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90-435: The company generally stages adaptations of classic opera and theatre, with the most successful serial production thus far being Don Giovanni , which uses period costume and has a run of over 6500. There are shows nearly every evening. Due to the popularity of the production and the steady demand from the tourist market, additional companies have recently been developed in the area, in some cases trading on their similarity to

180-435: A fixed sequence of basic steps with a defined tempo and time signature . The English word "measure", originally an exact or just amount of time, came to denote either a poetic rhythm, a bar of music, or else an entire melodic verse or dance involving sequences of notes, words, or movements that may last four, eight or sixteen bars. Metre is related to and distinguished from pulse , rhythm (grouping), and beats: Meter

270-462: A 3-beat unit with a stress at the beginning of each unit. Similar metres are often used in Bulgarian folk dances and Indian classical music . Hypermetre is large-scale metre (as opposed to smaller-scale metre). Hypermeasures consist of hyperbeats . "Hypermeter is metre, with all its inherent characteristics, at the level where bars act as beats". For example, the four-bar hypermeasures are

360-431: A book about musical metre, which "involves our initial perception as well as subsequent anticipation of a series of beats that we abstract from the rhythm surface of the music as it unfolds in time". This "perception" and "abstraction" of rhythmic bar is the foundation of human instinctive musical participation, as when we divide a series of identical clock-ticks into "tick–tock–tick–tock". "Rhythms of recurrence" arise from

450-498: A duel. Don Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Donna Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Don Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: " Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor! " – "Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!") Leporello tells Don Giovanni that he (Giovanni)

540-459: A limited range of metres, leading to interchangeability of melodies. Early hymnals commonly did not include musical notation but simply texts that could be sung to any tune known by the singers that had a matching metre. For example, The Blind Boys of Alabama rendered the hymn " Amazing Grace " to the setting of The Animals ' version of the folk song " The House of the Rising Sun ". This

630-488: A musical phrase or melody might consist of two bars x 4 . The level of musical organisation implied by musical metre includes the most elementary levels of musical form . Metrical rhythm, measured rhythm, and free rhythm are general classes of rhythm and may be distinguished in all aspects of temporality: Some music, including chant , has freer rhythm, like the rhythm of prose compared to that of verse . Some music, such as some graphically scored works since

720-701: A new text (e.g. the first half of act 1), new music on Da Ponte's text (e.g. Leporello's aria) or on a mixture of both (e.g. the new trio for the scene in the cemetery); the whole collated with extensive quotations or entire sections borrowed directly from Mozart (e.g. Finale 1 and Finale 2, and even some music from Le nozze di Figaro ), though usually slightly reworked and re-orchestrated. Notes References Sources Metre (music) In music, metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling) refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats . Unlike rhythm , metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by

810-527: A number of operas: Nicklausse of Offenbach 's The Tales of Hoffmann sings a snatch of Leporello's " Notte e giorno ", and Rossini quotes from the same aria in the duettino between Selim and Fiorilla following the former's cavatina in act 1 of Il turco in Italia . Ramón Carnicer 's opera Don Giovanni Tenorio  [ es ] (1822) is a peculiar reworking of Mozart's opera to adapt it to Rossinian fashion. It comprises new music by Carnicer on

900-432: A peace offering of money (Duet: "Eh via buffone" – "Go on, fool"). Wanting to seduce Donna Elvira's maid, and believing that she will trust him better if he appears in lower-class clothes, Don Giovanni orders Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Donna Elvira comes to her window (Trio: "Ah taci, ingiusto core" – "Ah, be quiet unjust heart"). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Don Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in

990-459: A pulse-group can be identified by taking the accented beat as the first pulse in the group and counting the pulses until the next accent. Frequently metres can be subdivided into a pattern of duples and triples. For example, a 4 metre consists of three units of a 8 pulse group, and a 8 metre consists of two units of a 8 pulse group. In turn, metric bars may comprise 'metric groups' - for example,

