they know only too well, and Donna Anna in
her recitative before “Or sai chi l’onore” is trying to convince somebody else. None are quite so naked as
Elvira is psychologically.
The aria itself is a rondo. Let’s break it down:
(a) Ritornel (14 ms): “Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata”
(b) Episode A (25 ms): “Ma tradita e abbandonata”
(c) Ritornel (14 ms): “Mi tradì”
(d) Episode B (28 ms, minor key): “Quando sento il mio tormento”
(e) Ritornel (14 ms): “Mi tradì”
(f)
Coda (32 ms): “Ma tradita e abbandonata”
In genre, this is a “contrast aria,” an old opera seria type that Mozart used from time to time, most
strikingly for Ferrando in “Tradito, schernito.” And indeed it begins in just this way: the ritornel expressing
Elvira’s lust for vengeance is immediately answered by the first episode, in which she feels only pity. But
does the return of the ritornel immediately plunge us back to the other side of the contrast? I think not, for
the theme is ambiguous; it can be seen as either driving or pathetic, depending on context. And when we
come to the second episode, we get both sides of the contrast at the same time. Its minor key sounds as
though the last judgment is approaching; Elvira is singing of vengeance, but it is no longer human
vengeance she is after; she knows that heaven and hell will take care of Don Giovanni soon enough. And
within a few measures we have changed to the weakness in her own heart: “Palpitando il cor mi va,” the
harmonic shifts on “palpitando” illustrating the word perfectly, leading to a long expiring breath as she
repeats it. So to the third statement of the ritornel, which now sounds tormented and driven.
For me, the most extraordinary thing about the aria is the coda. Textually, it repeats the words of the first
episode: “Ma tradita e abbandonata, provo ancor per lui pietà.” But where the lines of the first version all
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tended down, here they spring up. And the new positive quality is reinforced by a strong syncopated
theme in the middle voices, horns and cellos. Elvira feels pity for Giovanni, but she will not simply nurse it
and fade away; it will drive her to action one last time. And despite what Giovanni will later say when
taunting her, this is not sexual desire masquerading as something else, but a clear mission to save his
soul. Elvira has grown so immensely as a result of this aria that it is almost impossible to imagine her in
the Prague version. Perhaps she would have remained in mezzo-carattere to the end, a rather sad figure
of fun. But this aria gives her so much more, and it is one of the principal reasons why I love the opera.
Dramatic Issues
[This whole section is a long process of trying ideas and rejecting most of them. I am leaving them in for
completeness, though.] Again, let’s start by copying what I have already written about this aria:
This is actually the third of Elvira’s arias. The first of these, “Ah, chi mi dice mai?”, was an outpouring of
rage against the man who betrayed her, essentially a soliloquy, though placed into a comic context by
her exaggerations and pauses, her incongruous dramatic situation, and the presence of three other
people on the stage. “Ah fuggi il traditor” was also an outpouring of rage, and skewed towards comedy
by the perfect mistiming of her appearance, but it is very much a directed aria and it contains moments
of real feeling. “Mi tradì” is once more a solo aria, but all trace of comedy has gone; this is just a woman
alone with the thought of a man whom she still both hates and loves, pinned between an avenging
heaven and a welcoming hell. I think we can do a lot by scenic framing, by using the staircase and
posing her, as far as possible, in mid-air. But I think we need dramatic framing also. It may be an
accident that this arises directly out of the Ottavio aria, but we can still use it. Elvira’s charge to take the
message to Anna is not the only thing that would affect her; I would like to see her reaction to Ottavio’s
arming himself for battle also. The Elvira that sings the aria is not the same Elvira as the woman to
whom Ottavio addresses at the start of his own aria. I also want to consider the possibility of showing
Giovanni onstage during at least part of her aria, though this is a thought that will take time to develop.
Elvira begins in anguish, with an almost visionary sense of the fate awaiting Don Giovanni. We need
something to represent this. In my mind’s eye, I had her ascending the steps to console Donna Anna after
“Il mio tesoro,” but stopping half-way up. All of which is fine, but her mission is essentially local and
domestic; we need to replace it, and replace it instantly, by something apocalyptic. The obvious approach
is thunder and lightning, accompanied by a significant lighting change that takes Elvira out of her
immediate environment altogether. She is suspended in the middle of the staircase, which slowly comes
downstage, probably during the recitative itself, leaving her to descend to the main stage towards the end
of it. It is a striking but drastic image, essentially turning a more or less realistic staging into an abstract
one. The abstract aspect allows us to introduce Don Giovanni, if we want (though I am not now certain
that we do). But the downside is that Elvira is essentially reduced to a voice here, with virtually no acting
area to call her own until she gets off the stairs. It may also be more difficult to achieve in the theater than
anticipated, so we need a Plan B and possibly C as well.
Could it not be handled more literally? If Elvira believed in the success of Don Ottavio’s mission, could
she not see him as the agent of retribution and run down the stairs to go after him, only realizing that she
cannot stop him? She describes it in apocalyptic terms, yes, but what she sees is still a chain of human
events. And she feels acutely her own human situation in the midst of it. This gives her the whole stage to
move around in, but it requires a more robust staging of the Ottavio aria, and may reduce the effect of
Elvira’s aria in proportion, since she no longer has an objective correlative for her soul.
Is there anything at all that can be done with costumes? How would it be if Elvira were to visit Giovanni in
the final scene, not as the rejected lover, but as what she says, a woman with one foot already in the
convent? It may be a result of my working just now on Measure for Measure, but for Giovanni to treat an
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almost-nun in the way that he does would be wonderfully significant. In literal terms, of course, Elvira
would need to have made application to the convent and any further changes would take place behind its
walls. But if we are not being so literal here, then perhaps she could change into something during the
aria that would at least suggest what she is becoming. Right now I have her wearing the semi-déshabillé
that she wore to go out with “Don Giovanni” after the balcony scene. She would need to don some kind of
simple tunic, remove her jewelry, cover her hair with a veil, and perhaps add something more, like a large
cross that would immediately seal the picture for the audience.
But how? Where would these things come from, and how would she put them on? Pursuing this idea
would I think involve us in going abstract again, or at least partially so. Right now, she is in someone
else’s courtyard, not her own house. She can take something off, for sure. She can possibly use that
something in a different way, perhaps to form a veil. She can just possibly pick something up that has
been left onstage, by Ottavio or more likely by Anna. Her veil, for instance—although a mourning veil is
very different from a nun’s coif. Or we can simply move the setting to a neutral space or the interior of her
own rooms. One factor, though, is that there is virtually no time in the aria itself for her to get anything
over her head; anything not put on earlier would have to be either a coat that she simply slips into, or a
tabard of some sort that fastens at the shoulders. In either case, she would need help, presumably from
her maid. But if we do have the maid, I would want to fill in her story somewhat, to know whether Don
Giovanni did get together with her, and what she felt about it. It would certainly be possible to have her
come onstage at this moment, perhaps bloodstained and sobbing, and for this to trigger the outburst in
the aria, but it also feels wrong; there is not enough time for Elvira to have any but the most cursory
interaction with her, and cursory will not cut it. Besides, it makes it impossible for the maid to help with
dressing her mistress. And besides again, Elvira’s aria is a very private moment.
All the same, this does not preclude her coming in for the Act II finale already dressed more or less like a
nun. All we need to do here is to suggest that she is going in that direction. Suppose her basic Act II
costume were a colored robe worn over a black underdress? In that case, by simply casting off the robe,
she would make herself both purer and more vulnerable. A white one would also work. Add a cross and a
veil, and I think the direction of her transformation would be very clear. Either could have been left
onstage by Anna, whom I can see carrying a large cross on, say, a velvet cord. She could have a veil
also, though I do have a problem about how a widow’s veil can transform into a suggestion of a nun’s
one. Yet perhaps it has to, for the covering of the hair is arguably the single most significant thing she can
do to desex herself for her final effort. Another possibility is that Anna has a stole that could easily be
adapted as a nun’s coif.
