Is Don Giovanni an opera of seria?

Is Don Giovanni an opera of seria?

There’s a basic contradiction when you try to figure out what kind of an opera it is. But Mozart revolutionized the art form in his Italian operas of the 1780s; Don Giovanni mixes seria and buffa, comedy and tragedy, into a more psychologically realistic genre which Mozart called dramma giocoso, “Joking Drama.”

Is Don Giovanni a good opera?

Don Giovanni is routinely listed among the finest operas ever composed. Some have even called it the greatest of them all. That’s a pretty bold statement, but however you rank it, Mozart’s opera is a brilliant combination of stark human tragedy and touching comedy, set to music of limitless genius.

How old is Don Giovanni?

After Mozart’s death, this Don Juan in a cassock moves first to London to work as a grocer, then to New York City where he opens a bookstore. He dies at the age of 89; he was the first professor of Italian literature at the prestigious Columbia College: a happier ending than his hero’s death.

How is Don Giovanni different from other buffa operas?

And in Così there are only two principal female roles. So it seemed that Mozart regarded Don Giovanni as somewhat special and distinct from his other buffa operas—it was the one opera in which he was able to demonstrate the “true” Italian style to the Viennese. Don Giovanni kills the Commendatore. (Mariinsky Theatre production)

Is the tenor in Figaro an opera buffa?

In Figaro, a true opera buffa, the tenor roles are all comic, but in Don Giovanni, the tenor is neither comic nor heroic (though Don Ottavio would perhaps like to be heroic!). It definitely marks Don Giovanni as a hybrid opera form.

Where was the first performance of Don Giovanni?

Don Giovanni. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater (of Bohemia), now called the Estates Theatre, on 29 October 1787. Da Ponte’s libretto was billed as a dramma giocoso, a common designation of its time that denotes a mixing of serious and comic action. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa.

What’s the difference between opera buffa and dramma giocoso?

Looking at what kind of secondary roles the tenors play in these operas makes the distinction between buffa and dramma giocoso even more clear. In Figaro, a true opera buffa, the tenor roles are all comic, but in Don Giovanni, the tenor is neither comic nor heroic (though Don Ottavio would perhaps like to be heroic!).