Mozart's Don Giovanni has spawned such a varied array of interpretations that in order to form our own critical approach, it is wise to examine several different points of view and judge which are agreeable and which are not. In doing so, we can find those points of view that best help us understand the opera and use them to help solidify our understanding. E. T. A. Hoffmann offers a romantic view, Søren Kierkegaard and Bernard Williams portray Don Giovanni as an impersonal sensuous force, Joseph Kerman and Frits Noske offer insights through analysis of the musical structure, and Brigid Brophy and Nicholas Till elaborate within historical contexts on a broad spectrum of issues raised by the opera.
In E. T. A. Hoffmann's "Don Juan," we are presented with a passionate encounter with Mozart's opera, a very romantic and not wholly realistic story subtitled "A Fabulous Incident Which Befell a Traveling Romantic." Here we get a rare perspective on how the opera might have been performed in the early 19th century, as the author shares in descriptive language all the delightful details of the performance. The language of this story is opposite in style to that of all the other sources-instead of analytically presenting arguments about the opera, Hoffmann tells a story that reads like a mystery-romance, complete with a slightly supernatural encounter with an actress who seems so connected to her role of Donna Anna that she may actually be Donna Anna. The story takes on the identity of a letter being written to someone named 'Theodore', and under the pretense of sharing his very personal ideas with this person, Hoffmann gives us his general philosophy on Don Juan while simultaneously creating the romantic effect that his ideas are very sincere and personal. Hoffmann sees Don Juan as a human being superior in every way, closer to the divine and given more special attention by Nature than any other (Hoffmann, "Don Juan," 61). Instead of simply dying for his sins, he is selected by supernatural powers "for special treatment by Hell. . . . the Devil himself finally dispatching his elite troops solely in order to arrange a most horrendous manner of transportation to his realm (Hoffmann, "Don Juan," 61)." Don Juan is ruled by absolutes-he is driven by an "eternal, consuming longing (Hoffmann, "Don Juan," 61)" that drives him to look in vain for continuous contentment. Eventually he becomes disillusioned with earthly life, realizing the impossibility of true, ideal satisfaction, and turns to despise mankind-his pursuit of women, then, is "no longer to satisfy his senses but to express his scorn for Nature and the Creator (Hoffmann, "Don Juan," 62)." Happy couples seem to him to be ruled by the malicious force of Nature, so that every married woman he seduces marks a victory against this evil force. Once having encountered the seething Don Giovanni, Donna Anna is possessed by similarly insurmountable passions: Hoffmann believes she does not fight him off in time, that "the heat of a superhuman sensuality, glowing like Hell-fire, coursed through her and made all her resistance futile (Hoffmann, "Don Juan," 63)." That superhuman sensuality which entered as a "raging love" inside of her changes to a an "annihilating hate" that can only be relieved upon Don Giovanni's downfall, and Hoffmann even goes so far as to declare that Donna Anna will perish shortly after Don Giovanni, unable to live on after the encounter (Hoffmann, "Don Juan," 63)."
Hoffmann's other writing on Mozart's opera is written in a distinctly different, journalistic style in the "Review of Mozart's Don Giovanni." Aside from an interesting description of the opera's German-language performance, he offers little in the way of insight into the opera, except for his belief that in the Act II Finale's banquet scene, Don Giovanni should not be alone with his servants and is rightly portrayed with a girl at each side (Hoffmann, "Review. . ." 401). I also disagree with this assertion. If it were any night other than the night of his death, it would certainly be appropriate for Don Giovanni to feast with the latest "catch," but I find that Mozart and da Ponte's direction that he feast alone gives an effective sense of "wrongness" to the whole beginning of the Finale, a foreboding stillness, which makes the arrival of the Stone Guest much more powerful and terrifying.