This does, however, involve a degree of abstraction. I am inclined to start her on the stairs as I had
always planned, probably with the thunder and lightning and greater abstraction in the lighting. But I
would have her come down during the last part of the recitative and come to the bench where Anna had
left her things. Not all her things, perhaps. If Anna really had gotten into a mad fit during the Sextet, she
might indeed have torn off the veil or stole, but she might have thrust the cross at Ottavio, and he himself
could have given it to Elvira to take back to his “tesoro”; the same prop, in other words, could link both
arias. A cross is a very potent symbol while it is held in the hand or clearly visible as a physical object, but
it loses power as soon as it is set down. So I think the shape of the aria would be to have Elvira with the
cross at the beginning and to take it up again at the end, but to play the middle on a more personal level,
just herself as a woman.
Back once more to the music. I think the transformation into the nun should happen over the coda. But
what about the transformation out of the lover? During the second ritornel or the third, or the minor
episode coming in between? Either the second, as an act of rage, or the beginning of the episode, in
which case it could be slow, but clutching it to her again. The main problem with this, though, is that is
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can get very similar to what I have in mind for Anna. I need to think whether I want to use this similarity, or
must strive to avoid it. All three of these arias really need to be considered together.
Here is yet another idea. How about getting Elvira offstage earlier during the Ottavio aria and bring her
on in bed during this one, playing it in one, while possibly changing the set behind? I will need to consult
Luke about the practicality of it, but it would not be the first time we have played a scene in one; we do
that for the Champagne Aria, and in a sense we were doing it for the second Zerlina aria as well. On the
negative side, I realize that this is out of character for the rest of the act. Positively, though, by being an
abstract set anyway, it allows much greater abstraction in the lighting and even in the action. I would start
her asleep, waking from a nightmare, terrified by the clarity of her vision. I can see her using the bed in all
sorts of ways: kneeling on it, crouching, praying beside it. It also makes the dressing bit work, since it
does not contain an un-dressing component, and there is now no fear of having it clash with Anna’s aria
later, which really is undressing. In this particular setting, it might also be possible to bring on the Maid,
without needing to ask what she is doing there, or to get any further into her story.
Later: I have now in fact decided on the bedroom setting. We will fade to black after Ottavio’s aria, and
use it to strike the courtyard set and set the bed, which will roll on with Elvira in it. As the applause dies,
we will have a huge crack of thunder and bring the light up on the bed, showing Elvira twisting in the grip
of a nightmare, and suddenly waking. She plays all the first part of the recit from the bed itself, kneeling
up or even standing for the “fatale saetta” and plunging for the “baratro mortal.” I see her hugging herself
(or just possibly a pillow) for the “Misera Elvira” section. She would throw the pillow down and get to her
feet on the beginning of the aria itself, which is the angriest, then sit on the edge of the bed for the first
episode. I can think of things for her to do on all the subsequent sections: throwing herself on her side on
the bed for the second ritornel until close to the end, getting up and moving at least round the end of the
bed (and perhaps behind it) for the second episode, kneeling at the bed-end for the third ritornel, and
standing on the coda. All of these work well as outward expressions of her inward state, especially as the
three ritornels each have a different affect, the latter two playing against the overt meaning of the words.
But the problem remains that of getting her dressed. The only time that she can really put on the clothing
of a novice is in the coda, because it is only then that the way ahead becomes clear for her. But this is
also the most difficult, most sustained singing. Even with her maid to help her, I cannot see her doing
anything very substantial here. She can certainly pick up a cross and use that at some point. If her tabard
is really a very simple garment I can see her standing with her arms outstretched in a cross (a resonant
image!) and having the Maid put it onto her, just so long as it does not have to be put over her head.
There could also be a chair onstage as well as the bed, or the Maid could simply bring on the tabard, and
the cross could be the one she has taken away from the scene with Anna; she could use it in the
recitative also. But the recitative really needs her hair down, yet the closing image would be much
stronger with her hair up. We could have some simple kind of cap; would she be better putting this on
herself, or could the Maid do it as she was singing? If she can do it herself quickly, and the Maid could
hold it out for her, then it might be possible to do so in one simple motion on the playout, provided that the
cross were already around her neck. Otherwise, I think the Maid would have to do this either during the
third ritornel or just before it, while she is on her knees. It need not be a real nun’s coif, but just some sort
of nightcap thing that the Maid would put on as part of her concern for her mistress, coming in perhaps at
“il cor favella,” seeing the situation, and returning with the towel and the nightcap. I think I need to consult
with the costumer to find out what is possible, but at least I have the general idea now.
Later still: I have talked to Rick Goebel about this, and he is skeptical about having Elvira do any
significant dressing during her aria. But he suggests that the use of the cross may be enough in itself,
coupled with changes in the acting and lighting. I am half persuaded, but I do think it needs another
element or two. I am now thinking of giving the tunic/nightgown an open neck that can be simply pulled
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together with ribbon ties, so that the closing of the top would be the first significant change in Elvira’s
appearance—and this is something she could do herself. I have also talked with Jeanne di Battista about
the possibility of covering her hair, and we agree that it should be possible for her to wrap a simple scarf
around her head and close it with Velcro—again something that she would do herself. The Maid is always
possible as a standby, but I would like to try this first without her.
Specifics
1
Thunder. Lights up. E lying in bed DC, head to SL. She is tossing and turning in a nightmare.
5
She sits up, and eventually gets to her knees.
17
She looks up, crouching as in fear from the “fatale saetta”…
22
…and gestures to the “baratro mortal” below.
27
She takes a pillow and hugs it to herself (or possibly later).
37
Suddenly she throws the pillow down and gets to her feet. This is very angry.
51
Running out of steam, she sits on the edge of the bed.
76
Try having her throw herself on the bed again, so that she is singing on her side.
85
Somewhere around here, she gets up.
90
She begins moving round the bed to SR of it and even behind it.
106
Hands to her breast (to emphasize the relative openness of the tunic).
112
Staggering now, she sinks to her knees.
117
Try having her do up the nightdress here?
118
She takes all of this as though in prayer, the cross in her hands.
137
She gets up and (sometime during all this) puts on the cross and fastens the scarf around her head.
156
Holding out her arms in a wide cross gesture…
161
…she brings her hands together in prayer and kneels once again in fervent commitment; the lights
go out.
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Don Giovanni
2/4 Graveyard Scene
Structure
A. Recitative
Giovanni takes refuge in the graveyard. He hears Leporello approaching
outside, and hides in order to spook him. He tells him of his recent
adventures with a girl who believed he was Leporello. When his laughs
at Leporello’s discomfiture, the Statue reproves him. Both men are taken
aback, but Giovanni makes Leporello read the inscription, which he
does, and then to invite him to dinner, which he balks at until Giovanni
draws his sword and forces him to go through with it.
B. Duet, allegro, E, 4/4
For the musical content of this number, see below. Dramatically, it
consists of three parts, the pivotal moments being the Statue’s first nod
and sung reply. In the first part, Leporello approaches the Statue three
times, the first two interrupted by his fear and the renewed insistence of
his master. The second part is much more free in form, moving from the
chromatic slide of Leporello’s first reaction, to the chorale-like passage in
which he reports the nod, then to the striking harmonic change when
Giovanni addresses the Statue himself. The third section is all reaction:
momentary surprise even from Giovanni, abject terror from Leporello,
leading to a sotto-voce exit.
Musical Content
The three-part structure of the scene, as described above, might seem suited to a sonata-allegro
treatment, with the middle section serving as development, but Mozart does not exactly take this route. It
is true that he begins in the tonic and soon moves to the dominant, and that he ends safely back in the
tonic. But there is no obvious thematic recapitulation at the end, and the dislocations of the “development”
section take a dramatic form rather than a musical one. Twice again, Mozart uses his magic modulation to
the flattened submediant: once when Giovanni addresses the Statue for himself (cf. the parallel moment
in the Balcony Trio), and once, though only briefly, after the Statue speaks.
