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We believe that opera tells stories to which we can all relate, and that’s why the operatic art form has thrived for centuries. The education programs at Palm Beach Opera strive to immerse the community directly into these stories, revealing timeless tales of love, passion, and joy. We challenge each person to find his or her own connection to opera’s stories, therefore inspiring learners of all ages to explore the world of opera. At Palm Beach Opera, there is something for everyone! #PBOperaForAll

PHOTO: Coastal Click Photography

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The Masterminds 4 Who’s Who 7

Understanding the Action 9 Engage Your Mind 18

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Composer W. A. Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria to musician Leopold and Anna Mozart. He and his sister, Maria Anna (“Nannerl”), were the only two of the family’s seven children to survive infancy. Both children were very talented and toured Western Europe with their father, performing for courts and widespread audiences. W.A. Mozart was a child prodigy. He was able to pick out chords and play harpsichord at age three and he began composing music at age five. Mozart published his first two sonatas for the harpsichord at age eight, and by thirteen he had composed his first opera, La Finta Semplice, at the request of Emperor Joseph II of Austria. Mozart composed over six hundred works ranging from symphonies and concertos to art songs. He gave the world many of the most loved operas: Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Die Entfühurung aus dem Serail, Die Zauberflöte, and of course, Don Giovanni. These works are regularly performed around the world today.

In 1782, Mozart married Constanze Weber and they had a very happy marriage; however, they were constantly in debt. Mozart’s life was short, dying at only thirty-five years old. The exact cause of his death is unknown, but his illness escalated quickly. Rumors suggest that Mozart was poisoned by Antonio Salieri, a rival musician at the time. Despite his short life, the genius of his works and musical impact live on today.

FUN FACT: One of Mozart’s “party tricks” was to play the

piano with the keys covered by a cloth.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Dramma giocoso (opera buffa) in Two Acts. 1787. Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, after the play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra (The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest) by Tirso de Molina. First performance at the Estates Theatre, Prague, October 29, 1787.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Italian librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte met Mozart in 1783. This significant partnership brought to life three of Mozart’s most famous operas: Le nozze di Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790). Rodney Bolt, in his book The Librettist of Venice, points out that “Da Ponte seemed to know what Mozart wanted to say and the music almost comes out of the words themselves.” Da Ponte was born into a Jewish family in 1749 in Venice. He converted to Roman Catholicism and later become a priest. Though he was a priest, he was involved in many scandals.

His scandalous ways sent him into exile in Vienna. The timing of his relocation proved opportune as Emperor Joseph II of Vienna had just formed a prestigious Italian opera company and Da Ponte was appointed the theater poet. Da Ponte immigrated to the United States in 1805 and taught Italian language and literature at Columbia College (originally King’s College [1754], today’s Columbia University [as of 1912]) in New York City.

FUN FACT: Da Ponte also found employment as a teacher, professional gambler, secretary, owner of a bookstore, proprietor of a grocery store, Italian tutor, and impresario.

Music is not in the notes,

but in the silence between.

- W.A. Mozart

Lorenzo Da Ponte

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A nobleman and

notorious libertine

donn

joe-VAHN-nee

baritone

Don Giovanni’s

servant, often an

unwilling accessory

to his master’s

crimes

leh-po-REL-low bass

A noblewoman from

another city

DON-nah

el-VEE-ra

soprano

An elderly nobleman,

Donna Anna’s father

co-men-da-TOR-ay bass

The Commendatdore’s

daughter and Don

Ottavio’s fiancée

DON-nah

AHN-nah

soprano

An honorable young

nobleman, engaged to

Donna Anna

donn

oh-TAH-vee-oh

tenor

A peasant girl,

Masetto’s bride

dzair-LEE-na soprano

A peasant, Zerlina’s

fiancé

mah-ZET-toe bass

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A picturesque, 17-century Spanish town.

Don Giovanni is a tale of a libertine’s arrogance, corruption, and unrepentance based on the legends of Don Juan. This opera buffa (comic opera) tells the dubious adventures of Don Giovanni who travels throughout Spain seducing countless women. His wealth and power protect him from facing the consequences of his deeds, until one day he goes too far, committing a murder that eventually leads to his downfall.

