Editing Don Giovanni (section)

== Composition and premiere ==
[[File:Stavovské divadlo vstup 3.jpg|thumb|The [[Estates Theatre]] in Prague, venue of the world premiere of ''Don Giovanni'' in 1787. The theatre had opened four years earlier as the Comital Nostitz National Theatre (Gräflich Nostitzsches Nationaltheater).]]
The opera was commissioned after the success of Mozart's trip to Prague in January and February 1787.<ref name=DF104>The background of the production is summarized in {{harvnb|Freeman|2021|pp=131–168}}.</ref> The subject may have been chosen because the sub-genre of Don Juan opera originated in that city.<ref>The first eighteenth-century Don Juan opera produced in Europe was ''[[La pravità castigata]]'' (Prague, 1730), and the second one was ''Il convitato di pietra'' (Prague, 1776).</ref> [[Lorenzo Da Ponte]]'s libretto is based on [[Giovanni Bertati]]'s for the opera ''[[Don Giovanni Tenorio]]'', which premiered in Venice early in 1787. In two aspects he copied Bertati: by opening with the Commendatore's murder and by avoiding mention of [[Seville]] (for Bertati the setting was [[Villena]], Spain; Da Ponte simply writes "city in Spain").<ref>See {{harvnb|Freeman|2021|p=263}}, for a discussion of Da Ponte's vague specification, including a theory about why it is so vague that is based on suspiciously archaic cultural references incompatible with the modern city of Seville as it existed in Da Ponte's day.</ref>

The opera was supposed to premiere on 14 October 1787 for Archduchess [[Maria Theresa of Austria (1767–1827)|Maria Theresa of Austria]]’s visit, but it was not ready in time and ''[[Le nozze di Figaro]]'' was substituted.<ref>Mozart's letter sent to [[Gottfried von Jacquin]], dated 15 October</ref> Mozart recorded its completion, finally, on 28 October, the night before the premiere (29 October).<ref name="DF104" />

The opera was rapturously received, as was often true of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Prague|Mozart's work in Prague]]. The ''Prager Oberpostamtzeitung'' reported, "Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like", and "the opera ... is extremely difficult to perform."{{sfn|Deutsch|1965|p=303}} The ''Provincialnachrichten'' of Vienna reported, "Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering."{{sfn|Deutsch|1965|p=304}}

===Scoring===
The score calls for double [[woodwinds]], two [[Natural horn|horns]], two [[trumpet]]s, three [[trombone]]s (alto, tenor, bass), [[timpani]], [[basso continuo]] for the [[recitative]]s, and the usual [[string section]]. The composer also specified occasional special musical effects. For the ballroom scene at the end of the first act, Mozart calls for two onstage ensembles to play separate dance music in synchronization with the pit orchestra, each of the three groups playing in its own [[Metre (music)|metre]] (a 3/4 [[minuet]], a 2/4 contradanse and a fast 3/8 peasant dance), accompanying the dancing of the principal characters. In act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the [[mandolin]], accompanied by [[pizzicato]] strings. In the same act, two of the [[Commander (order)|Commendatore]]'s interventions ("{{lang|it|Di rider finirai pria dell'aurora|italic=no}}" and "{{lang|it|Ribaldo, audace, lascia a' morti la pace|italic=no}}") are accompanied by a wind chorale of oboes, clarinets, [[bassoon]]s, and trombones (with cellos and basses playing from the string section).

===Revision for Vienna===
[[File:Don Giovanni Playbill Vienna Premiere 1788.jpg|thumb|Playbill for the 1788 Vienna premiere of ''Don Giovanni'']]
Mozart also supervised the Vienna premiere of the work, which took place on 7 May [[1788 in music|1788]]. For this production, he wrote two new arias with corresponding recitatives – Don Ottavio's aria "{{lang|it|Dalla sua pace|italic=no}}" (K.&nbsp;540a, composed on 24 April for the tenor Francesco Morella), Elvira's aria "{{lang|it|In quali eccessi ... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata|italic=no}}" (K.&nbsp;540c, composed on 30 April for the soprano [[Caterina Cavalieri]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/shortlib/mozaria1.html|title=OperaGlass at Opera.Stanford.Edu}}</ref> – and the duet between Leporello and Zerlina "{{lang|it|Per queste tue manine|italic=no}}" (K.&nbsp;540b, composed on 28 April). He also made some cuts in the Finale in order to make it shorter and more incisive, the most important of which is the section where Anna and Ottavio, Elvira, Zerlina and Masetto, Leporello reveal their plans for the future ("{{Lang|it|Or che tutti, o mio tesoro|italic=no}}"). In order to connect "{{Lang|it|Ah, certo è l'ombra che l'incontrò|italic=no}}" ("It must have been the ghost she met") directly to the moral of the story "{{Lang|it|Questo è il fin di chi fa mal|italic=no}}" ("This is the end which befalls to evildoers"), Mozart composed a different version of "{{Lang|it|Resti dunque quel birbon fra Proserpina e Pluton!|italic=no}}" ("So the wretch can stay down there with [[Proserpina]] and [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto!]]"). These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings.{{clarify|date=December 2018}}<ref>[[Wolfgang Plath]] and [[Wolfgang Rehm]], ''[[Neue Mozart-Ausgabe]]'', Serie II, Werkgruppe 5, Band 17, ''Don Giovanni'' (Kassel, 1968)</ref>

=== Later performance traditions ===
The opera's final ensemble was generally omitted until the early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on. According to the 19th-century Bohemian memoirist [[Wilhelm Kuhe]], the final ensemble was only presented at the first performance in Prague, then never heard again during the original run.{{sfn|Freeman|2021|pp=286–287}} It does not appear in the Viennese libretto of 1788; thus the ending of the first performance in Vienna without the ensemble as depicted in the film ''[[Amadeus (film)|Amadeus]]'' may be an accurate portrayal. Nonetheless, the final ensemble is almost invariably performed in full today.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

Modern productions sometimes include both the original aria for Don Ottavio, "{{lang|it|[[Il mio tesoro]]|italic=no}}", and its replacement from the first production in Vienna that was crafted to suit the capabilities of the tenor Francesco Morella, "{{lang|it|Dalla sua pace|italic=no}}". Elvira's "{{lang|it|In quali eccessi, o Numi ... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata|italic=no}}" is usually retained as well. The duet "{{lang|it|Per queste tue manine|italic=no}}" and the whole accompanying scene involving Zerlina and Leporello from the Viennese version is almost never included.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

Although the same singer played both Masetto and the Commendatore roles in both the Prague and Vienna premieres, in modern-day productions, the roles are typically taken by different singers (unless limited by such things as finance or rehearsal time and space). The final scene's chorus of demons after the Commendatore's exit gives the singer time for a costume change before entering as Masetto for the sextet, though not much time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Buch|first=David Joseph|author-link=David J. Buch|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djnqB_MUJ6kC&pg=PA332|page=332|title=Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests: The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater|year=2008|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-07811-3}}</ref>