“The Opera Among the Operas”: A Review on Mozart’s Masterpiece Don Giovanni

【Abstract】Mozarts “mini opera” Don Giovanni is the best reflection of the gifts and capabilities of the ingenious composer. Resulting in a spillover effect of 1+1>2， the combination of profound comprehension of vocal composing and proficient knowledge about orchestration has ensured Mozart unparalleled achievements in the history of western opera.

【Key words】Don Giovanni; unruly; theatricality; orchestration; recitative; extensive recitative; woodwind; illustrator of characters

【作者簡介】金婷婷（1984.09-），女，漢族，湖北仙桃人，中山大學(xué)，副高，中國音樂學(xué)院碩士，研究方向：音樂。

Since several centuries ago， the opera stage， a lavish inspiration for the western fashion world， has appealed to composers and music amateurs who are absorbed in the drama like a magnet. The vocal and the accompanying orchestra work seamlessly together， granting opera its unique charm， a charm that has managed to hold any fan of the art of singing captive in the magnificent opera theatre.

Master Gao Weijie （1938- ）， Professor and Doctoral Advisor at Chinese Conservatory of Music and Composer， once said： “It is only the live performance that allows you the chance to fully appreciate the marvelousness of opera， no matter how many records you have played or videos you have seen.” Ever since opera singing became my profession， and the stage became my life companion， I have attentively adhered to Mr. Gaos words. With an almost stubborn attitude as such， I watched the comic opera Don Giovanni produced by the National Centre for the Performing Arts tonight （December 30， 2018）.

In Chinese， a most outstanding talent in a field， who is “l(fā)ike a red flag put on top of the grain pile — top on the top” is usually described as “a genius among geniuses”， “a philosopher among philosophers”， “a musician among musicians”， “a master among the masters”， “a pianist among pianists”， “a violinist among violinists”... With this expression， we celebrate the persons supreme level of the profession， and the same goes for art. One can say that the past 400 years of western music history is dominated by opera. Within the over 50，000 operas created during this period， only two of them were honored as “an opera among operas”： Don Giovanni by Mozart and Tristan und Isolde by Wagner， an opera that marks the birth of “music drama”， a new genre named by Wagner himself. The former piece consists of harmonic chords， fluid melodies and a sense of humor. The latter， on the other hand， involving highly complex techniques， appears to be an obscure piece for the beginner-level opera audience， though for the professional singers only an introduction to the ferocious twisting and strangling yet to come.

Born a genius， Austrian composer W. A. Mozart （1756-1791） has remained to be the most significant figure in the history of drama. In the year of 1782 he stated that in his life， opera had always enjoyed the most superior priority and that the strongest and most feverish desire of his had been to create for drama; such desire haunted him to the degree that whenever stepping into the theatre or overhearing talks about opera， he would lose all the self-containing at once. In his rather short lifetime， Mozart marched swiftly between opera and symphony， the two genres influencing and permeating into each other. In his symphonies， one can find plenty of theatrical expressions of human emotions， which typically belong to the opera. The characteristic of singing — one word after another， would be displayed in all the sections of melody as if determined by the gene. According to Anthony Tommasini， the chief classical music critic at The New York Times， Mozart is the only composer in history who has reached the mountaintops of both symphony and opera; many of his instrumentals， the piano concertos especially， can actually be appreciated as “mini operas”， for they are all endowed with theatrical scene changes， correspondence between solos and the orchestra， contemplative monologues by the single instrument， and wordless extensive recitatives. For the professionals in the music industry， particularly the piano and violin practitioners， listening to Mozarts operas can serve as an essential tool that assists one in decoding and， subsequently， appreciating the brilliance of his symphonies， concertos， piano sonatas， and chamber music. The operas are the best teachers at hand.

French writer Beaumarchais （1732-1799） once said， through the words of a clown in his masterpiece Mariage de Figaro： “Drinking when we are not thirsty and making love at all seasons， madam： that is all there is to distinguish us from other animals.” Filled with anecdotes of Don Juans peerless history of love and sex， Don Giovanni illustrates the wildly promiscuous life of the fictional libertine in the Spanish legend. It seems like the show could use a notice of “inappropriate for children”， as it mirrors the ancient Chinese saying： “Books develop intelligence while dramas play disrupt thinking”.

Before watching and writing about Don Giovanni， I did my research， which suggested that Don Juan， with his lifestyle， was far from being alone in the context of world history. A pioneer in the New Culture Movement of modern China， Li Shutong （1880-1942） had a wild spirit similar to that of Don Juan; his facial structures born delicate and feminine， Li experienced an obsession to intimate relationships. Jiang Danshu， in his biography of Buddhist teacher Hongyi， described Hongyis earlier years： “As an elegant youth， he spent all his time wandering around Yan City. Love affairs between Hongyi and his lovers， including an actress named Yang Cuixi， a singer Jin Wawa， and a famous prostitute Xie Qiuyun， went on and on in the name of art.” The famous lyrics of his song written for Jin Wawa went： “Anywhere I go， there is not a thing I care about， except for what kind of sound and image on earth would be capable of delivering my love to you. Please do not be mad at me. Just enjoy the game.” Many books and articles have been avoiding the story of his wild earlier life as if frightened of ruining the respectable image of his virtuosity. However， worrieness is quite unnecessary. Among many others， Wen Tianxiang （1236-1283）， a patriotic hero in Chinese history， and Tha?s， a courtesan in western literature， were both involved in extravagant self-indulgence for some time. In the History of Song， a biography of Wen Tianxiang recorded： “Wenshan lived a luxurious life， where money was abundant and prostitutes filled the rooms.” Quan Zuwang also documented in his Jieqiting Ji： “Wenshan was unusually wild and constantly drawn to women and love.” However， when the country was in danger later on， the unruly man was resolved to sacrifice all his wealth in exchange for building an army， and bravely fought against the enemies from Yuan. Defeated and caught， Wen Tianxiang wrote “The Song of Rightness” and “The Praise under the Robe”， both of which would be widely spread after the hero calmly stepped into his execution. If the hero ever heard that his earlier stories had unraveled and brought his legends down to earth， would he be pleased or distraught in heaven？