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1080-410: A short misterioso sequence which leads into a light-hearted D major allegro. Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant, grumbles about his demanding master and daydreams about being free of him (" Notte e giorno faticar " – "Night and day I slave away"). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni is in the Commendatore's house attempting to seduce the Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna. Don Giovanni enters

1170-462: A simple metre. More specifically, it is a simple triple metre because there are three beats in each measure; simple duple (two beats) or simple quadruple (four) are also common metres. Compound metre (or compound time), is a metre in which each beat of the bar divides naturally into three equal parts. That is, each beat contains a triple pulse. The top number in the time signature will be 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 24, etc. Compound metres are written with

1260-620: A theme from the duet "O, statua gentilissima" for his set of piano variations. Chopin wrote Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" (the duet between Don Giovanni and Zerlina) for piano and orchestra. Beethoven and Danzi also wrote variations on the same theme. And Beethoven, in his Diabelli Variations , cites the beginning of the opera " Notte e giorno faticar " in variation 22. Cipriani Potter wrote piano variations on "Fin ch'han dal vino", Op. 2 (1816). The turkeys in Chabrier 's "Ballade des gros dindons" (1889) finish each verse imitating

1350-679: A time signature that shows the number of divisions of beats in each bar as opposed to the number of beats. For example, compound duple (two beats, each divided into three) is written as a time signature with a numerator of six, for example, 8 . Contrast this with the time signature 4 , which also assigns six eighth notes to each measure, but by convention connotes a simple triple time: 3 quarter-note beats. Examples of compound metre include 8 (compound duple metre), 8 (compound triple metre), and 8 (compound quadruple metre). Although 4 and 8 are not to be confused, they use bars of

1440-476: Is 8–8–8–8 beats, the cadences dividing this musically into two symmetrical "normal" phrases of four bars each. In some regional music, for example Balkan music (like Bulgarian music , and the Macedonian 3+2+2+3+2 metre), a wealth of irregular or compound metres are used. Other terms for this are "additive metre" and "imperfect time". Metre is often essential to any style of dance music, such as

1530-481: Is a false-hearted seducer. Don Giovanni tries to convince Don Ottavio and Donna Anna that Donna Elvira is insane (Quartet: " Non ti fidar, o misera " – "Don't trust him, oh sad one"). As Don Giovanni leaves, Donna Anna suddenly recognises him as her father's murderer and tells Don Ottavio the story of his intrusion, claiming that she was deceived at first because she was expecting a night visit from Don Ottavio himself, but managed to fight Don Giovanni off after discovering

1620-430: Is a metre in which each bar is divided into three beats, or a multiple thereof. For example, in the time signature 4 , each bar contains three (3) quarter-note (4) beats, and with a time signature of 8 , each bar contains three dotted-quarter beats. Metres with more than four beats are called quintuple metres (5), sextuple metres (6), septuple metres (7), etc. In classical music theory it

1710-722: Is all too familiar with the final tune ( Questa poi la conosco purtroppo ) – likely a joke understandable for the original audience, as Felice Ponziani, who sang Leporello's part at the premiere, also sang Figaro's part (including "Non più andrai") earlier in Prague. (Finale "Già la mensa è preparata" – "Already the table is prepared"). Donna Elvira enters, saying that she no longer feels resentment against Don Giovanni, only pity for him. ("L'ultima prova dell'amor mio" – "The final proof of my love"). Don Giovanni, surprised, asks what she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Don Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as

1800-452: Is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte . Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legend about a libertine as told by playwright Tirso de Molina in his 1630 play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra . It is a dramma giocoso blending comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements (although the composer entered it into his catalogue simply as opera buffa ). It

1890-504: Is an example. This practice is sometimes called mixed metres . A metric modulation is a modulation from one metric unit or metre to another. The use of asymmetrical rhythms – sometimes called aksak rhythm (the Turkish word for "limping") – also became more common in the 20th century: such metres include quintuple as well as more complex additive metres along the lines of 2+2+3 time, where each bar has two 2-beat units and

