I, Don Giovanni Page #3

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What?

A new Don Giovanni.

Come along,

you have guests waiting.

- Who?

- Da Ponte and Salieri.

- Send them away, I'm not interested.

- They want you to write a new opera.

They've already given us

a handsome advance.

Don't let yourself be taken in,

negotiate a decent fee.

Remember that we can't even

pay the maid

and neither of us are in good health.

I must take the waters in Switzerland

and medical cures are...

Enough of your whining!

Always telling me what to do!

Stanzi...

I'm sorry.

You know there's nothing in the world

I care about more than you.

Let's hear what these two

scheming Italians have to say.

My dear Maestro!

Good Lord, you're frozen.

- Maestro Salieri.

- Maestro Mozart.

I am here to inform you

that His Majesty

has charged you with composing

a new opera.

In Italian, of course.

And aided by the poetic talents

of our friend Da Ponte.

The Emperor was pleased

with "The Marriage of Figaro".

We shall do our best to please

His Majesty again.

Well then...

permit me to enjoin you both

to avoid any scandal,

since the subject you will broach

is risqu in itself.

What is it?

All in due course, Maestro.

When staging an opera,

one must be mindful of good manners,

as if one were at a banquet.

One must infuse a little sweetness

into the public's daily travails.

Therefore,

if you'll allow me to suggest,

you should compose music that is

simple, light and listenable.

Then even delicate palates

will digest and savour the show.

Sweetness, banquet,

savour, digest!

If I understand correctly,

Maestro Salieri,

composing an opera is like

baking a pudding to you.

Let's see...

Iovesickness is the egg.

A spot of intrigue, the flour.

And the comic interlude

is the sugar!

Then, this lovely mixture

of Maestro Da Ponte's words

and my music

is popped into the oven

until the pudding is ready.

Please excuse me, gentlemen...

I have other business to attend to.

Make a good job of it.

You're too harsh with him.

Salieri is much more sensitive

than he appears.

Tell me of this risqu subject

that Salieri mentioned.

An opera that will cause

more of a stir than "Figaro".

- Namely?

- "Don Giovanni".

"Don Giovanni"?

- It's been done so many times!

- But not our way!

We'll unveil a version

that no one will forget!

You know there's something of me

in everything I write.

That which I feel,

that which I love...

I leave shreds of my life

on the manuscript!

It's more than just work to me!

My music is like an inner flame

that consumes me.

Why should I suffer

for such a second-rate tale?

To convince you,

I'll relate the opening.

Imagine...

a man wrapped in a voluminous cloak

stealing through woods

around a luxurious dwelling.

The snow falls. It's night.

A full moon looks down from the sky,

but its beams are blue, not white.

In this blissful landscape

we see a man,

his face concealed by a large hat.

As you've guessed,

it's Don Giovanni,

out to seduce Donna Anna,

a young noblewoman.

In a bedroom

on an upper floor...

a beautiful maiden, Donna Anna,

is sleeping in a spacious bed.

Through the spotless white

of her nightgown

we discern a luscious body,

but we cannot see her face

because her back is turned on us.

She is restless, her long hair

flowing over the pillows.

The balcony door is open,

and between the billowing curtains

we see Don Giovanni's silhouette.

He enters Donna Anna's room.

He undresses.

Don Giovanni can control himself

no more.

He whispers into Donna Anna's ear:

"Donna Anna... my love...

my life."

Donna Anna...

my love, my life.

Donna Anna realizes that it is not

her betrothed, but a stranger.

Help! Assistance!

Don Giovanni leaps from the bed,

dons his garments as best he can

and with a daring,

cat-like leap from the balcony,

lands in the open space

before the house.

He then flees into the woods.

Still shrieking, Donna Anna

looks out from the balcony.

Help! Assistance!

Don Giovanni disappears

through the spectral trees.

A dazzling beginning,

sensual and audacious.

But of course,

this is just the background.

What?

We can't begin the opera like that,

it would cause an outrage!

It would never open.

Have you forgotten

Salieri's recommendations?

What do I care

about Salieri's recommendations?

All right then, how will we start?

We'll start outside the house.

With Don Giovanni leaping down

and fleeing?

Firstly, he must fight

a duel with the Commandant,

Donna Anna's father

who has come to her aid.

The Commandant draws his sword

and confronts the rake.

It's an uneven match,

Don Giovanni is an able swordsman.

He kills the Commandant

with a thrust through the heart!

The whole premise

is based on that killing.

Because once the Commandant is dead,

he will return

at the end of the opera...

as a marble statue.

You wish to start like that?

Slap in the middle of a duel,

without acquainting the public

with the basics of the story?

As Don Giovanni enters

Donna Anna's bedroom...

someone is acting as lookout

down below.

Who is it?

- Leporello.

- Leporello?

Of course!

Don Giovanni's manservant...

who is always in trouble

because of his master's follies!

A clownish manservant,

how original!

When one wants to raise a laugh

but has no imagination,

one introduces a servant in a mess

because of his master.

Leporello! Well done, Da Ponte!

"Thus I'm tortur'd

night and day."

Yes, my love.

Remember you promised me

a scene to myself.

An aria to show off

my full range of talents.

You know me so well,

write me a beautiful aria, my love!

Yes, my love.

I love you.

I love you too, Adriana.

"Thus I'm tortur'd night and day

and no thanks I ever get.

Now I'm chilled by piercing winds.

Now with rain

I'm dripping wet.

I'm resolved to change my state

and be a gentleman so great."

Some milk.

Wolfi, you've written so little!

You've had your nose

to the grindstone all morning!

Please, my love, I'm working.

What is it?

It's unlike you to spend

so many hours on so little verse.

It's not easy.

This is the opera's first aria,

the most important:

It must win the public over!

Come on, let's go!

"Thus I'm tortured night and day

And no thanks I ever get..."

Dearest, let me compose in peace.

- Stop now, or you'll be late.

- For what?

Today's lesson, heaven above!

I'd forgotten.

- Send a messenger to cancel it.

- Cancel it?

- I have to work, I cannot go.

- Come on!

We need the money.

Tidy yourself up and go.

Maestro?

- Are you all right?

- Of course, dear.

- Can we go from the reprise again?

- Yes.

I'm resolved to change my state,

yes, yes, yes!

And be a gentleman so great

- What do you think, Annetta?

- Is it from your next opera?

Yes!

Excuse me, is Lorenzo Da Ponte

your librettist?

Yes.

- Do you know him?

- He was friend to my father.

I'm resolved to change my state

And be a gentleman so great

I'm resolved to change my state

Yes, and be a gentleman so great

Not bad, Leporello.

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