Overture Magazine - 2015-2016 Season September-October 2015 | Page 33
program notes {
father, she keeps refusing Don Ottavio’s
pleas to marry him. In one of the greatest
of all of Mozart’s soprano arias, “Non mi
dir,” she explains her need for patience
until she recovers emotionally. It is is two
parts: a restrained, meltingly beautiful
Larghetto and a more forceful Allegretto
featuring coloratura of testing difficulty.
The Finale to Act II — and the opera
itself — begins as pure comedy: Giovanni
is gorging himself on fine food and wine
in his dining room while Leporello surreptitiously tries to help himself to a few
morsels. The onstage wind band plays
excerpts from three contemporary operas
the first audiences would have known
well: first, a tune from Martin y Soler’s
Una cosa rara, then from Sarti’s Fra i due
litiganti, and finally, as an in-joke for the
Praguers, the aria “Non più andrai” from
Figaro itself.
Then as Donna Elvira runs in, the
atmosphere becomes much darker. The
Don treats her warnings with disdain. Her
scream on departing sets up the awe-inspiring drama of crime and punishment as
dreadful blows announce the arrival of the
Commendatore’s ghost, the stone statue
Giovanni had so recklessly invited to dinner a few scenes earlier. The key switches
to D minor, ferocious dissonances are
heard and trombones — rarely used in
operas in that era — lend a somber, otherworldly sound. The sonorous basso of the
Commendatore demands Giovanni repent
before it is too late while Leporello babbles
in fear. Fiercely proud and unwilling to
give up his pleasures, Giovanni bravely
refuses and, grasping the statue’s hand, is
dragged down to a flaming hell.
Mozart appends a comic-opera epilogue
to this stunning scene as the six surviving
characters return to the stage to gloat over
Giovanni’s punishment. We now move to
its triumphant conclusion in D Major as
they proclaim: “Evil doers always die the
death they have deserved.”
Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes,
two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns,
two trumpets, three trombones, timpani,
harpsichord and strings.
Notes by Janet E. Bedell, Copyright ©2015
Off the Cuff: Don Giovanni
Music Center At Strathmore
Friday, October 2, 2015 — 8:15p.m.
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Saturday, October 3, 2015 — 7p.m.
Markus Stenz, Conductor
Andrea Dorf McGray, Stage Director
DON GIOVANNI CAST
In order of appearance:
Morgan Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Don Giovanni
Thomas Richards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leporello
Timothy Bruno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Il Commendatore
Angela Meade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donna Anna
Yi Li . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Don Ottavio
Jennifer Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donna Elvira
Javier Arrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Masetto
Pureum Jo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Zerlina
Students from the Peabody Institute
Opera Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chorus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Scenes from Don Giovanni, K. 527
Music Center At Strathmore
The concert will end at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
The concert will end at approximately 8:15 p.m.
ABOUT THE CONCERT:
For notes on the program, see pg. 30.
Everyone loves an anti-hero, and Mozart’s
titular libertine Don Giovanni — or Don
Juan — seduces and preys upon women
before ultimately receiving his karmic
undoing. Don Giovanni is Mozart’s most
Romantic opera which deals in psychological and supernatural drama balanced
with dark humor that would go on to inspire 19th-century composers and delight
audiences long after.
SEPTEMBER– OCTOBER 2015 |
O v ertur e
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