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1980-448: Is divided into two beats , or a multiple thereof ( quadruple metre ). For example, in the time signature 4 , each bar contains two (2) quarter-note (4) beats. In the time signature 8 , each bar contains two dotted-quarter-note beats. Corresponding quadruple metres are 4 , which has four quarter-note beats per measure, and 8 , which has four dotted-quarter-note beats per bar. Triple metre

2070-521: Is faithful ("Non mi dir" – "Tell me not"). Don Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays music from popular (at the time) late-18th-century operas: "O quanto un sì bel giubilo" from Vicente Martín y Soler 's Una cosa rara (1786), "Come un agnello" from Giuseppe Sarti 's Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782), and finally " Non più andrai " from Mozart's own The Marriage of Figaro (1786). Leporello comments that he

2160-408: Is identified at the beginning of a composition by a meter signature (time signature). ... Although meter is generally indicated by time signatures, it is important to realize that meter is not simply a matter of notation". A definition of musical metre requires the possibility of identifying a repeating pattern of accented pulses – a "pulse-group" – which corresponds to the foot in poetry. Frequently

2250-503: Is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realising that Don Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry (" Ho capito! Signor, sì " – "I understand! Yes, my lord!") but is forced to leave. Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: " Là ci darem la mano " – "There we will entwine our hands"). Donna Elvira arrives and thwarts

2340-444: Is leading a rotten life; Don Giovanni reacts angrily. They hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking revenge (" Ah, chi mi dice mai " – "Ah, who could ever tell me"). Don Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but it turns out he is the former lover she is seeking. The two recognise each other and she reproaches him bitterly. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Donna Elvira

2430-437: Is no in-principle distinction between metre and hypermetre; instead, they are the same phenomenon occurring at different levels. Lee (1985) and Middleton have described musical metre in terms of deep structure , using generative concepts to show how different metres ( 4 , 4 , etc.) generate many different surface rhythms. For example, the first phrase of The Beatles ' " A Hard Day's Night ", excluding

2520-533: Is now convinced that Don Giovanni murdered Donna Anna's father (the deceased Commendatore). He swears vengeance (" Il mio tesoro " – "My treasure" – though in the Vienna version this was cut). In the Vienna production of the opera, Zerlina follows Leporello and recaptures him. Threatening him with a razor, she ties him to a stool. He attempts to sweet-talk her out of hurting him. (Duet: "Per queste tue manine" – "For these hands of yours"). Zerlina goes to find Masetto and

2610-422: Is overcome by sudden chills. The statue offers him a final chance to repent as death draws near, but Don Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue disappears and Don Giovanni cries out in pain and terror as he is surrounded by a chorus of demons, who carry him down to Hell. Leporello, watching from under the table, also cries out in fear. Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for

2700-403: Is possible because the texts share a popular basic four-line ( quatrain ) verse -form called ballad metre or, in hymnals, common metre , the four lines having a syllable-count of 8–6–8–6 (Hymns Ancient and Modern Revised), the rhyme-scheme usually following suit: ABAB. There is generally a pause in the melody in a cadence at the end of the shorter lines so that the underlying musical metre

2790-461: Is presumed that only divisions of two or three are perceptually valid, so a metre not divisible by 2 or 3, such as quintuple metre, say 4 , is assumed to either be equivalent to a measure of 4 followed by a measure of 4 , or the opposite: 4 then 4 . Higher metres which are divisible by 2 or 3 are considered equivalent to groupings of duple or triple metre measures; thus, 4 , for example,

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2880-405: Is rarely done because it disrupts conducting patterns when the tempo changes. When conducting in 8 , conductors typically provide two beats per bar; however, all six beats may be performed when the tempo is very slow. Compound time is associated with "lilting" and dancelike qualities. Folk dances often use compound time. Many Baroque dances are often in compound time: some gigues ,

2970-415: Is rarely used because it is considered equivalent to two measures of 4 . See: hypermetre and additive rhythm and divisive rhythm . Higher metres are used more commonly in analysis, if not performance, of cross-rhythms , as lowest number possible which may be used to count a polyrhythm is the lowest common denominator (LCD) of the two or more metric divisions. For example, much African music