In Either/Or, Søren Kierkegaard believes, like Hoffmann, that Don Giovanni's soul is in continuous conflict with the earthly world, but instead of remaining in a state of continuous torment, Kierkegaard believes this soul withdraws from Don Giovanni's body, leaving a purely sensuous being: "As the spirit thus frees itself from the earth, the sensuous appears in all its power (Kierkegaard, 88)." Now we have a strikingly different portrayal of Don Giovanni-he is not so much a man, but a seething, bubbling, thoughtless object like the champagne he loves (Kierkegaard, 134). He represents a "kingdom" of sensuousness, where "language has no place, nor sober-minded thought, nor the toilsome business of reflection. There sound only the voice of elemental passion, the play of appetites . . . ; it exists solely for pleasure . . . (Kierkegaard, 88)." This is the interpretation that I feel is most in accord with Mozart and da Ponte's Don Giovanni. There is no real mind behind his music and actions-everything he does is automatic, though perfectly adapted to his environment. He is like a very intelligent android who on the surface seems human, but whose every action is bent towards the same goal. Don Giovanni can interact with the other characters in the opera, but every apparent bit of social behavior is really just this particular machine's way of furthering the constant pre-programmed goal of finding more women to seduce. No self-reflection exists, "it never becomes tired of repeating it again and again (Kierkegaard, 88)." Don Giovanni is rightly referred to as 'it' here, for he is "the worldly spirit of the sensuous," not a human being. Since he is incapable of self-reflection, Kierkegaard points out that he is only musical, and not suited for spoken dialogue (96, 101). Yet this also means that his music is not the self-reflective kind, but is wholly practical-it often represents fleeting, energetic, hurried movement, such as the Act I Finale's mixed dance music which serves as a smoke screen to allow for his near conquest of Zerlina. The tunes he uses in his seduction arias are very similar to each other-powerful, oozing, simple melodies that he has used thousands of times for the same purpose, and methodically perfected.
In "Don Giovanni as an Idea," Bernard Williams uses many of the same points of view as Kierkegaard, and tries to find deeper insight from them. Don Giovanni is purely musical, so "Mozart's is the greatest embodiment because of a perfect match of medium and content: music is the most 'abstract' of the arts, and is therefore ideally suited to express the abstract principle of sensual desire itself (Williams, 82)." Though Don Giovanni might be thought of as the ultimate oppressor of women, in one sense he is not: he never attempts to possess them for any longer than is necessary to have his way with them-"The catalogue, as Jean Massin has said, is the negation of the harem (Williams, 85)." Williams also asserts that Don Giovanni's refusal to repent before the statue is not an offense to the "cosmic order," but instead a refusal "to be intimidated" (Williams, 88). I would further add that the idea of a "cosmic order" could not possibly make sense to Don Giovanni, who cannot recognize any kind of order at all, other than the seductive formula that defines him.
The writings of Kerman and Noske deal with more technical aspects of the opera's music, which brings them farther from my realm of expertise, so I will cover them briefly. In Opera as Drama, Joseph Kerman shows us that the greater musical complexity of the classical period, particularly the sonata form and Mozart's skillful use of it, lend themselves very well to the fast-paced opera buffa. Classical music is "dramatic," as opposed to being "architectural" like baroque music (Kerman, 76). In opera, the move from the tonic to the dominant often coincides with the advent of tension in the main action of the scene; this tension is only resolved in the final return to the tonic at the end of the number. The development and modulation correspond to developments and adjustments in the action on stage-in fact, in Mozart's operas, the plot and action of many scenes form virtual sonatas themselves, with dramatic tension, emotion, and physical position serving as the keys and tempo.
Frits Noske describes how certain parallels can be made between characters when their music is similar, in The Signifier and The Signified. For example, Leporello's descending line from F to C in No. 1, 40-42 and Masetto's similar line in No. 6, 10-13, point to the fact that they are both singing in response to enforced subordination by Don Giovanni (Noske, 48-9). Also, the final chords of the "damnation scene" in the Act II Finale and those of the "vengeance duet" are the only two places in the opera where this closing rhythmic pattern, in D minor, occurs. The connection here is that the end of the vengeance duet created a vow of vengeance, and the chords of the Finale coincide with the consummation of this vengeance, though it is by supernatural intervention (Noske, 56-7). Another interesting point he makes is that syncopation often accompanies Don Giovanni's interactions with other characters (Noske, 46), creating an association between syncopation and the Don. I would further conjecture that Mozart created this rhythmic association specifically because syncopation, at the speed it usually accompanies Don Giovanni, is an inherently sexual rhythm.
