The original portrayal of Mozart's Don Giovanni /

Tessing Schneider, Magnus, 1975-

The original portrayal of Mozart's Don Giovanni / Magnus Tessing Schneider. - 1 online resource (xii, 245 pages) - Ashgate interdisciplinary studies in opera . - Ashgate interdisciplinary studies in opera. .

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Original Portrayal of Mozart's Don Giovanni offers an original reading of Mozart's and Da Ponte's opera Don Giovanni, using as a lens the portrayal of the title role by its creator, the baritone Luigi Bassi (1766-1825). Although Bassi was coached in the role by the composer himself, his portrayal has never been studied in depth before, and this book presents a large number of new sources (first- and second-hand accounts), which allows us to reconstruct his performance scene by scene. The book confronts Bassi's portrayal with a study of the opera's early German reception and performance history, demonstrating how Don Giovanni as we know it today was not only created by Mozart, Da Ponte and Luigi Bassi but also by the early German adapters, translators, critics and performers who turned the title character into the arrogant and violent villain we still encounter in most of today's stage productions. Incorporating discussion of dramaturgical thinking of the late Enlightenment and the difficult moral problems that the opera raises, this is an important study for scholars and researchers from opera studies, theatre and performance studies, music history as well as conductors, directors and singers.


Magnus Tessing Schneider (Stockholm University) is a Danish theatre scholar specialising in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Italian opera. He has edited Mozart's La clemenza di Tito: A Reappraisal (2018), together with Ruth Tatlow, and Felicity Baker's essay collection Don Giovanni's Reasons: Thoughts on a Masterpiece (2021).

9780429281709 0429281706 1000510573 9781000510539 1000510530 9781000510577

10.4324/9780429281709 doi

9780429281709 Taylor & Francis


Bassi, Luigi.
Juan, Don (Legendary character) --In opera.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791. Don Giovanni.
Juan, Don (Legendary character)


Don Giovanni (Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus)


Opera--Dramaturgy.
Opera--Dramaturgy.
MUSIC / General
MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Opera


Electronic books.

ML410.M9 / T47 2022

782.1092