3060-633: Is recorded in Western notation as being in 8 , the LCD of 4 and 3. Simple metre and compound metre are distinguished by the way the beats are subdivided. Simple metre (or simple time) is a metre in which each beat of the bar divides naturally into two (as opposed to three) equal parts. The top number in the time signature will be 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. For example, in the time signature 4 , each bar contains three quarter-note beats, and each of those beats divides into two eighth notes , making it

3150-575: Is the measurement of the number of pulses between more or less regularly recurring accents. Therefore, in order for meter to exist, some of the pulses in a series must be accented—marked for consciousness—relative to others. When pulses are thus counted within a metric context, they are referred to as beats . The term metre is not very precisely defined. Stewart MacPherson preferred to speak of "time" and "rhythmic shape", while Imogen Holst preferred "measured rhythm". However, Justin London has written

3240-544: Is usually retained as well. The duet " Per queste tue manine " and the whole accompanying scene involving Zerlina and Leporello from the Viennese version is almost never included. Although the same singer played both Masetto and the Commendatore roles in both the Prague and Vienna premieres, in modern-day productions, the roles are typically taken by different singers (unless limited by such things as finance or rehearsal time and space). The final scene's chorus of demons after

3330-534: The courante , and sometimes the passepied and the siciliana . The concept of metre in music derives in large part from the poetic metre of song and includes not only the basic rhythm of the foot, pulse-group or figure used but also the rhythmic or formal arrangement of such figures into musical phrases (lines, couplets) and of such phrases into melodies, passages or sections (stanzas, verses) to give what Holst (1963) calls "the time pattern of any song". Traditional and popular songs may draw heavily upon

3420-408: The recitatives , and the usual string section . The composer also specified occasional special musical effects. For the ballroom scene at the end of the first act, Mozart calls for two onstage ensembles to play separate dance music in synchronization with the pit orchestra, each of the three groups playing in its own metre (a 3/4 minuet , a 2/4 contradanse and a fast 3/8 peasant dance), accompanying

3510-458: The waltz or tango , that has instantly recognizable patterns of beats built upon a characteristic tempo and bar. The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing defines the tango, for example, as to be danced in 4 time at approximately 66 beats per minute. The basic slow step forwards or backwards, lasting for one beat, is called a "slow", so that a full "right–left" step is equal to one 4 bar. But step-figures such as turns,

3600-466: The "support and glory of humankind" ( sostegno e gloria d'umanità ). Hurt and angry, Donna Elvira gives up and leaves. Offstage, she screams in sudden terror. Don Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; when he does, he also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Don Giovanni opens it himself, revealing

3690-460: The 1950s and non-European music such as Honkyoku repertoire for shakuhachi , may be considered ametric. The music term senza misura is Italian for "without metre", meaning to play without a beat, using time (e.g. seconds elapsed on an ordinary clock) if necessary to determine how long it will take to play the bar. Metric structure includes metre, tempo , and all rhythmic aspects that produce temporal regularity or structure, against which

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3780-504: The 20th century and productions of the opera now usually include it. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera. Paul Czinner directed a filming of the Salzburg Festival presentation in 1954. A screen adaptation was directed by Joseph Losey in 1979. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote a long essay in his book Enten – Eller in which he argues, writing under

3870-421: The Commendatore's exit gives the singer time for a costume change before entering as Masetto for the sextet, though not much time. The instrumentation is: Don Giovanni, a young, arrogant, and sexually promiscuous nobleman, abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit. The overture begins with a thundering D minor cadence, followed by

3960-401: The Vienna premiere of the work, which took place on 7 May 1788 . For this production, he wrote two new arias with corresponding recitatives – Don Ottavio's aria " Dalla sua pace " (K. 540a, composed on 24 April for the tenor Francesco Morella), Elvira's aria " In quali eccessi ... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata " (K. 540c, composed on 30 April for the soprano Caterina Cavalieri ) – and

4050-418: The arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented. The first coherent system of rhythmic notation in modern Western music was based on rhythmic modes derived from the basic types of metrical unit in the quantitative metre of classical ancient Greek and Latin poetry . Later music for dances such as the pavane and galliard consisted of musical phrases to accompany