ACT I Scene 1: The garden of the Commendatore 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 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 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 quell sangue ognor!—“Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!”). Scene 2: A public square outside Don Giovanni’s palace Leporello tells Don Giovanni that he (Giovanni) 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

PG-13: Check out a lighthearted look

at Don Giovanni from The Dallas

Opera: https://youtu.be/G3pZL1Ykg7Y

is seeking. The two recognize each other and she reproaches him bitterly. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Donna Elvira the truth about him, and then hurries away. Leporello tells Donna Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth her feelings for him. He explains to her that Don Giovanni is unfaithful to everyone; his conquests include 640 women 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”). Donna Elvira vows vengeance. Scene 3: The open country A marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Don Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing 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 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 unrecognized, 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 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 recognizes 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 the imposture (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 honor”). Leporello informs Don Giovanni that all 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 organize 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. Scene 4: A garden outside Don Giovanni’s palace Zerlina follows 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 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 the balcony, Leporello invites them to his master’s party. They accept 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”). Scene 5: Don Giovanni’s ballroom 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 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.

ACT II Scene 1: Outside Donna Elvira’s house Leporello threatens to leave Don Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: Eh vio 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

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clothes, Don Giovanni orders Leporello to exchange his 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 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 is convinced and 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 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: Metà di voi qua vadano—“Half of you go this way, 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”). Scene 2: A dark courtyard 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 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 that he is her husband and begging to 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: Ah pietà signori miei—“Ah, have mercy, my lords”). Don Ottavio is now convinced that Don Giovanni is the one who murdered Donna Anna’s father, the deceased Commendatore. He swears vengeance (Il mio Tesoro—“My treasure”). Scene 3: A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore Don Giovanni wanders into a graveyard. Leporello happens along and the two are reunited. 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 the statue interrupts and warns Don Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond the 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 attend 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 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. Scene 4: Donna Anna’s room Don Ottavio pressures Donna Anna to marry him, but she thinks it inappropriate so soon after her father’s death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful (Non mi dir—“Tell me not”). Scene 5: Don Giovanni’s chambers 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 complains that he is sick and tired of hearing Mozart’s aria everywhere all the time. (Finale: Già la mensa 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 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 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 offers a last chance to repent, 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 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 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 fin di chi fa mal, e de’ perfidy la morte alla vita è sempre ugual).

PHOTO: Cory Weaver / Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Procrastination! Mozart wrote Don Giovanni during the summer of 1787. It only took him a few months to write it, but the overture wasn’t written until the night before it was due to premiere. Mozart was up late with friends, then worked on the overture through the night. His wife had to tell him stories to help keep him awake. By seven the next morning, the opera was finally fully ready, but still needed to be copied for the orchestra. The musicians had to sight read the overture since they hadn’t had a chance to rehearse it. Nonetheless, the performance was a great success!

The dance music in Act I of Don Giovanni

is one of the most elaborate in Mozart’s

operas: the dance music represents

different social classes. The three

melodies play simultaneously, balancing

a minuet in 3/4 time, a 2/4 contradance,

and a peasants’ dance in 3/8.

Through the late 18th and 19th

centuries, it was believed an opera

should end once the title character dies.

Mozart composed a shorter version of

the score to oblige the theatres, resulting

in the final ensemble’s omission from

early performances. This changed in the

early 20th century, and the ensemble is

almost always performed today.

Don Giovanni was the first opera to use a

trombone as part of the orchestra.

The role of Don

Giovanni was written

specifically for Italian

baritone Luigi Bassi

who also sang the role

of Count Almaviva in

Le nozze di Figaro.

May 14 Delegates gather in Philadelphia to draw up the US Constitution

May 25 The Constitutional Convention opens to discuss revising the Articles of Confederation

May 28 Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang’s father, dies at age 67

June 20 Oliver Ellsworth moved at the Federal Convention to call the government the United States

August 10 W.A. Mozart completes his chamber piece “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”

August 16 Turkey declares war on Russia (Russo-Turkish War 1787-92)

September 17 All 12 state delegations approve the Constitution, 39 delegates sign it

of the 42 present, and the Constitutional Convention formally

adjourns

Composers who influenced W.A. Mozart include Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel—especially heard in the fugal passages in Die Zauberflöte and the finale of Symphony No. 41. Mozart met Joseph Haydn in Vienna in 1784 and they became friends. They would occasionally play together in impromptu string quartets. Mozart dedicated six quartets to his friend. Concerning Mozart’s profound impact on Western music, Haydn noted: “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.”

Mozart wrote over 600 works. That’s more compositions

within his short career that many other composers write

who lived much longer. Mozart could write music before

he could write words!

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The following pages contain Lesson Plans and accompanying materials for grades 6-12. Lesson Plans were crafted according to curriculum standards set forth and approved by the state of Florida. Palm Beach Opera’s curriculum is approved by The School District of Palm Beach County. For questions about the Lesson Plans, or for more information about how Palm Beach Opera can serve your classroom, email education@pbopera.org.

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