When we finished class the other day, we concluded with the final scene of Act I, in which Donna Elvira, Donna Anna and Don Ottavio come as masked guests. Here is how the article you are reading summarizes this scene:
“Don Giovanni hosts a party for the villagers so that he can have an opportunity to seduce Zerlina, but he is again frustrated by the intervention of Donna Elvira, Donna Anna and her betrothed, Don Octavio.”
Not much help, really.
I think we need some additional perspective to understand this, and many of the ensuing details of the opera.
One of the features of Mozart’s Don Giovanni is the fact that he incorporates aspects of the two major operatic styles of the day: Opera Seria and Opera Buffa. As these terms indicate, operas of the day tended to be either “serious” or “comic.” Don Giovanni is referred to as a dramma giocosa because it incorporates aspects of both traditions. What is special about the opera is the manner in which it does this. Specifically, particular characters in Mozart’s opera are either “seria” or “buffa” characters. Donna Anna, Don Ottavio and the Commendatore are pretty consistently “seria.” This is especially true of Don Ottavio, who is almost comic (ironic, don’t you think) in his seriousness. Leporello is a thoroughly “buffa” character, though he occasionally displays a spark of genuine insight that we would expect from a more serious character (another interesting combination, almost the opposite of Don Ottavio!) . In this way, Mozart’s opera is actually a more accurate (and in some ways a quite modern) interpretation of human emotions. Life, and people in general, are rarely so one-dimensional that they are thoroughly “seria” or “buffa.” Mozart and Da Ponte give us a rather rich view of carnal desire, honor, loyalty, love, morality, etc. as a result. (Remember, this was the Age of the Enlightenment, but Freud and the insights of psychoanalysis was a long way off in the future.
When we were watching the finale of Act I, it was clear (as we discussed in class) that the plot was rather jumbled and unrealistic. It was, however, a rather brilliant display of the seria and buffa aspects of the opera crashing into one another in a kind of rollicking 18th century “mash-up.” Don’t be too concerned with the lack of clarity or the unrealistic aspects of the individual characters. Not only is each something of a caricature, Mozart is also having fun with the traditions of the two opera styles he is combining.
Another aspect to keep in mind, is that the audience of the day was a highly sophisticated group, who were well versed in literature, languages, theatrical traditions and the expectations of those traditions. Mozart and DaPonte toyed with their emotions by mixing seria and buffa at every turn, though Don Giovanni’s character gets what he deserves in the end, the opera has a good time exploring both good and evil and the consequences of each.