4140-630: The beat is divided into two the metre is simple , if divided into three it is compound . If each bar is divided into two it is duple and if into three it is triple . Some people also label quadruple, while some consider it as two duples. Any other division is considered additively, as a bar of five beats may be broken into duple+triple (12123) or triple+duple (12312) depending on accent. However, in some music, especially at faster tempos, it may be treated as one unit of five. In 20th-century concert music , it became more common to switch metre—the end of Igor Stravinsky 's The Rite of Spring (shown below)

4230-686: The composer). Viardot kept the manuscript in a shrine in her Paris home, where it was visited by many people. Tchaikovsky visited her when he was in Paris in June 1886, and said that when looking at the manuscript, he was "in the presence of divinity". So it is not surprising that the centenary of the opera in 1887 would inspire him to write something honouring Mozart. Instead of taking any themes from Don Giovanni , however, he took four lesser known works by Mozart and arranged them into his fourth orchestral suite , which he called Mozarti ana . The baritone who sang

4320-470: The corte and walk-ins also require "quick" steps of half the duration, each entire figure requiring 3–6 "slow" beats. Such figures may then be "amalgamated" to create a series of movements that may synchronise to an entire musical section or piece. This can be thought of as an equivalent of prosody (see also: prosody (music) ). In music of the common practice period (about 1600–1900), there are four different families of time signature in common use: If

4410-501: The dancing of the principal characters. In act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the mandolin , accompanied by pizzicato strings. In the same act, two of the Commendatore 's interventions (" Di rider finirai pria dell'aurora " and " Ribaldo, audace, lascia a' morti la pace ") are accompanied by a wind chorale of oboes, clarinets, bassoons , and trombones (with cellos and basses playing from the string section). Mozart also supervised

4500-495: The duet between Leporello and Zerlina " Per queste tue manine " (K. 540b, composed on 28 April). He also made some cuts in the Finale in order to make it shorter and more incisive, the most important of which is the section where Anna and Ottavio, Elvira, Zerlina and Masetto, Leporello reveal their plans for the future (" Or che tutti, o mio tesoro "). In order to connect " Ah, certo è l'ombra che l'incontrò " ("It must have been

4590-400: The early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on. According to the 19th-century Bohemian memoirist Wilhelm Kuhe , the final ensemble was only presented at the first performance in Prague, then never heard again during the original run. It does not appear in the Viennese libretto of 1788; thus the ending of the first performance in Vienna without the ensemble as depicted in

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4680-452: The film Amadeus may be an accurate portrayal. Nonetheless, the final ensemble is almost invariably performed in full today. Modern productions sometimes include both the original aria for Don Ottavio, " Il mio tesoro ", and its replacement from the first production in Vienna that was crafted to suit the capabilities of the tenor Francesco Morella, " Dalla sua pace ". Elvira's " In quali eccessi, o Numi ... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata "

4770-478: The foreground details or durational patterns of any piece of music are projected. Metric levels may be distinguished: the beat level is the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic time unit of the piece. Faster levels are division levels, and slower levels are multiple levels. A rhythmic unit is a durational pattern which occupies a period of time equivalent to a pulse or pulses on an underlying metric level. In duple metre , each measure

4860-432: The garden from inside the house, pursued by Donna Anna. Don Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna tries to hold him and to unmask him, shouting for help. (Trio: " Non sperar, se non m'uccidi, Ch'io ti lasci fuggir mai! " – "Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!"). He breaks free and she runs off as the Commendatore enters the garden. The Commendatore blocks Don Giovanni's path and forces him to fight

4950-424: The ghost she met") directly to the moral of the story " Questo è il fin di chi fa mal " ("This is the end which befalls to evildoers"), Mozart composed a different version of " Resti dunque quel birbon fra Proserpina e Pluton! " ("So the wretch can stay down there with Proserpina and Pluto! "). These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings. The opera's final ensemble was generally omitted until

