Give Now  »

Noon Edition

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Act I Excerpt

When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni premiered in Prague in 1787, it was a huge hit among Czech audiences.

Even during his all-too-brief lifetime, fellow artists and philosophers praised Don Giovanni as being greatest opera ever written.

Mozart took operatic writing to a whole new level with this piece, increasing the size of the orchestra and composing beautiful, albeit very difficult, music for the singers on stage.

One of the most intriguing innovations Mozart introduced in the opera occurs in the finale to Act I, which is set in the ballroom of Don Giovanni's palace.

As the characters intermingle on stage, Mozart calls for three on stage instrumental ensembles to each play three separate dances in synchronization, each in their respective meter, accompanying the dancing of the principal characters.

Music Heard On This Episode

Loading...
Support For Indiana Public Media Comes From

About Ether Game