I think Don Giovanni can be seen as both a comedy and a tragedy. Throughout the opera, I sensed the comedic aspects in Giovanni’s conversations with his servant Leporello about his desire for women.  I think Giovanni’s character is comedic; he charms a woman and shows great love for her, but forgets all about his relationship as soon as he sees another attractive woman.  For example, while one of his past mistresses, Donna Elvira suffers from the end of her relationship with Giovanni, he moves on with his conquests on other women including Donna Anna and Zerlina. He acts as if he never had a relationship with any of the women. He does not think twice about leaving his current mistress to pursue love with another, as if it is okay and he has done nothing wrong. As Elvira mourns for her lost love with Giovanni, he is busy wooing Zerlina and simply ignores her. I especially think that his conversations with Leporello are comedic because Giovanni asks Leporello to help him so he does not get in trouble for his numerous affairs. Of course he thinks he should not get in trouble, but he knows that society would punish him if his affairs were revealed. I think the tragic motif shows through when Giovanni’s actions hurt others. He does not pity the women’s feelings, but simply them for his own pleasure. Also, even though Leporello sees him as a friend, he does not treat him as so for he does not consider the pain Leporello has to go through to cover for him; Leporello almost gets killed by Donna Anna and Don Ottavio when he is forced to dress like Giovanni so he can pursue Zerlina. The character who seems to be most hurt by Giovanni’s selfish acts is Donna Elvira who constantly regrets Giovanni leaving her.

There were obvious class differences reflected in the libretto. Most of the couples included people from the same class: Donna Anna and Don Ottavio were both aristocratic and Zerlina and Massetto were both of the low class, maybe peasants. However, Don Giovanni did not discriminate women from different classes. He waged his conquests on both aristocratic (Donna Elmira and Donna Anna) and low class women (Zerlina). Also, as Don Giovanni tried to pursue Zerlina, Masseto, thought at first that he would not be able to speak out against an aristocrat like Giovanni.

The music definitely enhanced the story because it vividly depicted the mood and emotions of the libretto. When Don Giovanni woos Zerlina, the music had high pitch, harmonious sounds that fit well with the excitement in the scene. On the other hand, when Giovanni gets dragged into hell in his meeting with the Commendatore, the orchestra played low, strident sounds that emphasized the horrific situation. The music served the function of pouring out the intense emotions of this opera.

Seeing the opera was definitely as great of an experience as going to the contemporary performances. The difference between the opera and the contemporary performances was that we had read the libretto and were aware of how the opera would progress. On the other hand, the contemporary performances, such as that of RoseAnn Spradlin, were very intense and thrilling because we saw it for the first time. I think the contemporary performances included the element of awe more so than the opera because we did not expect certain things to happen. Don Giovanni opera was my first opera so it was a special, exciting event. However, it was like reading a book and watching a movie of it, which is less exhilarating than watching a movie or performance for the first time.

-Faryal