5040-515: The guests of the peasant wedding are in Don Giovanni's house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Donna Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organise a party and invite every girl he can find. (Don Giovanni's "Champagne Aria": " Fin ch'han dal vino calda la testa " – "Till they are tipsy"). They hasten to his palace. Zerlina follows

5130-555: The impostor (long recitative exchange between Donna Anna and Don Ottavio). She repeats her demand that he avenge her and points out that he will be avenging himself as well (aria: "Or sai chi l'onore Rapire a me volse" – "Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour"). In the Vienna version, Don Ottavio, not yet convinced (Donna Anna having only recognised Don Giovanni's voice, not seen his face), resolves to keep an eye on his friend (" Dalla sua pace la mia dipende " – "On her peace my peace depends"). Leporello informs Don Giovanni that all

5220-456: The information to psychologically torture Mozart even further. The sustained popularity of Don Giovanni has resulted in extensive borrowings and arrangements of the original. The most famous and probably the most musically substantial is the operatic fantasy, Réminiscences de Don Juan by Franz Liszt . The minuet from the finale of act 1 ("Signor, guardate un poco"), transcribed by Moritz Moszkowski , also makes an incongruous appearance in

5310-459: The interaction of two levels of motion, the faster providing the pulse and the slower organizing the beats into repetitive groups. In his book The Rhythms of Tonal Music , Joel Lester notes that, "[o]nce a metric hierarchy has been established, we, as listeners, will maintain that organization as long as minimal evidence is present". " Meter may be defined as a regular, recurring pattern of strong and weak beats. This recurring pattern of durations

5400-497: The invitation and Leporello leaves the balcony. Alone, Don Ottavio and Donna Anna pray for protection, Donna Elvira for vengeance (Trio: " Protegga il giusto cielo " – "May the just heavens protect us"). As the merriment, featuring three separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room and tries to assault her. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni drags Leporello onstage from

5490-412: The jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him (" Batti, batti o bel Masetto " – "Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto"), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni's voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Don Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue

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5580-619: The latter for four hands). " Deh, vieni alla finestra " also makes an appearance in the Klavierübung of Ferruccio Busoni , under the title Variations-Studie nach Mozart ( Variation study after Mozart). Schumann included a piano arrangement of "Vedrai carino" in his Kleiner Lehrgang durch die Musikgeschichte , which was originally intended for his Album for the Young , whereas Muzio Clementi wrote piano variations on Zerlina's other aria, "Batti, batti". Johann Wilhelm Wilms took

5670-455: The mandolin accompaniment of the Serenade. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky always regarded Don Giovanni – and its composer – with awe. In 1855, Mozart's original manuscript had been purchased in London by the mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot , who was the teacher of Tchaikovsky's one-time unofficial fiancée Désirée Artôt (whom Viardot may have persuaded not to go through with her plan to marry

5760-523: The manuscript of Liszt's Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni , and Sigismond Thalberg uses the same minuet, along with " Deh, vieni alla finestra ", in his Grand Fantaisie sur la serenade et le Minuet de Don Juan , Op. 42. Thalberg also included a piano arrangement of "Il mio tesoro" in his L'art du chant appliqué au piano ", Op. 70. This minuet was also used for sets of variations for piano by Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart (Op. 2), Fanny Hünerwadel and János Fusz (Op. 10,

5850-443: The name " Leporello list" for concertina-folded printed matter, as used for brochures, photo albums, computer printouts and other continuous stationery . Playwright Peter Shaffer used Don Giovanni for a pivotal plot point in his play Amadeus , a fictional biography of its composer. In it, Antonio Salieri notices how Mozart composed the opera while tortured by the memory of his imposing, deceased father Leopold , and uses

5940-519: The open wearing Don Giovanni's cloak and hat. From his hiding place Don Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her and threatening to kill himself if she does not take him back, while Leporello poses as Don Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Donna Elvira, convinced, descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Don Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Don Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin . ("Deh, vieni alla finestra" – "Ah, come to