This starts off in sonatina form, with Leporello issuing his first address in E major, and then almost
immediately giving up until Giovanni makes him begin again, this time in the dominant, B major, again
followed by the terrified reaction and exchange with Giovanni. But the third time, the texture changes:
over a viola pedal on F# (v/V), a new figure appears in the violins, against which Leporello can only
stammer. Essentially, we are moving into musical development territory before the dramatic exposition
has been completed. The Statue’s nod causes a surprise modulation, making Leporello’s line sink
downwards in fear. But Giovanni soon re-establishes the dominant key, and Leporello returns to the tonic
key for his chorale describing how the Statue had nodded.
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Something that I don’t understand about how music works is why the very same progression, from E
major to C major, can seem like a major increase in energy when Giovanni uses it to address the Statue,
and a total dropping-out of the bottom when Leporello reacts to the Statue’s “Sì.” But the effect is indeed
like that, leading to the only at-all-spooky lines that Giovanni sings in the entire scene, until he pulls
himself together and pulls Leporello away to get ready.
I do want also to mention the striking figure of the falling minor seventh that first appears in Leporello’s
fourth measure, on his word “Padron.” It is a perfect emblem of his fear and it will become especially
prominent in the second and third sections.
Dramatic Issues
One problem with this scene is that the possibilities for actual movement are strictly limited, and most of
them have already been used in the Balcony Trio earlier. It is the same basic situation, after all: the
master forcing his servant to address another being on a height above them. One difference, of course, is
that this scene is all conducted at sword-point, which gives a much more edgy feel to the action. Another
difference is that whereas the balcony was a fixed unit, attached to one side of the stage, the statue is
free-standing. It can be approached from either side, and most probably one or both characters can also
go around the back of it. So we have six basic options:
(a) [S] L G
(b) [S] G L
(c) L [S] G
(d) G [S] L
(e) L G [S]
(f)
G L [S]
Options (d), (e), and (f) are of course the mirror-images of (a), (b), and (c). I see option (a) as the prime
one for this scene: Giovanni to one side, forcing Leporello to address the Statue; I also prefer this version
to its mirror-image, (f). Similarly, option (b) is the appropriate one when Giovanni addresses the Statue
himself, although option (c) would also work for this.
While these six options are the only possible approaches in a literal sense, this way of thinking only
applies once the Statue has been recognized and, so to speak, its power switched on. Once it has, then it
exerts a powerful force-field that Leporello is scared to venture into, and still more scared to cross. If and
when he does cross, it would be a rapid scuttle DS of the pedestal; he would never go US. Don Giovanni,
on the other hand, is much less afraid, and can easily walk in front of the Statue, and even behind it. It
would be good if the final position could have both Giovanni and Leporello “trapped” on the opposite side
of the statue from where they had to leave, with Leporello especially scared of making the cross; I see
this as option (e).
I do, however, like the idea that the statue exerts no power at all until they recognize it. This makes it
possible for Giovanni and Leporello to make entirely free with it in the opening recitative. They have to
change clothes anyhow. What more appropriate than to treat the space as a locker room, casually laying
their discarded clothes on the pedestal, and leaning up against it? But we have to get there. Let’s say
Giovanni enters from CL. He leans casually against the pedestal, and looks at his watch (or just into the
sky?). Leporello enters from DDR (since we don’t have any walls for him to climb over). Giovanni hides to
SL of the pedestal and calls to him, with predictable effect. There is a lot of recitative still to go, however,
once they have met up. The clothing exchange can account for some of it, but we need more. Giovanni
could act the girl’s part with Leporello himself, then pull apart to describe his flight. We need something
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big for the “Meglio ancora!” and not just the laugh. Perhaps taking his arm and forcing him to the ground
in a wrestling submission? [This, I know, would imply a non-wounded Giovanni; I am now by no means
certain that this is the route I want to go; there is too much in his character that seems to require physical
agility, especially in Act II. But I will think of another version too.]
Anyway, they are not merely laughing, but also sprawled over the base of the pedestal, which is
wonderfully sacrilegious. Leporello crawls away, say DR-ish; Giovanni stands and hits the statue with his
cane. He then pulls aside SL and looks to see if there is anyone else there. This would put us into
position (c). Leporello reads the inscription from SR, then XDL to Giovanni, essentially establishing
position (a), in which the duet itself begins.
Although Giovanni can threaten with his sword-stick, he does not pull it until “Mori, mori!” at measure 28.
This means he can be DL of Leporello until then, so that the latter can easily return to him when he first
takes fright. Giovanni enjoys his fear; I can see him letting Leporello get DL of him, and pulling him back
to the Statue. I can also see a pose with Giovanni behind Leporello, restraining him with his stick across
his chest—but this could also be used for the “Mori, mori!” with him drawing the blade across his throat,
before moving UL of the Statue to control Leporello with the sword point. This certainly works for the third
address to the Statue. Leporello should XDR, I think, on the Statue’s nod, taking this to himself. Giovanni
could come either around the back of the pedestal or in front of it to join Leporello, who does his imitation
of the Statue nodding his head.
Giovanni now crosses SL of the Statue again, moving in front of it, facing US, and spinning out on his
line. He still has his sword out, and strikes the pedestal just before to the second “Verrete a cena?”.
Leporello sinks to his knees DR. Giovanni is poleaxed for the moment, crossing down to Leporello in a
daze. But by measure 92, after one look back at the Statue, he has recovered himself, and tells Leporello
to start the dinner arrangements. When he repeats the words “Bizarra è in ver la scena,” it is brightly
diatonic and no longer outlining a diminished triad; he can cross cheerfully back to SL, leaving Leporello
to cross the magic line only on the final measures.
Specifics
Recitative
1
G enters UL, laughing, but obviously in pain. He leans against the pedestal.
11
L enters DDR, not yet on the full stage. G goes back to hide SL of the pedestal to spook him.
13
G backs cautiously towards CS. G approaches and taps him on the shoulder, thus spooking him
even more. [NOTE: we are still working on the most effective timing for this.]
20
G summons L to the front of the pedestal, using it as a locker-room as they exchange hats, capes,
sword-stick and satchel. The manner of the conversation is locker-room too.
31
Somewhere about here, G starts “making love” to L as though he (G) were the girl.
42
G moves DL, re-enacting his escape.
50
Laughing, G brings L to the ground in a wrestling submission, right in front of the Statue. Both
freeze when it speaks.
55
G gets up and moves CL, drawing his sword. L crawls away in terror DR.
58
G strikes the pedestal on his second “Chi va là?”
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65
G recognizes the statue, and tells L to read.
71
L reads the inscription one phrase at a time. G stands DL, facing ¾R.
74
L runs DL to G.
79
As though driven back by the intensity of the Statue’s gaze, L moves behind G to crouch at his feet
to his left.
84
G raises L and pushes him US on the last line.
Duet
1
L SL of Statue. G watching from DL.
6
L runs DL to G, who forces him US again.
19
L SL of Statue, trying again.
23
L runs DL to G as before.
28
G draws sword and, moving behind him, holds the blade to L’s throat, pulling him UL.
32
For the third time, L addresses the Statue, nervously aware of G with the sword UL of him. He
checks back between lines, and indicates with his gestures that it is really his master’s message
that he is delivering.
43
C nods. L moves DR as though his guts were falling out of him. G circles round US of the Statue…
51
…to approach L at his left shoulder.
60
L acts the Statue, nodding on the last “così” and the wind cadence immediately after it.
67
G joins him mockingly; this time, they nod only on the sung “così”.
73
G XL facing the Statue all the time…
75
…spinning out to address the Statue from DL of it.
81
G knocks on the pedestal with the handle of his stick: “Anyone at home?”
85
L sinks slowly to his knees. G, momentarily stunned, XR slowly back to L, as in a trance.
