I, Don Giovanni Page #2

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Your wise teachings have guided

me over the years.

And now I'll never be able

to repay you for saving my life.

Oh my God!

Look!

Stop.

Don Giovanni!

This Don Giovanni

was doomed to failure.

Quite right

when they ill-treated a character

worthy of loftier consideration.

- Well, sir?

- Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you.

Allow me to introduce myself.

I am Lorenzo Da Ponte.

Pleased to meet you,

brother Lorenzo.

I'm Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

- Odd. I thought I knew everyone.

- Actually, I've just arrived.

I was going to the Court theatre

but your music attracted me.

- Are you a musician?

- No, a writer and poet.

I'm looking for a fellow countryman:

Antonio Salieri. He's a musician.

Yes... the great Antonio Salieri!

The great Italian family.

I'm pleased, you're in good hands.

Salieri enjoys

the favour of those in power.

Brother Lorenzo...

welcome to Vienna

and good luck.

A titbit of a lover

All of a sudden found

To discover that he's mad

Weighs heavy on the heart

Weighs heavy on the heart

I don't want a critical,

sober lover who'll bore me

But critical and a madman

But critical and a madman

That would be even worse

That would be even worse

A titbit of a lover

All of a sudden found

To discover that he's mad

Weighs heavy on the heart

This...

is downright rudeness!

And you, Maestro Salieri,

how can you tolerate such rudeness

without intervening?

Please, Madam Cavalieri,

there's no need to get angry.

I want him jocular and lively

He must jest, laugh, dance and sing

With a quip or story ready

Gallant manners, gay words

and of witty disposition

And if he must go mad

It must be mad with love

And if he must go mad

It must be mad with love

But critical...

Critical and a madman...

Madwoman

Well, a brief pause for everyone.

This is downright rudeness!

Is this how Vienna treats artists?

Is this how fine singing

is extolled here?

- Listen, my love...

- Don't say a word.

You wanted to humiliate me,

putting that hussy in your opera.

Maestro Salieri,

I am Lorenzo Da Ponte,

I've just arrived

and I wanted to ask you...

Wait for me outside please.

- I can't attend to you now.

- Giacomo Casanova sent me.

Excuse me

if I appeared unfriendly.

It hasn't been

a particularly easy day.

Your Majesty!

Your visit is a great honour.

The honour is mine, you know

how your work stirs me.

But perhaps I chose a bad time.

You told me there were

rehearsals today.

Your Excellency,

the Count is correct.

But we were just taking

a brief pause.

- We'll start again immediately.

- Do not trouble yourself, I can wait.

Even like this,

there's much to admire.

And how is our second Grace,

Madam Ferrarese?

Your idea to reunite

Madams Cavalieri and Ferrarese

in my new opera

is proving to be most excellent.

In fact, I'd even say wonderful!

Your Majesty, may I present

Lorenzo Da Ponte,

a dear friend and talented poet

just arrived from Venice.

It is a great joy

to find myself in the presence of

Europe's wisest

and most enlightened monarch.

You are respected and admired

in Venice.

- So, you are a poet.

- Yes, Your Majesty.

And also a priest,

libertine and troublemaker.

A reputation that does not

befit me, Sire.

Mr Da Ponte has left Venice

and is looking for employment.

Perhaps Your Majesty

can do something for him.

Of course.

Vienna needs new poets

with a reformist impulse,

especially in opera.

Why not entrust him with the libretto

of your next work?

Forgive me, but I'm afraid

I wouldn't be capable.

I've never written opera lyrics.

Lack of experience

is not a serious hindrance.

On the contrary,

we need new talent, new ideas

to renew our opera.

And Maestro Salieri

is in full agreement.

We'll have fresh inspiration.

May I remind you

that Maestro Salieri is already

in talks with our poet...

Oh yes, Casti.

I'd quite forgotten.

But there's a remedy for that.

Is there another composer

with whom you'd like to work?

Why not Mozart?

Our little rebel from Salzburg!

Excellent idea!

Mozart has been wanting to broach

an opera in Italian, and so he shall.

And to the sound of the gay march

Let's hasten to the revelry

Let's hasten to the revelry

Let's hasten

Let's hasten

Let's hasten to the revelry

Let's hasten

Let's hasten to the revelry

The revelry

The revelry

Your friend Lorenzo fobs you off

with his worst lyrics

and saves his best poems

for Mozart

and that strumpet Ferrarese.

You ladies

Who know what love is

See if it is

What I have in my heart

See if it is

what I have in my heart

All that I feel

I will explain

Since it is new to me

I don't understand it

I have a feeling

Full of desire

Which now is pleasure

Now is torment

I freeze, then I feel

My spirit all ablaze...

Forgive me my friend,

I didn't hear you come in.

I'm glad you didn't undertake

the voyage from Vienna alone.

Allow me to introduce a dear friend,

Madam...

Adriana Ferrarese!

The unequalled soprano.

I was in raptures when I heard

"The Marriage of Figaro" in Prague.

But now...

seeing you closely,

I must say the rest of your person

fully honours your splendid voice.

And I see that the stories

I heard about you...

were not far-fetched.

Poor me! Those are not stories,

but history.

At my age,

I've reached the peace of the senses.

And the spirit's task is to lovingly

administer the memories

those senses recall.

His Excellency, the Duke of Dux

has entrusted me with the care

of his magnificent library.

Now I live among

dreams and desires

written down...

among mad adventures,

secrets and impossible loves.

Books have become my consolation.

We all have a book capable

of moving us, isn't that so?

This one...

is waiting for you.

No...

it is for you.

It looks like the book I saw

the day I was baptized.

It does not look like, it is.

After you were banished

I found it in a bookshop

and I thought I'd buy it

and give it to you.

When we took leave

you were a banished wretch

and now you're one of the most

acclaimed lyric writers in Europe.

Thanks to your

recommending me to Salieri.

He helped me enter

the world of music.

Forget Salieri.

He's an excellent musician

but his obligations at court

are a great limit for him.

You must work with Mozart again,

he's a truly talented artist.

Your Figaro...

delicious, light,

full of imagination:

The future.

This is the path you must follow.

That's what I keep telling him.

After the triumph of Figaro,

Lorenzo must work

with Mozart again.

And, of course... with me.

You should be aware

of who has renounced my voice,

because Salieri is a boor.

He imposes his mistress,

La Cavalieri...

and all she's capable of doing

to perfection is...

well, you can imagine.

Salieri is not a boor,

La Cavalieri is not a prostitute

and I am not married to Mozart.

The truth is that Mozart

has very singular tastes

and refuses all the operas

that are proposed to him.

If you want, I have a story

worthy of your talents.

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