6030-571: The opera (with explicit mention of the Mozart score for the finale scene between the Commendatore and Don Giovanni). Gustave Flaubert called Don Giovanni , along with Hamlet and the sea, "the three finest things God ever made." E. T. A. Hoffmann also wrote a short story derived from the opera, "Don Juan" , in which the narrator meets Donna Anna and describes Don Juan as an aesthetic hero rebelling against God and society. In some Germanic and other languages, Leporello's " Catalogue Aria " provided

6120-446: The original NDM. This European theatre-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Czech Republic -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Don Giovanni Don Giovanni ( Italian pronunciation: [ˌdɔn dʒoˈvanni] ; K. 527 ; Vienna (1788) title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni , literally The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni )

6210-414: The others, go that way"), Don Giovanni takes Masetto's weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto ("Vedrai carino" – "You'll see, dear one"). Leporello abandons Donna Elvira. (Sextet: "Sola, sola in buio loco" – "All alone in this dark place"). As he tries to escape, he bumps into Don Ottavio and Donna Anna. Zerlina and Masetto also enter

6300-618: The others; Leporello escapes again before she returns. This scene, marked by low comedy, is rarely performed today. Also in the Vienna production, Donna Elvira is still furious at Don Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. ("Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" – "That ungrateful wretch betrayed me"). Don Giovanni wanders into a graveyard. Leporello arrives and the two reunite. Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Don Giovanni laughingly taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello's girlfriends. The voice of

6390-509: The performer (or performers) and expected by the listener. A variety of systems exist throughout the world for organising and playing metrical music, such as the Indian system of tala and similar systems in Arabic and African music . Western music inherited the concept of metre from poetry , where it denotes the number of lines in a verse , the number of syllables in each line, and

6480-604: The prototypical structure for country music , in and against which country songs work. In some styles, two- and four-bar hypermetres are common. The term was coined, together with "hypermeasures", by Edward T. Cone (1968) , who regarded it as applying to a relatively small scale, conceiving of a still larger kind of gestural "rhythm" imparting a sense of "an extended upbeat followed by its downbeat" London (2012) contends that in terms of multiple and simultaneous levels of metrical "entrainment" (evenly spaced temporal events "that we internalize and come to expect", p. 9), there

6570-454: The pseudonym of his character "A", that "among all classic works Don Giovanni stands highest." Charles Gounod wrote that Mozart's Don Giovanni is "a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection." The finale, in which Don Giovanni refuses to repent , has been a captivating philosophical and artistic topic for many writers including George Bernard Shaw , who in Man and Superman parodied

6660-420: The room, accuses Leporello of assaulting Zerlina himself, and threatens to kill him. The others are not fooled. Don Ottavio produces a pistol and points it at Don Giovanni, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced and menaced from all sides, Don Giovanni remains calm and escapes – for the moment. Leporello threatens to leave Don Giovanni, but his master calms him with

6750-435: The same length, so it is easy to "slip" between them just by shifting the location of the accents. This interpretational switch has been exploited, for example, by Leonard Bernstein , in the song " America ": Compound metre divided into three parts could theoretically be transcribed into musically equivalent simple metre using triplets . Likewise, simple metre can be shown in compound through duples. In practice, however, this

6840-487: The scene. Everyone mistakes Leporello for Don Giovanni, whose clothes he is still wearing. They surround Leporello and threaten to kill him. Donna Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Don Giovanni, claiming him as her husband and begging the others to spare him. Leporello takes off Don Giovanni's cloak and reveals his true identity. He begs for mercy and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: "Ah pietà signori miei" – "Ah, have mercy, my lords"). Don Ottavio

6930-498: The seduction (" Ah, fuggi il traditor " – "Flee from the traitor!"). She leaves with Zerlina. Don Ottavio and Donna Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Donna Anna's father. Donna Anna, unaware that she is speaking to her attacker, pleads for Don Giovanni's help. Don Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Donna Elvira returns and tells Donna Anna and Don Ottavio that Don Giovanni