92
G, recovering, pulls L to his feet.
97
Somewhere around here, G XL, beckoning L to follow, but he is scared to cross the force-field of
the Statue.
104
G exits CL. L tiptoes in front of the Statue…
106
…looks back once…
107
…and exits CL.
102
Don Giovanni
2/4 Second Anna Aria
Structure
A. Recitativo secco
Sixteen measures of recit in which Ottavio assures Anna that her wrongs
will soon be avenged, and that he will marry her tomorrow if she wishes.
When she reacts in horror, he calls her cruel.
B. Recitativo accompagnato
Triggered by the word “crudele,” she tell him no, that she loves him, but
cannot face the thought of anything else right now. The 15-measure
recitative is interwoven with hints of the aria to follow.
C. Larghetto, F, 2/4
The cavatina of the aria, as it were, is ABA` in structure. The A sections,
however, are clearly separated into two: A1 is limpid and lyrical; A2 is
sung over an accompaniment that seems to pulse far too rapidly for the
rest of the aria—a disturbing feature that requires further thought. When
this music comes back in the recapitulation, however, it is set to the
words of the B section. So what looks like being a very simple
conciliatory statement instead becomes fraught with anguish.
D. Allegretto moderato, F, 4/4
What would, in a Donizetti scena, be called the cabaletta is in fact slightly
slower than expected, allegretto in four. The soprano certainly has a lot
of brilliant passagework, but the effect of the music is also created in part
by its not beginning pedal to the metal. And also by its curiously ethereal
beginning, with both melody and accompaniment in the treble clef. The
tune of the eight-measure orchestral introduction is immediately repeated
by the voice, but after that there are no repeats; the music is simply
extended with coloratura and cadential figures until it ends 52 mss later.
Dramatic Issues
And again, let me start by copying what I have already written about this aria:
In many ways, Donna Anna is the most difficult case. I always knew that I would be treating her "Non mi
dir" as a kind of mad scene out of Lucia di Lammermoor, and assumed that a certain degree of
derangement in a bloodstained nightdress carrying funeral lilies through a ground fog would do the trick
all by itself. But I find I have already brought her to quite a degree of derangement in her Act I aria, and
that is already almost as much about rejecting Ottavio as it is about energizing him. So I need to think of
her music less in terms of two arias, but as a sequence leading in a certain direction. The Vengeance
Duet, apart from the hallucinatory opening, is all about recruiting Ottavio to her service; the Act I aria is
ambiguous in its alternating recruitment and rejection; the Act II one is all about rejection, or at least
self-isolation. To extend this further, the little duet in the epilogue should see Anna entirely ice-cold,
catatonic, going through the conventions of devotion without moving a single muscle; I am not sure that
she should come out of it even for the "Questo è il fin di chi fa mal" at the end; it is something to think
about anyhow.
103
And also:
I am convinced by the idea that “Non mi dir” is about Anna’s rejection of Ottavio and retreat into
madness. The trouble is that we would thus have three dramatically soloistic arias almost back to back
(Ottavio, Elvira, and Anna). It is true that Anna has Ottavio to play against here, but we have already
seen her ambivalent treatment of him in the Act I aria. I feel he is basically irrelevant here, and should
leave by the cabaletta at least, if not before. But can I get some other objective correlative for Anna to
play against? The flowers and the blood-stained nightdress, certainly, the lighting and the ground fog.
But not another person, at least in the imagination? Her father up there on his pedestal (could she
herself climb up?). Or a spectral return of Don Giovanni? Probably not, but I will think some more.
And yet again:
And while Anna sings directly to Ottavio in answer to his accusation, the whole intent of the aria (if she
is capable of intent any more) is to separate herself from him for a year at least, and possibly for life; on
a different set, I could see him locked outside the graveyard railings and her already inside.
Look at this in the context of its preceding numbers. Now that I have changed the staging of Elvira’s aria
from undressing to dressing, I have no direct conflict with my original idea for Anna’s. In fact, it will work
quite well as a reversed mirror-image to it. And then again, we have the graveyard duet coming in
between. I have yet to work out how I want that to come across. One of my concerns is that its bright E
major is not musically spooky at all. There is a kind of brutal comedy running all through it, but any sense
of sublimity would have to come first from the stage picture, and then from the reaction of the two men.
But the basic affect is out-of-place comedy. This scene, by contrast, should be out-of-place tragedy. Both
masks, the comic and the tragic, should be off-kilter: the one brutal, the other deranged, verging on
madness. But that should be something that grows only slowly. When Ottavio and Anna enter, the effect
should be of everything matching; the contrast between setting and action that had been disturbing in the
buffo duet now gives way to an elegiac lyricism in both. But that lyricism will also reveal itself as a kind of
derangement. Unlike in her first-act aria, in which her intensity would almost have bruised Don Ottavio,
Donna Anna should avoid any sharp encounters here, but merely smile past Ottavio, going on her own
sweet path to heaven. A mad scene this may be, but we want to avoid anything melodramatic or
immediately shocking, going instead for a slow creeping horror that gradually takes possession of the
scene like the ground fog that we shall also bring in.
So Anna enters UR with Ottavio. She wears a floor-length black coat and carries a bunch of white Easter
lilies. I think she walks right past the statue to DL, with Ottavio following at her shoulder. She is not yet in
that icy calm that she will develop later; both her replies to him involve a kind of trembling shiver, but not
so strong as to be called an outburst, although I think her last move in the secco can cross him to D½R.
The first line of the accompagnato, however, can be quite a strong turn to him. But then, when the first
preview of the aria tune comes in, I would like her to hand him one of her lilies, very sweetly, and to do
this again on the second phrase—only this time, she turns away SR just before he takes it, so that the lily
falls to the ground. He will bend to pick it up, so that he is kneeling before her when she begins the aria
itself. I can see her slowly handing out three or four more lilies in the introduction and first lines, with very
slow and sweet gestures, letting them fall around his shoulders.
What next? At some point (measure 30, I think) he would get up and try yet again to take care of her. She
would push the entire bunch of flowers at him as a way of keeping him at a distance, and then move
round to SL of the statue, as though embracing it, perhaps looking up at her father between phrases. He
would turn around DR in despair, at which point she would move to the front on the statue and begin to
slowly remove the coat on the repeat of the “Non mi dir,” letting it fall to the ground to reveal the
bloodstained nightdress from the first scene. He would turn round in horror. But she would come down to
him on the second agitated section (measure 55) and, though singing of anguish, would take everything
very sweetly.
104
Ottavio would run away at the end of the larghetto, dropping the rest of the flowers as he goes. She would
stand smiling down at the flowers, then bend down slowly to pick them up. The trouble is that there are no
vocal breaks from here on out. But she can start singing on her knees, rise with the flowers in hand, and
then move XL then back to CS through the rising ground-fog, scattering some or all of the flowers as she
goes. The first break she has to turn US is at measure 98, and I would like her to come to SR of the
pedestal, clinging to it, and perhaps reaching up to her father. At the very end, she would come DC as
though ascending to heaven, perhaps with a spin back to her father, then collapse on the stage as the
lights go out.
Specifics
Recitative
1
A enters UR, carrying lilies. O follows her. She XDL at a steady pace.
4
A trembles, but still continues.
12
A XD½R. O follows.
Aria
1
A turns strongly to O…
3
…then slowly and very sweetly hands him one of her lilies, which he takes.
8
She begins to hand him another one, but turns away just before he takes it, so that the lily falls to
the ground. She then maneuvers to come slightly US of him.
13
O kneels to pick up the dropped flower, but also in a way kneeling to her.
16
A slowly and sweetly pulls out more lilies, dropping them over his shoulders.
27
O gets up and tries to take care of her again. But she pushes the entire bunch of flowers at him,
and moves to SL of the statue plinth, as though embracing her father.
45
O comes up to her, then turns away D½R.
