dividers, wondering, for example, where the exposition ends. Ultimately, the
dramatic conception of the opera lies in the unification of opera buffaand
opera seria.- Küster, Konrad. “ ‘Voglio far il gentiluomo’: Zu den dramatischen Strukturen
in Mozarts Don Giovanni.” Mozart Studien1 (1992): 91–111.
Two worlds in conflict: Don Giovanni has his destiny to work out, while
bringing distress to the persons he encounters. Mozart’s key selections and
structure underline this polarity. - Levarie, Siegmund. “Don Giovanni’s Three Women.” Spotlight(New York:
New York City Opera Guild; early summer 1989): 5–7.
A brief, perceptive character study of the Don, drawn from story and music.
Answers such questions as: Why did he choose the contradance for his round
with Zerlina? Whose fib is revealed by a deceptive cadence? - Waldoff, Jessica. “Don Giovanni: Recognition Denied.” In Opera buffa
(#2141), 286–307.
Applying Aristotle’s concept of the discovery/recognition moment does not
seem to work out in this story. The protagonist—Waldoff assumes it is Don
Giovanni—fails to recognize the true state of affairs, and he is omitted from
the affirmation of the finale. - Petrobelli, Pierluigi. “Don Giovanniin Italia: La fortuna dell’opera ed il suo
influsso.” In “Colloquium” (#1262), 30–51.
The first Italian performance did not take place until 1811, in Rome. There
were difficulties for Italian orchestras in playing the score, and indeed the
orchestra in the Rome premiere did a poor job of it. Special concerns came up
in the act 1 finale, with its simultaneous scoring for three instrumental groups.
(Nevertheless, Petrobelli observes that orchestras were handling Haydn and
Beethoven symphonies without unusual problems.) Voice types in Italy were
not easily matched to Mozart’s characters either. Many cuts were made in the
score for Italian performances, to accommodate these instrumental and vocal
challenges. Audiences were another obstacle to acceptance of Don Giovanni
and other Mozart operas: they did not find as much melody there as they like,
and too much “harmony.” (While such responses may seem unsophisticated,
they were shared by Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi—all of whom concentrated
their interest on the ensemble work.) With a list of 35 Italian productions,
1811–1871. - Kierkegaard, Søren. Either/Or.Trans. and ed. Howard Vincent Hong. Prince-
ton, N.J.: Princeton U.P., 1987. 2v. ISBN 0-691-07315-5; 0-691-07316-3.
B4373 .E61 H7.
Originally published in Danish (Copenhagen, 1843). An essay concerns Don
Giovanni: “The Immediate Stages of the Erotic: Or the Musical Erotic.” The
philosopher’s idiom is an elusive, flowery one but in places absorbing. “Don
Juan constantly hovers between being the idea, that is to say, energy, life—and
being the individual. But this hovering is a musical trembling.” Only music can
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