In Brigid Brophy's book, Mozart the Dramatist, we see that Don Giovanni's incorrigibly pleasure-seeking personality was especially significant during the enlightenment, when social coherence could be based on "nothing but love and the love of pleasure (Brophy, 80)." Don Giovanni represents the "emancipated eighteenth-century man" gone out-of-control, having lost all scruples and respect for "God, honour and society (Brophy, 83)." Brophy offers the interesting view that Don Giovanni suffers from compulsive seduction, if we accept the idea that the eighteenth-century man won his right to pleasure by "murdering God and the lesser fathers" and unconsciously knew the punishment: castration (Brophy 85). Though this sounds very obscure out of context, perhaps there is some merit to the idea that the libertine felt a need to continually "assert his virility," which according to Brophy's idea would be "to prove that the punishment has not yet overtaken him." But with each new transgression, he falls deeper in guilt and achieves less pleasure (Brophy, 85). Women become foes, each one an opponent to be conquered by the ambitious libertine. In this way, chivalry became inverted: instead of protecting women, these knights of pleasure would dispatch them as if defeating them in duels (Brophy, 93). From this we can easily jump to the idea of punishment as part of the desire to conquer women-their dangerous sexually transmitted diseases were quite capable of punishing men, and so by the violent, bloody act of seducing virgins, the risk of acquiring disease was gone and the punishment was inflicted on the woman instead.
Synopsis
Seville, Spain, 17th century
Outside the Commendatore's house at night
Leporello (Don Giovanni's servant) is standing guard outside the Commendatore's house as his master is inside on yet another amorous adventure. Donna Anna approaches, chasing Don Giovanni, who is concealing his face. Donna Anna's father, the Commendatore, appears and confronts Giovanni, demanding a duel for his daughter's honor. Giovanni doesn't wish to fight one as old as the Commendatore, but the fight begins with the Commendatore receiving a mortal wound. Donna Anna has fled to find help. Giovanni and Leporello escape and Donna Anna returns with Ottavio and faints over the body of her dead father . Ottavio invites her to marry him and take an oath of vengeance.
A street in Seville at dawn
Giovanni and Leporello see Donna Elvira, in travelling clothes so she is unrecognizable, pursuing a former lover. It turns out that Elvira is a former Giovanni conquest. Giovanni and Elvira recognize each other after Giovanni has made advances towards her. She is furious and he escapes her venom leaving Leporello to discuss Giovanni's many, many women. And although Giovanni is willing to take anyone, he prefers the young novice.
In the countryside, mid-morning
A peasant wedding is underway with Zerlina marrying Masetto. Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina and invites the entire wedding party back to his house. Masetto immediately recognizes Giovanni and upbraids Zerlina. Giovanni flatters Zerlina with an offer of marriage. She wavers, still thinking about Masetto, but eventually submits to Giovanni's charms . Anna and Ottavio talk with Giovanni about their plans for vengeance (they are unaware that it was he who killed Anna's father), and he offers his assistance. Elvira interrupts and tells Anna not to trust Giovanni. While Anna and Ottavio are confused, Giovanni tries to quiet Elvira and tells everyone that she is quite mad. Elvira grows more vehement in her denunciation of Giovanni. In Giovanni's farewell to Elvira, Anna believes she recognizes him as the man who tried to seduce her the previous evening. She shares her concerns with Ottavio, who has a hard time believing in Giovanni's villainy. Giovanni congratulates Leporello on getting rid of Elvira and prepares for the afternoons activities which will include at least ten more conquests.
Giovanni's garden in the afternoon
Zerlina wins back Masetto, though when she hears Giovanni's voice she becomes flustered. Giovanni gives orders to his servants and upon seeing the hiding Zerlina begins his amorous advances again. Masetto comes out of hiding to lead Zerlina into the house. Elvira, Anna and Ottavio approach the house in masks. Leporello sees them and invites them to the party (not recognizing them due to their masks). They pray for vengeance and enter.
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