48
A, in front of the statue, sings even more sweetly to him, slowly unbuttoning her coat to reveal her
blood-stained nightdress; this takes most of the rest of the tempo. O turns and watches in horror.
55
Still singing very sweetly, despite the words, A can approach O.
63
O flees in horror, dropping the flowers. A does not even watch him go, but remains smiling down at
the flowers, then bending down to pick them up. The ground fog increases.
76
At some point of her own choosing, A rises, and moves XL then back SR, scattering flowers as she
goes.
98
A goes to SR of the plinth, clinging to it and reaching up to her father.
112
A comes DC as though being lifted up to heaven, with one spin back to her father, sinking down to
the ground as the lights go out.
105
Don Giovanni
2/5 Banquet Scene (before Commendatore)
Structure
A. Allegro vivace, D, 4/4
Brilliantly festive entrance music. A 16-measure orchestral introduction
followed by three short related fragments (fanfare, ascending phrase,
falling phrase). Most of this is for Giovanni, but Leporello’s reply in the
middle gives it the effect of an ABA structure.
B. “Cosa Rara,” D, 6/8
The wind band, supposedly onstage, plays a theme from Martín y Soler’s
Una cosa rara. All this accompanies the first course of Giovanni’s dinner.
The strings come back in with 6 bars of an arpeggio figure from the
Martín as a bridge to…
C. “Litiganti,” F, 3/4
Now a theme from Sarti’s Fra I due litiganti il terzo gode. It is very simple,
and accompanies the second course in the banquet. Again, the strings
have a short bridge into…
D. “Figaro.” Bb, 4/4
“Non più andrai” from Mozart’s own Nozze di Figaro. Leporello, who had
sung Figaro the year before, knows this well. Mozart uses mainly
episode music from the original aria (a species of rondo) for Giovanni to
tease Leporello, who can’t swallow quickly enough, returning to the
theme when he finally does.
E. Allegro assai, Bb, 3/4
The main orchestra interrupts the cadence with a strong declamatory
theme for Elvira. Although we are back now to the real drama, Mozart
does not yet move far from the basic simplicity of the first four sections;
this is sectional and harmonically stable until the sort of development
section that begins with Elvira’s “Ah, non deridere gli affani miei,”
involving all three voices, and introducing several new musical
fragments. Note too that when Giovanni invites her to dine with him, he is
introduced by a woodwind flourish, and his closing theme (perhaps a
pre-existing popular song) is very close to the manner of the litiganti
excerpt earlier. This is developed into a trio (the third in the opera for this
combination of characters) that finally drives Elvira offstage.
F. [transition music]
Without breaking the pulse, the orchestra builds chromatically to
diminished-seventh chords as first Elvira screams and then Leporello,
who returns white-faced as the orchestra stops on an A-major cadence.
G. Molto allegro, F, 2/2
A very brief number, in many ways reminiscent of the opening of the
entire opera, in which Leporello tries to explain what he has seen. It is
interesting how Mozart keeps this almost entirely buffo while yet shading
it with enough minor-key inflections to make it spooky too. Leporello
refuses to open the door, so Giovanni goes himself.
106
Dramatic Issues
Dinner service. Although we have four Servants, I have chosen not to use them to wait at table, merely
to stand on SR and serve as a living sideboard. Leporello will have the sole responsibility of running
between them and the table, which is set C½L, with Don Giovanni’s chair SL of that. We can open with
the Servants coming in SR and Leporello putting final touches on the table. Giovanni enters from UL and
makes a big sweep counterclockwise to the orchestra (“amici cari”) and then to the table, where the
pauses until Leporello comes quickly over to pull back his chair. Giovanni is sitting back by “Già che
spendo i miei danari,” and Leporello is either attending to him or going back to the Servants.
What does he actually eat or drink?
(a) Some food, not specified, that Giovanni can eat in “bocconi da gigante.”
(b) Possibly some wine to go with that.
(c) A second course served at the start of the Litiganti excerpt, again not specified.
(d) The wine (Marzimino) that Leporello pours in the Litiganti excerpt.
(e) Pheasant, not actually served, but from which Leporello helps himself.
(f)
Possibly another course that he invites Elvira to share with him.
(g) Perhaps other courses not yet eaten, including a dessert.
Let’s assume that Giovanni gets to taste two main courses, each with their respective wines: the first must
be something that Giovanni can eat with deliberate grossness, in order to torment the hungry Leporello;
this is why I suggested a leg of mutton. The second is unspecified, and will presumably continue into the
Figaro excerpt also. This could be something in a casserole that Leporello torments himself with during
the Cosa Rara section. So we have the beginnings of a pattern: there is a line of Servants with dishes;
Leporello serves Giovanni from the first of these, then returns to torment himself with the next in line. The
Servant with any given dish can exit after the dish has been served, before coming back in again with
something else (whether or not this is actually eaten). The dirty plates presumably get taken out by
another Servant. The wines would be held by a Servant who is not part of the shuttle service, perhaps the
most upstage of the quartet. Leporello can either make the entire trip from SR to SL himself, or each
Servant could come over in turn within handing range of the table, leaving Leporello to do the actual
serving; I think I prefer this, but it is something we will want to try empirically.
So we have the servants lined up, numbered from UR to DR. Here’s what I think each of them does:
1.
Has both wines, and remains in place throughout.
2.
Has the mutton dish, waits to take it away after Cosa Rara, and returns with the dessert.
3.
Has the casserole that Leporello sniffs. Takes it out after Litiganti and returns with fruit.
4.
Has the pheasant. This remains on stage.
Five food trays in all. In each course, the food comes before the wine, and the removal of the old dishes
comes before the setting of the old ones. In between, Leporello occupies himself with fantasizing about
the food: first the casserole, and then the pheasant. Does the pheasant actually get served? I think it
could do, at the start of the Figaro section; it would give Leporello something to do. This would remain on
the table for the scene with Elvira, and so could allow all four Servants to exit when she comes in….
Elvira scene. But do we want the Servants to leave? There is much greater insult if Elvira’s mission is
watched by Don Giovanni’s entire staff. In this case, they could fall into disarray at Elvira’s scream, and
flee at Leporello’s. There is even a possibility that Giovanni can use their continued presence to further
mock Elvira.
107
Elvira runs on UR, between Servants 1 and 2. Giovanni is seated. Leporello is US of him, at the table; he
can move DL of it as she continues. Elvira can come right up to the table and lean on it. Giovanni stands
on his line, and Elvira kneels. He comes round US of her and kneels also her right, beginning to caress
her. He raises her up, she breaks DR, and he comes to her at once, circling behind her to take an apple
and offering it to her. A “Lascia ch’io mangi,” however, he appears to give up on her and XL in front of the
table, pulls his chair out, sits, and lewdly pats his leg, as though inviting her to sit (there is only one chair).
Elvira comes angrily round US of him, and ends on his left. He will indeed pull her to his lap and start to
run his hands over her. Leporello, meanwhile has gone DR for his own comments.
Finally, Elvira tears herself away and runs off UR in the direction from which she had entered.
Immediately, she screams and runs off the other way. The Servants look anxious but do not yet go.
Giovanni sends Leporello to go also. When he screams, Giovanni gets up and the Servants flee (two to
UL, two CR). Leporello re-enters UR, trembling all over. He comes CS and Giovanni will come CS to
meet him, trying to make him go. But this time he fails. Leporello dives under the table, and Giovanni
seizes the candelabrum and goes US himself.
Specifics
Dinner service
1
Banquet room. Table and one chair S½L. L arranging the table. Servants enter (4, 3, 2, 1) from UR
and form a diagonal along SR, numbered from US to DS. S1 has two wines on a tray. S2 has a
platter with a leg of mutton. S3 has a casserole with a lid, and also a serving spoon and separate
plate. S4 has a platter with a carved pheasant on it.
7
L XR to inspect the Servants, ending DR.
14
G enters UL, with grand gestures.
21
G to the orchestra in the pit.
