Whose in it:

Don Giovanni, a nobleman

Donna Anna

Don Ottavio, Anna's fiancee

The Commendatore, Anna's father

Donna Elvira

Leporello, Giovanni's servant

Zerlina, a peasant girl

Masetto, Zerlina's fiancee

The opera opens with Leporello keeping watch outside The Commendatore's house. He is complaining that he no longer wishes to work for Don Giovanni since the work is so bad. Don Giovanni suddenly emerges with an enraged Donna Anna pursuing him. It turns out Don Giovanni has made a failed attempt to seduce her and she threatens to call the guards. Her father, The Commendatore, finds Don Giovanni first, however, and challenges him to a duel. Don Giovanni quickly slays The Commendatore and flees with Leporello. Donna Anna faints from the shock of her dead father, but Don Ottavio revives her and promises to avenge her father's murder.

Giovanni is undeterred by his failed attempt with Donna Anna, for he is on the look out for more women to "conquer". He quickly finds one, a woman mourning and raging against the man who loved, then abandoned her. Don Giovanni makes himself known to the poor woman, Donna Elvira, but soon regrets it: it turns out that it was he who was the faithless lover. Don Giovanni tells Leporello to tell Donna Elvira the "truth" about Giovanni's life. While Leporello shows Elvira the shockingly huge list of Giovanni's sexual conquests Giovanni manages to escape.

Giovanni soon finds a perfect opportunity for his next conquest, a peasant wedding. Zerlina and Masetto have just been married, but Giovanni manages to separate the couple. He lures Zerlina away with promises of love and marriage and keeps Masetto away with threats. Just as Zerlina is about to give in to Giovanni's charm, Elvira interferes and leads the young bride away. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio arrive, trying to find The Commendatore's killer. They do not recognize Giovanni and, playing the role of an innocent gentleman, Giovanni freely offers them help in their quest. Elvira, however, ruins Giovanni's cover when she declares to his awful reputation. After Giovanni and Elvira leave, Donna Anna suddenly realizes that Giovanni was the killer by recognizing his voice.

After his failure with Zerlina, Don Giovanni plans a party to lure in not only Zerlina but every peasant woman in the area to add to his book of conquest. Zerlina and Masetto end up attending, though Masetto remains suspicious that his wife "did nothing" with Giovanni. Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, and Donna Elvira arrive at the party disguised in masks, planning to expose Don Giovanni; they are not disappointed, their opportunity soon arrives. When Giovanni suddenly forces Zerlina into a room, Zerlina screams and Masetto rushes to rescue her. To save his reputation, Giovanni tries to pin the blame on Leporello, but no one is fooled. They proclaim that Don Giovanni will be punished by Heaven for his sinfulness.

Don Giovanni, despite two failed attempts, loves the challenge of Zerlina. He still is obsessed with seducing her. Leporello, disgusted with the whole situation, threatens to leave but Giovanni bribes him with gold to remain in his service. He changes clothes with Leporello so he can go in disguise. When Donna Elvira comes to her window, Giovanni serenades her, but puts Leporello in his place. Elvira, believing that Giovanni loves her again, goes off with the disguised Leporello.

Giovanni, meanwhile, runs into a band of angry peasants Masetto organized to kill him. Giovanni plays the role of Leporello, telling the band how much he hates his master and even tells them where to find him. When the peasant band leaves in search of him, Giovanni disarms Masetto and beats him up. Zerlina finds Masetto after Giovanni flees and takes care of him. Eventually Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Zerlina and Masetto find the disguised Leporello with Elvira but are so shocked when they discover it is Leporello he manages to escape.

Leporello meets up with Giovanni in an old grave yard. Giovanni relates a despicable tale about how he tried to seduce an old girlfriend of Leporello's and laughs at his servant's misery. The laughter awakens the spirit of The Commendatore who threatens Giovanni with divine wrath. Giovanni is not shaken, however, and standing in front of The Commendatore's statue, invites him to supper.

While Giovanni is sitting down to dinner, Donna Elvira, forgiving him in her heart, asks him to renounce his philandering ways. Giovanni only mocks her and as she is leaving in disgust, she encounters the statue of The Commendatore and shrieks. Elvira flees and Leporello too sees the statue outside, sending him into a panic. Don Giovanni remains unshaken, even as the statue approaches him, inviting him to supper in the spirit world. Don Giovanni steadfastly agrees and shakes the statue's hand as a sign of the bargain. When The Commendatore demands Giovanni repent his sins, Giovanni refuses and he is pulled down to Hell.

Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, Don Ottavio, Zerlina and Masetto find the badly shaken Leporello who relates the ghastly end of Giovanni. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio decide to postpone their marriage for one more year. Zerlina and Masetto plan to go to a friend's house for supper. Donna Elvira decides to spend her life in a nunnery and Leporello will go to a tavern to find a new and better master. The remaining cast warn against leading a life such as Giovanni with its ultimate punishment in the end.

That is what Richard Wagner said about "Don Giovanni". Many music critics and composers alike consider "Don Giovanni" to be Mozart's operatic masterpiece. "Don Giovanni" is very fun to watch and the music is spectacular, high-spirited, impassioned and dramatic.

The story of Don Juan ("Don Giovanni") had been tried in numerous operas before Mozart's time, though none of them managed to be successful nor anything to match the score Mozart produced. Many previous attempts either were mediocre, artificial or just plain offended people. Mozart was especially lucky to get Lorenzo Da Ponte, a court librettist of high reputation, to produce the libretto for "Don Giovanni".

It is said Mozart and Da Ponte equally enjoyed working on this opera. It was in this light-hearted, playful spirit of both composer and librettist that this operatic masterpiece formed. Da Ponte often boasted he got the inspiration for the libretto from his own romantic life. Even an aging Casanova (who was in Prague at the time) helped out with some of the details. According to legend, Casanova solved the sticky situation when the disguised Leporello revealed he was not Giovanni.

Like the "The Marriage of Figaro," Mozart truly loved "Don Giovanni" and devoted a great deal of effort to the score. He was commissioned by an opera theater owner in Prague to write "Don Giovanni". The people of Prague adored Mozart and were crazy about his music. When "Don Giovanni" premiered in Prague it was an incredible success. Unfortunately there were no royalties back then, so Mozart didn't receive a cent from the proceeds.

Anyone who has seen the movie "Amadeus" knows that "Don Giovanni" was a miserable failure when it premiered in Vienna. Whether court intrigue was the cause or not, the Viennese didn't flood the theaters to see it. Truthfully, I believe the Viennese just didn't understand the opera, so therefore it wasn't popular. It was one of Mozart's greatest disappointments. "Don Giovanni" died a quiet death in Vienna and it wasn't performed again until after Mozart's death.

This is a very prominent question and a very widely debated one to anyone who has seen "Don Giovanni". In the final scene, when The Commendatore offers Giovanni salvation from the fires of Hell if he only would repent, Giovanni vehemently cries "No!" each time The Commendatore asks him. It would seem like a very easy thing to do. I think most people, if given the option, would rather repent than suffer in Hell. Donna Elvira earlier called Don Giovanni a liar, then why doesn't he lie to save himself?

Like Macbeth, there is an honorable and impressive side to Giovanni's courage at the end. Don Giovanni refuses to admit what he loved, what he lived for, all his actions in his life were wrong. Perhaps he didn't think what he was doing was wrong. When questioned briefly about his morals by Leporello, Giovanni admits he could not love just one woman because he loves them all equally. Perhaps he was speaking truthfully when he said this but didn't see (or realize) the pain he was causing from abandoning the women he professed to love.

The first scene I ever saw of "Don Giovanni" was in the movie "Amadeus". Ironically it was the last and (most dramatic) scene of the entire opera. I wondered what was going on, who were the strange costumed singers painted gaudily in theater make-up, why they went to hell, and if a statue really came to life in the opera. It was only when I turned twenty that I had the rare opportunity to see "Don Giovanni" performed at the Lyric Opera in Chicago.

I found the opera fun, entertaining, delightful with some truly beautiful and eloquent passages of music. It was only when I reached the finale that the true power of the music and Mozart's genius overwhelmed me. The Commendatore's music was otherworldly, transcending all I knew about music.

In the performance I saw at Lyric, every word The Commendatore spoke sent pain into Don Giovanni and Leporello. With the music and the performance, it was incredible. Despite the torture of The Commendatore's voice, Giovanni resists the agony and defies The Commendatore's demand for repentance.