A ballet of "Don Juan," with music by Gluck, was performed in Vienna
in 1761.[115] The programme indicates four divisions, each of them
containing an important situation, worked out and enlivened by means of
different dances.
{GLUCK'S BALLET, "DON JUAN."}
(157)
Unfortunately we have no hints as to the details of the music, which
consists for the most part of short and unelaborated dance melodies:--
In the first division, Don Juan serenades his mistress, Donna Anna, and
is admitted by her; surprised by her uncle, he escapes into the street,
and slays his pursuer. In the second division, Don Juan is giving a
feast, at which Donna Anna is present, and dances, a _pas de deux_ with
him; the appearance of the statue scares away the guests. After a short
stay, the Commendatore invites Don Juan, who accepts, and conducts him
to the door. In the meantime the guests reassemble, but seized with
fresh terror, rush from the house; Don Juan prepares to seek the
Commendatore alone, his servant, spite of threats and persuasions,
refusing to accompany him. The third part takes place in the mausoleum;
the Commendatore tries vainly to bring Don Juan to repentance, and
finally plunges him into the abyss. In the last division, Don Juan is
tormented by demons in the lower world; he strives in vain to escape or
to resist, and at last, in despair, he resigns himself and is devoured
by the flames.[117]
Ten years before Mozart's "Don Giovanni," a _dramma tragicomico_,
entitled "ü Convitato di Pietra, ossia il Dissoluto," was performed
both at Vienna (first on August 21,1777) and at Prague; the composer was
Vine. Righini.[118] The plot is briefly as follows:[119]--
The fisher maiden Elisa, and her lover Ombrino, save Don Giovanni and
his servant Arlechino from the waves. Don Giovanni, who has betrayed
Isabella, daughter of the Duca d'Altamonte, in Naples, and is a fugitive
in consequence, readily wins the love of the too-confiding Elisa. The
Commendatore di Loioa, returning from victorious war, is greeted by Don
Alfonso in the name of the King of Castile, who has erected a statue
to his honour, and promises to wed his daughter Donna Anna to the Duca
Ottavio. Donna Anna, in defiance of her father's threats, refuses the
honour. Don Giovanni, whose crime and flight have been made known to
Don Alfonso, enters with Arlechino the house of the Commendatore, where
Donna Anna, having dismissed her maid Lisette, is preparing to retire
to rest. He offers her violence, which she resists, and recognises him;
thereupon enters the Commendatore and falls in
{DON GIOVANNI.}
(158)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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