24
G continues DL.
30
G summons L to attend him at table. L comes US of the table and pulls back the chair for G to sit,
then opens his napkin for him and so on.
39
Around here, L gets the first wine bottle from S1, and pours out a little for G to taste.
47
L now filling G’s glass.
55
L returns the bottle to S1 and gets the mutton platter from S2…
63
…and sets it in front of G…
67
…who wafts the scent towards him with his hands, deliberately giving L a hard time, as he backs
away XR, unable to take his eyes off him.
73
L now near S3, lifting the lid of the casserole to get his own scent of the food. G is now deliberately
taking huge bites of the mutton leg in order to gross out L.
92
L doling out dollops of food from the casserole onto a plate…
103
…which he brings to his nose, almost tasting, but stopping himself.
114
G summons L over. He removes the mutton plate and…
108
118
…replaces it with the casserole, immediately returning the mutton plate to S2, who exits UR to
return shortly with a big dessert platter.
126
G calls for more wine, which L gets from S1 and pours out (no preliminary tasting this time). G
drinks a little…
134
…and gives his approval. L returns the bottle to S1.
140
Fixating on the pheasant on the platter held by S4, L moves slyly DR towards it.
149
L takes a bit of pheasant, then a bit more and a bit more, turning his back on G to conceal what he
is doing (but not succeeding!).
165
L addresses the audience, then continues stuffing himself.
173
Summoned by G, L XL to take away the casserole plate, turning his face away from G as much as
possible. L returns the plate to S3, who exits to return shortly with a bowl of fruit.
178
L desperately trying to swallow the pheasant…
188
…finally succeeds after a large gulp, takes the pheasant plate, and XL to set it before G. He
remains US of the table until…
Elvira scene
200
E enters fast UR and comes CS, to the corner of the table.
219
G rises; L comes SL of table.
223
E kneels CS, SR of the table.
231
G circles US of her…
238
…and kneels SR of her, mocking her piety.
243
She pushes him.
248
G gets up and raises E with mocking courtesy, kissing her hand. L moves US a little.
255
E breaks DR. G follows and, taking an apple from S3, offers it to E over her right shoulder.
279
G XL DS of the table to his chair, which he pulls out a little…
291
…opening his legs and inviting her to sit.
295
E circles US of the table to G’s right shoulder. L counters to DR.
303
G, making a toast, reaches back to caress E’s cheek with the glass. She moves SL of him.
333
G pulls E to kneel between his legs.
348
E gets up, runs off UR, screams, and immediately runs UL instead.
360
G signals to L, who also exits UR and screams.
367
G rises. S3 and S4 exit CR. S2 and S1 exit UL.
371
L enters UR, totally shaken. G comes DS of the table to question him.
379
L tells his story, staggering DL to G on the “Ta, ta, ta, ta” sections.
407
Knocking offstage R. Both freeze.
414
G tries to get L to go again, but he refuses, hiding under the table instead. G goes US himself.
109
Don Giovanni
2/5 Commendatore Scene
Structure
A. Andante, d mi, 4/4
The clearest way to think of this is in segments marked off by the
Statue’s statements. He arrives. He says that he cannot eat. He says he
has something important to say. He invites Giovanni to dine with him. He
presses him for an answer. He asks for a handshake to settle it. Each of
these is followed by reactions from the other characters. Leporello’s lines
are mostly aside (though when he speaks openly it is significant).
Giovanni addresses the Statue throughout, with an especially effective
build just before the handshake with a baroque dotted figure that gives a
tremendous surge of energy.
B. Più stretto
This is short. Giovanni feels the chill of eternity, but adamantly refuses to
repent. There are clear allusions to the duel music in the bass, but now
the situation has been reversed. The Statue withdraws, saying that his
time is up.
C. Allegro
Giovanni is lacerated by fire and pain. Devils call to him from below.
Leporello is almost equally terrified. Eventually Giovanni expires with a
high D, and Leporello, imitating him to the last, sinks behind the table.
Dramatic Issues
At this point in the process, I am committed to using the statue on the pedestal coming in as a single unit.
I am thus committed to having Don Giovanni climb up on the pedestal in order to shake its hand. This is
going to pose difficulties, I know, if we continue to play the wound scenario, though it could be a supreme
final effort. This use of the statue and the absence of traps in the Lyric stage mean that I need to find a
way of taking Giovanni out, and the only way is on the base of the Statue itself. Which would be fine, I
think; the image of him splayed on the pedestal, almost as though crucified, is a striking one. However,
this gives me a problem on the line when the Statue normally would go, just before the final allegro. Is it
enough just to cut the light on it? Or do we want a different kind of light altogether? I would suggest red,
but that would make it harder to see the blood if we do indeed go this route. I wonder about having fog
rising from behind the statue and a very bright backlight?
Like the Graveyard, this is another scene that offers comparatively few positions for staging. But I am not
sure that it needs very many, since the action is verbal and musical rather than physical. I think the best
plan is simply to list each stage of the bargain between these two forces, and see where it takes us. We
can further break down each episode into initiative, reaction, and staging; there is admittedly some
question of whether, if ever, the initiative does pass from the Statue to Don Giovanni, but it is a question
worth asking anyhow.
110
433
Initiative: The Statue rolls in and announces its arrival.
Reaction: Giovanni is amazed, but tells Leporello to add another place setting. Leporello is
afraid, but Giovanni insists.
Staging: Given the huge set move of the Statue’s entrance, nothing much else is needed.
Leporello is still crouched by the table. Giovanni would move back as the Statue appears, to SR
of its line of travel. He might also XL to Leporello on “Vanne, dico!”, or at least make to do so.
However, if he were to take this move sooner, he could also throw Leporello XR, which would be
one place for them to change sides.
452
Initiative: The Statue stops Giovanni/Leporello in their tracks, and announces that it cannot eat.
Reaction: Nothing for a while. Then Giovanni tells the Statue to say what it has to say, while
Leporello says he is shaking all over.
Staging: I am inclined not to do anything at all here.
474
Initiative: The Statue tells Giovanni to stay and listen.
Reaction: Giovanni immediately tells the Statue to say what it has to. Leporello continues to
quake in fear.
Staging: I am not sure whether Giovanni’s strong line, “Parla, parla, ascoltandoti sto,” is entirely
reactive; the second time he says it, particularly, when it is not sung over Leporello’s babble,
sounds awfully like him taking the initiative back, but it is quite brief.
487
Initiative: The Statue issues his invitation to dinner.
Reaction: Interestingly, the first reaction here is not from Don Giovanni, but a buffo one from
Leporello. But Don Giovanni is magnificent in declaring that he is free from fear. The Statue
keeps pressing.
Staging: If Leporello is going to come back to SL and the table, it has to be here, either on
“Tempo non ha, scusate” or “Dite di no!”.
513
Initiative: Don Giovanni is magnificent in the baroque flourish with which he declares his
acceptance, but this moment too is brief.
Reaction: None; the Statue’s reply is essentially his reaction to this.
Staging: Sometime or other here, Giovanni must climb up to shake the Statue’s hand.
517
Initiative: The Statue asks Don Giovanni to shake hands on it.
Reaction: Don Giovanni’s reaction, feeling the sudden chill of death, triggers the entire più stretto
section; everything that follows is a subset of this.
Staging: Giovanni on a level with the Statue, clinging on with one hand.
533
Initiative: The Statue demands that Giovanni repent, and he refuses.
Reaction: Both characters take the initiative. It is really impossible to see either as subsidiary.
Staging: We need some lighting change here, catching the figures in an intense cold gleam. No
physical moves are necessary.
547
Initiative: Don Giovanni’s final cries of “No!” absolutely state his character and moral position.
Reaction: The Statue says it must leave; Giovanni’s time is up.
Staging: Some sort of lighting change (see discussion above) that takes the light off the Statue
but keeps it there as a gray presence. Giovanni must drop off the Statue; it can even be a
moment of triumph.