7020-416: The seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto's hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Don Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Don Giovanni then leads both offstage to his ballroom. Three masked guests – the disguised Don Ottavio, Donna Anna, and Donna Elvira – enter the garden. From a balcony, Leporello invites them to his master's party. They accept

7110-451: The setting was Villena , Spain; Da Ponte simply writes "city in Spain"). The opera was supposed to premiere on 14 October 1787 for Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria ’s visit, but it was not ready in time and Le nozze di Figaro was substituted. Mozart recorded its completion, finally, on 28 October, the night before the premiere (29 October). The opera was rapturously received, as

7200-495: The statue interrupts and warns Don Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue's base: "Here am I waiting for revenge against the scoundrel who killed me" ("Dell'empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta"). The servant trembles, but Don Giovanni scornfully orders him to invite the statue to dinner, and threatens to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite

7290-422: The statue of the Commendatore. With the rhythmic chords of the overture, now reharmonized with diabolic diminished sevenths accompanying the Commendatore ("Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m'invitasti" – "Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you"), the statue asks if Don Giovanni will now accept his invitation to dinner. Don Giovanni brazenly accepts, and shakes the statue's proffered hand, only to collapse as he

7380-448: The statue to dinner, but is too frightened to complete the invitation (Duet: "O, statua gentilissima" – "Oh most noble statue"). Don Giovanni invites the statue to dinner himself. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively. Don Ottavio pressures Donna Anna to marry him, but she thinks it is inappropriate so soon after her father's death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and

7470-550: The success of Mozart's trip to Prague in January and February 1787. The subject may have been chosen because the sub-genre of Don Juan opera had originated in that city. Lorenzo Da Ponte 's libretto is based on Giovanni Bertati 's for the opera Don Giovanni Tenorio , which premiered in Venice early in 1787. In two aspects he copied Bertati: by opening with the Commendatore's murder and by avoiding mention of Seville (for Bertati

7560-430: The tavern to find a better master. The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – "Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life" ( Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de' perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual ). As mentioned above, productions for over a century – beginning with the original run in Prague – customarily omitted the final ensemble, but it frequently reappeared in

7650-456: The title role in the centenary performance of Don Giovanni in Prague that year was Mariano Padilla y Ramos , the man Désirée Artôt married instead of Tchaikovsky. Michael Nyman 's popular, short band piece In Re Don Giovanni (1981, with later adaptations and revisions) is constructed on a prominent 15-bar phrase in the accompaniment to Leporello's catalogue aria. In addition to instrumental works, allusions to Don Giovanni also appear in

7740-742: The truth about him, and then hurries away. Leporello tells Donna Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth her feelings for him. He is unfaithful to everyone; his conquests include 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 (" Madamina, il catalogo è questo " – "My dear lady, this is the catalogue"). In a frequently cut recitative, Donna Elvira vows vengeance. A marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Don Giovanni

7830-467: The villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. He assures them that no one will ever see Don Giovanni again. The remaining characters announce their plans for the future: Donna Anna and Don Ottavio will marry when Donna Anna's year of mourning is over; Donna Elvira will withdraw from society for the rest of her life; Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to

7920-405: The window"). Before Don Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, looking for Don Giovanni in order to kill him. Don Giovanni poses as Leporello (whose clothes he is still wearing) and joins the posse, pretending that he also hates Don Giovanni. After cunningly dispersing Masetto's friends (Don Giovanni aria: "Metà di voi qua vadano" – "Half of you go this way.

8010-506: Was often true of Mozart's work in Prague . The Prager Oberpostamtzeitung reported, "Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like", and "the opera ... is extremely difficult to perform." The Provincialnachrichten of Vienna reported, "Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering." The score calls for double woodwinds , two horns , two trumpets , three trombones (alto, tenor, bass), timpani , basso continuo for

8100-614: Was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theatre (of Bohemia), now called the Estates Theatre , on 29 October 1787. Don Giovanni is regarded as one of the greatest operas of all time, and has proved a fruitful subject for commentary in its own right; critic Fiona Maddocks has described it as one of Mozart's "trio of masterpieces with librettos by Da Ponte". The opera was commissioned after

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