Panos Arvanitis
UNI: pa2477
Dr. Magdalena Stern-Baczewska UN1123: Masterpieces of Western Music
Section 28
November 21, 2016
Don Giovanni: Describe two separate instances of drama giocoso, a combination of joke and drama
‘‘Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni’’ , commonly referred to as “Don Giovanni” is a an Opera Buffa with dramatic elements by Wolfang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte is a prime example of “Dramma Giocoso”. “Dramma giocoso” presents the dramatic elements of the plot by comic relief. There are several examples of Dramma Giocoso throughout the scenes. W.A.Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte mingle serious characters of higher rank with comic buffa characters of lower rank and create scenes that are both dramatic and comic.
An example of dramma giocoso is found in the 11th scene of the 1st Act. The protagonist Don Giovanni along with his servant Leporello, encounter an older conquest of his, Donna Elvira. Donna Elvira appears on the scene with the intention to avenge Don Giovanni after he seduced and deserted her. Don Giovanni, hidden, does not immediately recognize her and offers to console this desperate woman with the intention to seduce her. They recognize each other and after a short dialogue Don Giovanni runs away leaving the heartbroken Donna Elvira with his servant Leporello to comfort her.
At this point the dramatic elements of this uneasy and unfortunate encounter soar as Leporello sings his Aria : “Madamina il catalogo e questo”, which leaves Donna Elvira shattered in the end. This Aria has typical musical qualities that we encounter in opera buffa which comprise the “giocoso”, but the libretto per se is dramatic and highly disturbing, reflecting the “dramma”.
On the one hand, as far as the libretto is concerned, Leporello enumerates all the conquests of Don Giovanni and gives a detailed description of his preferences in women. He adds up around 2065 women in various places of any social class. The final line : “ Purché porti la gonella, Voi sapete che fa”- “As long as she wears a skirt, You know what he does” sums up the general attitude of Don Giovanni. To my point of view this attitude towards women is diminishing, disrespectful and insulting, even for an era when women were shared between lords and servants and they did not have the same status as men. Don Giovanni’s attitude is the exact definition of sexual objectification, where women are being treated as objects intended for the sexual pleasure of men. This diminishing attitude devastates Donna Elvira, making her appear as a tragic figure but I also consider that it plays a role in the plot. Following this scene Donna Elvira sings her Aria “ In questa forma dunque mi tradi” promising to avenge all the women Don Giovanni has seduced and will seduce. As a result, in the scenes that follow Donna Elvira will try to stop Don Giovanni from seducing the peasant Zerlina and she will collaborate with Donna Anna and Don Ottavio for the plot against Don Giovanni.
On the other hand, Mozart musically presents this dramatic context in a comic way associated with opera buffa. Firstly, the Aria is sung by a servant and not a heroic protagonist as would be expected in opera seria. Leporello is a bass and he is accompanied by full orchestra, as expected for an Aria. The mode is major, typical of an opera buffa and a comic scene. The meter is well established and it is duple.
The Aria is divided in two parts by a pause, the first one is allegro (00:00-2:10) and the second one is adagio (2:10-5.49). In the first fast part, Leporrelo patters as he is simply listing the number of women, their origin and their social rank. Again, pattering is typical of opera buffa and associated with characters of lower rank. The violins and the flutes are used extensively during the Aria. Every time Leporello turns a page of his catalogue the violins play a short lively tune and immediately the flutes follow playing a descending cheerful tune (0:20, 0:28, 0:31), which resembles laughter. When Leporello sings “mille tre” “ one thousand and three”, the number of seduced women in Spain by Don Giovanni, the orchestra plays a tune that to me sounds like echoing “ mile tre” (1:35-1:42) . “Mille tre” is sung three times in order to for it to be emphasized.
The fast part of the Aria is followed by a pause before the introduction of the slower part. I believe that this pause, which may appear insignificant, plays an important role both musically and to the staging of the Aria. Its musical significance is due to the fact that allows the tempo to change from fast to slow. Additionally, the director uses the pause in the live performance for the scenery to expand (1:55). In the fast part there were few women standing on balconies above Leporello and Donna Elvira. However, during the pause the scenery expands and numerous women are revealed in the background and Leporello in the second part of the Aria points to each one of them as he describes their physical appearances according to the libretto. This expansion of scenes gives the audience the chance to visualize the vast number of seduced women.
In the second part of the Aria, the orchestra provides a commentary by playing legato and tunes according to Leporello’s description. For instance, when Leporello sings “La pipiccina è ognor vezzosa” “ The little ones are always charming”, the orchestra plays cheerful, fast tunes while Leporello patters, something that conveys the playfulness of the “small ones”. Leporello closes his Aria singing three times “ Voi sapete quel che fa” “You know what he does” ridiculing Donna Elvira as he sings and leaving her devastated.
Another example of dramma giocoso is in the 39th scene of the 2nd Act. The scene is comprised by a trio of Don Giovanni, Donna Elvira and Leporello pretending to be Don Giovanni, singing the Aria “Ah taci, ingiusto core!” . The scene opens with Donna Elvira appearing on her balcony singing that she still loves Don Giovanni. Don Giovanni, who is beneath her balcony with the intention of seducing Donna Elvira’s maid, forces Leporello to appear in front of her as he sings the Aria. The naive and credulous Donna Elvira is convinced that Don Giovanni loves her and leaves in the end with the disguised Leporello.
This scene is another fine example of “dramma giocoso”. Whereas it is very humorous as the servant Leporello tries amusingly to impersonate his Master Don Giovanni causing the laughter of the audience, it has a tragic aspect as it involves deceit and despair, which comprises the “dramma”. Donna Elvira is deceived once again by Don Giovanni, who appears completely indifferent to her feelings and proves once more that he treats women with contempt. In my opinion he perceives women as objects and he does not hesitate to use Leporello to accomplish his ultimate goal which is to seduce Donna Elvirar’s maid, making her another woman in his list.
To my point of view this Aria combines elements of opera seria and opera buffa. It is an Aria that is shared by a trio. The meter is duple and the mode is major. Mozart uses the orchestra to portray two different feelings, on one side the despair of Donna Elvira and on the other the deceit by Don Giovanni and Leporello. Donna Elvira is a soprano and Don Giovanni a baritone. Initially, Donna Elvira sings solo and the orchestra plays melancholic tunes using mainly the trumpets and the strings (00:28-00:31,00:37-00:41). Leporello then informs Don Giovanni that he heard Donna Elvira, and the orchestra plays a cheering tune, reminding me of opera buffa. Following this cheering tune, there is a duet between Don Giovanni and Donna Elvira in which they share phrase by phrase with short comic intervals by Leporello as at 2:50 when he patters “Se seguitate, io rido !” “If this go on I will die laughing !” . At 3:26 all three start singing their lines in unison. At 4.02 the orchestra plays forte creating a climax which reflects the tension as Donna Elvira sings “ No so s’io vado, o resto!” “Don’t let me give in to him!”. This kind of dramatic tension, even if momentary, reminded me of opera seria.
After this tension they stop singing in unison and something unexpected happens, something that truly amazed me during the live performance. There is a change of pairs who sing the Aria. Donna Elvira now sings a duet in unison with Leporello, the fake Don Giovanni, while the real Don Giovanni interrupts the duet as previously Leporello did. Leporello has taken the place of Don Giovanni not only on the scene but also in the Aria, proving that the deception of Donna Elvira has been accomplished. The scene ends with the deceived Donna Elvira singing using colocatura in the last part of her Aria as she accepts to leave with Leporello, leaving Don Giovanni alone to pursue and seduce his next victim.