There are both mechanical and interpretative questions here. Mechanically, how and when is Giovanni to
climb up to the Statue, and how is he to get down? If he is going to climb the pedestal from base to
summit, this will have to be done virtually in one movement, just before his “Eccola!” But if he can use the
111
chair and the table as intermediate stages, he can get up sooner, on one of his more determined lines:
certainly “Ho fermo il core in petto,” and possibly as soon as “A torto di viltade”; indeed the earlier line
could have him pulling away the chair, and the later one would have him on the table already. These
could be set off against Leporello’s moves from SR to SL. Giovanni would remain pinned to the Statue for
all the più stretto section, and come down as the Statue takes his leave.
So here is the interpretative question: what is Giovanni’s state at the start of the final allegro? Is he
already marked for death, or does he regard this moment as one of triumph? I would like to grant him the
magnificence of looking Death in the eye and not blinking, so I am inclined to say: triumph. This would
allow him to come down in his own time during the Statue’s last line, and perhaps be on the table when
the allegro starts, falling to his knees, rolling off, running DS, and finally, as though pulled back by force,
backing up against the Statue. This would give Leporello a lot of room for movement before he finally
plunges under the table. There is another mechanical problem, though, in whether we need to clear the
table. I can certainly imagine him pulling the tablecloth off on “A torto di viltade,” but that becomes a prop
question of how to stop things getting broken or rolling all over the stage.
Clearly, I need to make up my mind about the wound, but for that I need a day off to really think about it,
and won’t get that until tomorrow. I had thought that the tearing off of the bandages would be the ultimate
defiance of death—yes, I will die, but on my own terms. In this case, it would have to come on or just after
the final “No!” Any later would be already in the grip of the pains of the allegro; he would no longer be
captain of his fate. I can try both approaches in rehearsal, though somehow I don’t think this will be
definitive; the wound decision will have to be made mainly on other grounds.
Specifics
433
G approaching UC on a curve from DR. L crouched just in front of the table CL. Candles go out. Set
splits. C enters on plinth from UC to just beside the table. [He is probably singing as the wagon
moves, or else the wagon stops while he sings and continues afterwards.]
447
G XL to table, speaking to L crouching in front of it.
451
G hauls L out and throws him SR. C stops him with a gesture on his first note. Positions now: L DR
facing DS, and G DL facing US.
470
L sinks to his knees. G turns and sings to C, but not facing him. He is playing it relatively matter-offactly so far.
477
Here, and again at 480, G moves a little bit US, getting more engaged with the situation each time.
500
L moves to SR of C, addressing him very politely.
504
G, now SL of the table…
510
…pulls off the tablecloth.
512
L runs over to the table as if to hold G back, but he steps up onto the chair and thence to the table
for his “Ho fermo il core in petto” line. L crouches again under the table.
517
C holds out hand to G, who climbs (with difficulty), from the table up the last part of the pedestal…
521
…and grips the Statue’s hand. He holds it until measure 548. His exact position will depend on the
structure of the statue pedestal, but he should give the impression of hanging by the hand alone.
544
L may come out from under the table here, or slightly before, and pull back UL.
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548
G pulls clear and drops onto the table. It is a kind of triumph. With a deliberate action, he pulls off a
bandage around his thigh (or at least pretends to do so—details still to be determined).
555
G now in increasing pain…
560
…falls to his knees on the table…
562
…and rolls off it onto the ground.
569
G rises, comes DC (treating the orchestra pit as the pit of Hell), and possibly moves R and L.
[Details depend on the artist’s own timing, and the effect of the blood.]
584
G pulled US by a “tractor beam” to end as though nailed to the front of the pedestal.
594
G screams. The pedestal moves back US, bearing him off.
596
L screams and dives under the table. The set closes.
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Don Giovanni
2/5 Epilogue
Structure
A. Allegro assai, G, 3/4
Entrance, explanations, reactions: each a separate sub-section. First, the
entire group enter like gangbusters. Then a curious section with solos for
Donna Anna (why her?) and Leporello, followed immediately by a return
to the opening mood as the others interrogate him. But once he has told
them about the statue, the mood completely changes to their own
spooked reflections about what they have just heard, in a wonderfully
creepy passage with intertwined descending chromatic lines building to a
dominant seventh.
B. Larghetto, G, 4/4
Disposition. This is the section in which we learn what will happen to
everybody else in the drama. It begins with a longish duet between
Ottavio and Anna, in limpid but largely predictable counterpoint; they
agree to delay their marriage for [at least?] a year. Then Elvira, Zerlina,
Masetto, and Leporello mention their plans. Finally, the three lowerranked characters announce the “antica canzon” which will give the
moral. Musically, it is all in the same pulse, but because the Anna/Ottavio
duet is so harmonically stable, there is the effect of speeded-up motion
when Elvira starts a chain of modulations and the orchestra becomes a
good deal more active rhythmically. The trio ends in an emphatic
dominant seventh on A, preparing the final key of D major.
C. Presto, D, 2/2
Moral. This is typical of Mozart’s closing ensembles, especially what he
would do with Così fan tutte, in its sandwich of loud sections with more
reflective ones. It is unusual, however, in that it starts with something that
might almost be a fugue opening, and more unusual still in the choice of
voices that sing it: first Anna and Elvira together, then Zerlina alone. But
no fugue actually emerges. Instead, the ensemble sings the words “E de’
perfidi la morte | alla vita è sempre ugual” to a striking phrase with loud
sforzandi in the first line, and almost cheerful little gruppetti in the second
one. This is then repeated, more or less exactly, leading to another
passage in chromatically descending white notes not unlike that in the
first section of the epilogue, but decorated with a playful little theme in
the orchestra above. Finally 16 forte cadential measures and then the
other big surprise of this ending: a jaunty little sequence of the playful
orchestral theme, before a loud descending scale and rapid cadence.
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Dramatic Issues
The main issue in this finale is the status of the characters at the end. Each of the da Ponte operas, and
Entführung too, ends with the cast coming forward and sharing a moral with the audience. It is a
convention that Stravinsky, for example, adopted in The Rake’s Progress, having his characters take off
their make-up and address one another as commentators rather than inhabitants of their roles. In Figaro,
the singers can remain more or less in character during the finale. In Così, they sort of can, depending on
how happy they are with an outcome that has left egg on all their faces. In Don Giovanni, however, they
can only come forward in that final ensemble if they essentially leave their roles behind. It is not such a
wrench for Zerlina, Masetto, and Leporello, perhaps, since they are the kind of people who bounce back,
but both Donnas and Ottavio have been through trauma that will take a while to heal, if ever. I am not at
all sure that I want any of these three simply treating the opera as water under the bridge. So I would be
looking at some sort of two-tier approach to the final ensemble that basically keeps the two groups apart.
This is a problem that also applies to their entrances. If I had Ottavio fleeing from Donna Anna in the
graveyard scene, I can hardly have them coming on arm-in-arm now as though nothing had happened.
So, although I reject theatrical convention at the very end, I think we can use it here, by bringing the
characters on separated from one another, not as a matter of walking in together through the street door,
but simply re-entering the stage. So Anna and Ottavio would be separated. I even wonder if Zerlina and
Masetto should not be separated too? It would certainly make the point more clearly. On the other hand,
we have essentially four entrances (DR, CR, CL, and DL) and five characters, so a couple at least would
have to come on from the same entrance. Here are some possibilities:
(a) E – O | A – ZM
(b) O – E | ZM – A
(c) Z – O E | A – M
(d) Z – A E | O – M
[All can be in mirror-image too, of course.] What are the differences? Version (a) is probably the most
normal; it keeps Zerlina and Masetto together, and separates Anna and Ottavio, but not by much, and the
other characters are also suited to the extreme DS positions. Version (b) is more or less the reverse of
this, making a big point of separating Ottavio and Anna; whether or not Zerlina and Masetto are
separated depends upon which side she comes in from. Version (c) is radical in clearly separating Zerlina
and Masetto, which serves as a kind of key to how we must understand the whole; it also gets the noble
people upstage even more completely than version (a). Version (d) is essentially the same as (c), with the
exception that all the women are grouped one side and all the men the other, which makes the artificiality
of the concept even clearer. It may also be useful in the extraction of Leporello later. On the whole, I
prefer versions (c) or (d).
