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ACT
I: Seville, 1600s. At night, outside the
Commendatore's palace, Leporello grumbles about his duties as
servant to Don Giovanni, a dissolute nobleman. Soon the masked
Don appears, pursued by Donna Anna, the Commendatore's daughter,
whom he has tried to seduce. When the Commendatore himself
answers Anna's cries, he is killed in a duel by Giovanni, who
escapes. Anna now returns with her fiancé, Don Ottavio. Finding
her father dead, she makes Ottavio swear vengeance on the
assassin.
At dawn, Giovanni flirts with a high-strung traveler outside a
tavern. She turns out to be Donna Elvira, a woman he once
seduced in Burgos, who is on his trail. Giovanni escapes while
Leporello distracts Elvira by reciting his master's long catalog
of conquests. Peasants arrive, celebrating the nuptials of their
friends Zerlina and Masetto; when Giovanni joins in, he pursues
the bride, angering the groom, who is removed by Leporello.
Alone with Zerlina, the Don applies his charm, but Elvira
interrupts and protectively whisks the girl away. When Elvira
returns to denounce him as a seducer, Giovanni is stymied
further while greeting Anna, now in mourning, and Ottavio.
Declaring Elvira mad, he leads her off. Anna, having recognized
his voice, realizes Giovanni was her attacker.
Dressing for the wedding feast he has planned for the peasants,
Giovanni exuberantly downs champagne.
Outside the palace, Zerlina begs Masetto to forgive her apparent
infidelity. Masetto hides when the Don appears, emerging from
the shadows as Giovanni corners Zerlina. The three enter the
palace together. Elvira, Anna and Ottavio arrive in dominoes and
masks and are invited to the feast by Leporello.
During the festivities, Leporello entices Masetto into the dance
as Giovanni draws Zerlina out of the room. When the girl's cries
for help put him on the spot, Giovanni tries to blame Leporello.
But no one is convinced; Elvira, Anna and Ottavio unmask and
confront Giovanni, who barely escapes Ottavio's drawn sword.
ACT II: Under Elvira's
balcony, Leporello exchanges cloaks with Giovanni to woo the
lady in his master's stead. Leporello leads Elvira off, leaving
the Don free to serenade Elvira's maid. When Masetto passes with
a band of armed peasants bent on punishing Giovanni, the
disguised rake gives them false directions, then beats up
Masetto. Zerlina arrives and tenderly consoles her betrothed.
In a passageway, Elvira and Leporello are surprised by Anna,
Ottavio, Zerlina and Masetto, who, mistaking servant for master,
threaten Leporello. Frightened, he unmasks and escapes. When
Anna departs, Ottavio affirms his confidence in their love.
Elvira, frustrated at her second betrayal by the Don, voices her
rage.
Leporello catches up with his master in a cemetery, where a
voice warns Giovanni of his doom. This is the statue of the
Commendatore, which the Don proposes Leporello invite to dinner.
When the servant reluctantly stammers an invitation, the statue
accepts.
In her home, Anna, still in mourning, puts off Ottavio's offer
of marriage until her father is avenged.
Leporello is serving Giovanni's dinner when Elvira rushes in,
begging the Don, whom she still loves, to reform. But he waves
her out contemptuously. At the door, her screams announce the
Commendatore's statue. Giovanni boldly refuses warnings to
repent, even in the face of death. Flames engulf his house, and
the sinner is dragged to hell.
Among the castle ruins, the others plan their future and recite
the moral: such is the fate of a wrongdoer.
Source: Metopera Website - Comments: John W. Freeman |
