The story of Don Giovanni (originally Don Juan) was first told by Spanish playwright Tirso de Molina around 1630.  Subsequently, many plays and other literary works were devoted to the legendary seducer who, in an act of extreme hubris, invited a statue to dinner.  Mozart’s opera, created in collaboration with genius librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, conveys the drama of this larger-than-life figure more completely than any other version.  In the opera, the Don is a hero and a villain at the same time; in spite of his transgressions for which he is ultimately punished, he dwarfs all the mundane people, both men and women, who try in vain to fight him or resist him.

The extraordinary overture of this extraordinary opera opens with the same ominous D-minor sonorities that will announce, in the last scene, the arrival of the Stone Guest in Don Giovanni’s house.  The vigorous D-major Allegro that follows, on the contrary, will not be heard again in the opera.  It is a spirited symphonic movement that represents the irrepressible energy of this charismatic character who will go to Hell with his head unbowed.

6.00