Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527 (Arr. for Woodwind Octet and String Bass)

DON GIOVANNI liner notes

Don Giovanni premiered in Prague on October 29, 1787. In a letter to his sister dated December 19, Mozart described the opera as “a triumphant success”; and so it has remained filled with some of the composer’s most beautiful melodies, Don Giovanni depicts the full range of emotions: from comedy to tragedy, from love to anger. In Don Giovanni, as in Le Nozze di Figaro and Cosi Fan Tutte, Mozart teamed with the poet and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. Perhaps they were especially motivated when creating Don Giovanni because they could identify closely with the exploits of the hero. After all, both Mozart and Da Ponte were known to be ladies’ men, and some people believe that the great lover Casanova gave them some extra advice! Josef Triebensee, who was the leader of the court octet of Prince Alois of Lichtenstein, arranged Don Giovanni for the woodwind band. The 16 numbers from Don Giovanni recorded here give a complete sense of the opera’s beginning, middle and end. Perhaps, given the leanings of Don Giovanni’s original creators, we should turn to a line from the opera for our conclusions: “Viva la liberta.”