These do, however, raise the question of when we can reunite the couples. The first significant
realignment would be at the larghetto, when Ottavio comes to Anna; there would be a great advantage to
keeping them apart until then, and moving them apart again by the end of their duet. This would then
mean that Masetto and Zerlina would come together immediately after, one of them perhaps countering
Ottavio’s move, or both, if Anna were not to remain seated, as I have now been thinking, but pull away to
the side of the stage also. I’ll get back to this.
Back to the opening. I must admit to having trouble with Donna Anna’s “Solo mirandolo” line, lovely
though it is. Why should she be the first spokesperson for the group? How far has she recovered from her
mental derangement of the graveyard scene? What is she wearing? I do not see her coming in again in
the nightgown; this would be too charged for what is after all an ensemble scene. I can see a case for
having her go back to the Act I costume, though perhaps the black coat of the graveyard, buttoned up
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again naturally, would be the easiest compromise. We have the choice between making her again the
avenging angel of Act I, or treating her as still distracted. I prefer the latter, and the music supports that
too, with its repeated notes.
I have not yet blocked the Commendatore scene, so do not absolutely know where the furniture will be. I
need a chair for Anna, and a table for Leporello to hide under. The position of each will depend on what
we do with the statue. If Giovanni needs the table to climb upon, then this would be just SL of the
centerline, with the chair further SL still. I am happy with the table remaining there, but would really like
the chair to end up D½R. Either Leporello could do something with it during the Commendatore scene
itself, or Ottavio could bring it over for Anna at the start of the larghetto, which I think is the more elegant
solution.
So let’s use version (d) of the entrance, the women coming on severally from SR, the men from SL. Anna
would move to CS, as though in the grips of a nightmare, but see something under the table, which is of
course Leporello hiding. Ottavio and Masetto pull him out. The positions are now: Z A E | O L M. He
would escape XR on the “ma se non posso,” but Zerlina would immediately force him DC, while the rest
closed in. Leporello would act the scene out (in his memory, though not in real space), and fall to his
knees at the end. This gives room for the others all to pull back stunned. All except Masetto, who grabs
Leporello, but when he shows him the blood on the floor (this can be mimed, I think), he too staggers
back. Leporello goes back to the table to wipe his hand on a napkin and is just about to sit down when…
Don Ottavio carries the chair across to C½R for Donna Anna. She sits on it but does not look at him at all
through this duet. The positions are now: Z AO E L M. Towards the end of the little duet, perhaps just
after the cut, Anna would rise and XDR, with Zerlina countering. Ottavio, simultaneously, would pull away
to DDL, with Masetto countering. Elvira had countered to just L of the centerline when Ottavio crosses.
Leporello would be sitting on or possibly below the table, and finishing Giovanni’s last meal.
So now we have the grouping: A – Z E M L – O. Elvira can sing to the others and either go back UC or,
probably better, XDR to join Anna. Z XL to Masetto, now forming a pair with him. L comes to just SR of
center, so that when the L–Z–M trio joins up at the end of this section, they are DC with Zerlina in the
middle of the two men. At some point, Leporello is going to have to get rid of the catalogue. This could
happen on, or just before, his line, or it could happen at the very end; I’ll hold on the decision for now.
I need to work out the presto so as to have the three commoners separate from the three aristocratic
ones. I have no trouble with Zerlina and Masetto speaking directly to the audience here, and Leporello is
already in the habit of doing this. The nobles, by contrast, would seldom sing straight out, but would
remain in tormented attitudes one way or another; I do not think they need to move much, if at all. But I
would rather they were spaced out more over the stage. I am inclined to try having Elvira start the
“Questo è il fin” line to Anna, as though consoling her, but discover that that is not working and, in
Zerlina’s solo, cross back to CS. I think she might even pick up the catalogue and come forward with it;
let’s see if I can find a time for that. So why do the commoners cue the “antica canzon” but not actually
start it? I think it might be nice if Zerlina turns to the Ladies as if expecting them to join her in the same
spirit, but to take over the lead herself when they don’t respond appropriately. I think we want a sudden
turn aside by Donna Anna on her loud “Questo è I fin!”, a shrug and a move a few steps towards DC by
Zerlina on her line, and then a quick cross by Elvira when everybody comes in again. If she could pick up
the catalogue then, we could have her center of the picture at the dominant cadence: A Z E LM O.
At this point, the commoners would be split side by side, Zerlina on the right and the men on the left,
leaving the center open. I think I would like them to do a simple little dance (a few steps of a figure-eight)
on the pretty music of “alla vita è sempre ugual,” either changing sides, or at least changing to L | M Z. I
can see Elvira coming DC in between them at the second “E de’ perfidi la morte” section and perhaps
falling to her knees, with the Catalogue down on the ground in front of her, so that the commoners can
116
continue their figure-eight behind them. This makes a tighter group, and I think we can tighten it further
still by having Anna and Ottavio move in on the chromatic white notes. Elvira might also rise as they do
so. But then I want the commoners to burst through at the forte, pointing to the book, and then to the
audience, and then to the stage. At the very end, I think the nobles all pull back and freeze. Zerlina and
Leporello look at each other; he agrees, and she kicks the book into the orchestra pit (dangerous, but I
think it can be managed), and they run off DS on their separate sides.
Specifics
Allegro assai
603
Empty stage. L under the table C½L. Chair to SL of it. Fragments of the picture US. The other
characters enter fast from the wings as follows: Z–1R, A–2R, E–3R, O–2L, M–1L.
618
A comes CS, in a trancelike passion, leaning on the table. This prompts M and O to investigate,
and pull out L.
632
L now standing DL between O and M. A, still in a daze, returns S½R, between E and Z.
643
ALL close in on L.
653
L tries to run DR…
656
…but is caught by Z (elbow spin!) and thrown to DC again.
660
L acts out the story DC.
675
L falls to his knees. ALL pull back stunned, except for M, who grabs L. But L shows him the blood
on the floor (not real this time) and M pulls back also.
Larghetto
712
O takes the chair from SL and carries it over to A C½R. M is DL, Z DR. E is U½R, but can counter a
little on O’s cross. L is sitting on the ground below the table, finishing DG’s leftovers.
718
A sits, but faces front, in catatonic shock, not looking at O, ever.
736
A rises and moves DR, with Z countering and if necessary E. O takes a step or two after her, then
realizes he has lost her, and pulls back XL on the long melisma, though still looking at her.
740
E comes a little bit DC on her line…
742
…then XR towards A, as Z counter XLC to meet M.
744
L comes R of C and tosses the catalogue onto the chair.
746
L, Z, and M come DC and point firmly into the orchestra pit…
751
…then gesture to the audience.
754
M and L pull back so that Z can gesture to A and E, who is now beside her.
Presto
756
E, who has picked up the Catalogue, shows it to A…
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763
…who however turns away. Z, feeling that someone must get this show on the road, comes
forward. E counters back to CS, still with the Catalogue.
793
The positions are: A, Z, E (a bit US), L, M, O.
800
Z, L, and M do a graceful figure-eight dance, essentially changing sides.
813
E comes firmly DC with the Catalogue.
824
E falls to her knees, so that the little dance can continue behind her.
832
E rises and pulls slightly back. A and O come in, to make a semi-tight group.
843
L, Z, and M come forward pointing at the book…
852
…and different sections of the audience.
860
A, E, and O pull back US and either exit severally or freeze. Z looks at L, gets his assent, and kicks
the Catalogue into the pit, before running of DL with M. L runs off DR. Curtain.
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