Don Giovanni Premieres: Mozart's Masterpiece in Prague

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart stepped onto the podium at the Estates Theatre in Prague on the evening of October 29, 1787, and conducted the premiere of Don Giovanni, the opera that would be recognized as one of the supreme achievements of Western music. The audience, which had been waiting months for a new work from the composer who had conquered their city the previous winter with The Marriage of Figaro, erupted in ovations so prolonged that several numbers had to be repeated. Mozart had composed Don Giovanni in an extraordinary burst of creative energy during the summer and autumn of 1787, working from a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, the Venetian poet who had also written Figaro. Da Ponte adapted the story of Don Juan, the legendary Spanish libertine, from a recent opera by Giuseppe Gazzaniga, transforming a stock comic villain into a figure of terrifying vitality and charm. Mozart's music elevated the character further, giving him some of the most electrifying music ever written for the human voice. The opera was unlike anything audiences had encountered. Mozart refused to categorize it as either comedy or tragedy, calling it instead a "dramma giocoso," a playful drama. The work veers between farcical comedy and genuine horror, sometimes within a single scene. The supper scene in the final act, in which the stone statue of the Commendatore returns from the dead to drag Don Giovanni to hell, remains one of the most dramatic moments in operatic history. Prague adored the work. The city had adopted Mozart as its favorite composer after Figaro, and Don Giovanni confirmed the relationship. Mozart reportedly wrote the overture the night before the premiere, finishing the score so late that the ink was still wet on the orchestral parts when the musicians sight-read it at the performance. Whether this story is literally true or slightly exaggerated, it reflects the ferocious speed at which Mozart worked. Vienna's reception, when the opera was performed there in May 1788, was cooler. Emperor Joseph II reportedly told Mozart, "The opera is divine; perhaps even too beautiful for the taste of my Viennese." Mozart replied, "Let us give them time to chew on it." Time has proven him right. Don Giovanni is performed hundreds of times each year at opera houses worldwide and is routinely cited by conductors, singers, and scholars as the greatest opera ever composed.