CHAN 3057 Book Cover.qxd - Chandos

CHAN 3057 BOOK.qxd 13/7/07 3:50 pm Page 18cook is excellent’). And, on the subject of injokes,the three operatic excerpts thatGiovanni’s supper band plays were surelychosen because their subject matter deals witha lamb going to the slaughter (Sarti’s Fra i duelitiganti), rustic couples escaping a lecherousnobleman (Martin y Soler’s Una cosa rara) andthe threatened end of Cherubino’s amorousescapades (Mozart’s own Figaro).Much of the wider comedy of DonGiovanni derives from the social status of thecharacters, archetypes familiar to aneighteenth-century audience from theirequivalents in the commedia dell’arte tradition.Giovanni, the diabolical, aristocratic master,can only be criticised (on earth) by his lowlyservant. At the same time that servant (as inthe famous plays of the Venetian writerGoldoni) may speak his mind about hismaster’s wrong doings – both directly and inasides to the audience in the theatre. He has tosuffer much, but he is a privileged clown; hecan comment on the action, but never make ithappen. The Commendatore (the nameimplies he is the military governor orcommander of the Spanish town where theaction takes place) starts almost as the comicold man powerless to prevent the actions ofyoung love. But this ‘young love’ is actuallyattempted rape, and his interference ispunished by his being murdered, notby trickery. The role then moves nearer to thatof baroque deus ex machina or avenging angel.Giovanni’s ‘enemies’ on earth are veryprecisely delineated in society. Masetto andZerlina are the lowest class: they are rusticpeasants and hence initially less cunning, butfar more morally scrupulous, than the lowerclassbut definitely ‘urban’ Leporello. DonnaAnna and Don Ottavio are blue-bloodaristocrats and hence the natural friends andequals of Don Giovanni. In keeping with theconventions of this level of society, Giovanni’s‘private’ life of womanising is such a secret inhis home town (and, of course, thereforeunimaginable) that it takes Don Ottavio untilthe middle of Act II to fully accept that his‘friend’ is a murderer and would-berapist. There is something comic in thecontinual seriousness of Anna and Ottaviowho occasionally remind one of the stock‘Italian’ characters of rich, indolent, capriciouswife and duty-obsessed, hen-pecked husband.Donna Elvira’s experiences with Giovanni in‘Burgos’ and subsequent pursuit of him havemade her lower her pretentions to be a lady.She needs to take lodgings in the town whereour action takes place rather than reside withone of the leading local families. Anna andOttavio, at first, do not treat her quite as anequal, but soon notice her evidentpedigree. She suffers greatly from hertreatment by Giovanni but our total sympathyis withheld by her constant desire to return formore. The creation of Elvira, the most originalof Da Ponte’s dramatis personae, is typical ofthe poet’s whole scenario for DonGiovanni which, together with the dramaticunderstanding of Mozart’s score, achieves oneof the most coherent blends of the comic andserious elements of the legend in all the DonJuan literature.SynopsisCompact Disc One© 2001 Mike AshmanAct IFirst tableau. Night, a garden1Overture, leading directly to…2Leporellois waiting impatiently and anxiously outsidethe house of the Commendatore (the garrisoncommander of the town). Inside is his master,Don Giovanni, attempting to seduce DonnaAnna, the Commendatore’s daughter. Leporellolooks forward to a day when he, like thearistocrats, will not have to work for a living.Frightened by running footsteps, he hides asGiovanni appears, with Anna in furious pursuittrying to unmask him. Their struggles areinterrupted by the appearance of theCommendatore himself who challenges thedisguised Giovanni to a duel. Anna escapesback into the house. Reluctantly, Giovannienters into combat with the old man and runshim through. Still hidden, Leporello pondersfearfully about the situation, while the dyingCommendatore calls for help and Giovanniwatches him die.3Leporello ascertains fromGiovanni that it is indeed he that is still livingand the pair run off.4Anna has fetched herfiancé Don Ottavio and servants with torchesto help her father. They are too late.5Shefaints at the realisation that her father is dead.Ottavio organises salts and spirits to revive herand asks for the body to be removed. Hisattempts to support Anna are met initially withsuspicious rejection6. When he assures her ofhis love, she demands that he make an oath toavenge the Commendatore’s murder. He swearsto do so by her eyes and by their love.Second tableau. Night, but near dawn. A streetLeporello has something urgent to tell18 19