Opera is the landmark of Mozarts highest achievement. Italian composer G. A. Rossini （1792-1868）， an eccentric opera genius， once claimed Mozart to be “the only musician who had as much knowledge as genius， and as much genius as knowledge”. Journeying through all the various vocal pieces of a Mozart opera including duets and ensembles， one would not spot any line of melody too short as to appear abrupt nor too long as to become tedious. The oriental audience who are familiar with the western operatic singing would find this a miracle， while students of musical composition often see it as the best example of developing music based on the motif.

Mozart once said that his only source of happiness came from creating， creating for all kinds of ears except the deaf ones. The composer is indeed a master of marrying the orchestra and the vocal， while maintaining cohesive musical aesthetics throughout an opera. Never intervening with the vocal， the orchestra provides a fine structure helping with the storytelling and the progression of conflicts. His consideration on each and every note in the score， as well as the harmonies and choices of instruments are so brilliant that they always appear to be just right， without a single excessive ornament or a sense of heaviness. It is a rather easy task for a conductor to comprehend the perspectives in Mozarts music scores， unless he or she lacks the basic abilities. Doubtlessly， Mozarts name goes on the list of the earliest masters of the orchestra.

It is worth mentioning that Mozart inherited essential techniques of the Italian composer Alessandro Scarlati （1660-1725）， who is often described as a wonderful illustrator of characters and the inventor of Napoli opera style. Using instruments as his paint and brush， Mozart portrays the key personalities of each character coming up to the stage. The orchestra makes sketches of the shifting psychological states — the flute stands for elegance and free-flowing while the bassoon embraces decadent and petrifying… Always capable of building up theatrical effects with the orchestra in an effortless manner， Mozart had proved himself as an outstanding “psychologist” of the modern opera. With all the above being said， my ears were blessed with a splendid satisfaction taking it all in. I think I heard “the greatest music” that Georg Solti （1912-1997）， a Hungarian-born American conductor， believed one would hear from the stage of the opera.

Also， I have two other important impressions of the show：

1. Don Giovanni retained the tradition of earlier western opera： as the singer performed the lengthy recitativo， the whole orchestra came to a stop saving the harpsichord only to support the vocal with harmonies. Its strings stretched out on wooden structures， and the harpsichord is only able to produce a light tone of five octaves. The sustain of a harpsichord is also less effective than that on a piano. Sitting in the 9th row， I still had to listen very carefully， for the sound of the harpsichord resembled that of the guitar and the mandolin playing nearby. Back in the eras of Mozart， the opera was usually performed with two conductors in it. The composer himself would be the harpsichordist and conductor for all the vocal parts including the ensembles， while the principle violinist would conduct the orchestra with his violin bow and facial expressions. It was not until the beginning of the 1830s， 30 years after Mozarts unfortunate death at a young age in 1791， that the “double conductor” vanished as the conductor emerged as a new and separate position.

2. As we all know， Richard Wagner （1813-1883）， the lord of music drama， exquisitely mastered the art of brass instruments. Wagners orchestra was always arranged in and colossal scale， reaching the peak at the end of Romantic music. The sounding was magnificent， producing a potent spillover effect. Mozart was an expert at the wood instruments. Made with a smaller scale， his orchestra was embedded with chromatic tones and subtle sound qualities. This appeared identifiable to me through out Don Giovanni. Moreover， surprising to me， Mozart wove only six to seven cellos and five to six double basses in an incredible sextet. A sense of warmth reverberated incessantly， bringing with it contrast to the music before and after the sextet. The cellos， with their wide range of notes， could easily set up three layers of music. It was indeed an innovation to apply this “art of deepness” in the composition; no wonder the motto that goes： “The talented works， the genius creates.”

Two hundred twenty-seven years has past since Mozarts departure. Over the past two centuries， major opera theatres around the world， those commercially well operated， have all made a fortune thanks to the fans of Mozart. Unquestionably the superstar of classical opera， Mozart produced masterpieces superior to any other opera ever written. I would love to send my gratitude to Mozart， the National Centre for the Performing Arts of China， the production team and all the artists and staff on stage and backstage， for the amazing night， on which， through this “opera among the operas”， I was theatrically turned into a fan of Mozart.

References：

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[2]Xu Liwen. The Most Famous Musicians in the World[J]. Nan Hai Publishing Co.，2007.

[3]Henry Lang （American）. Translated by Zhang Hongdao. Music in the 19th Century Western Civilization （sections from the original book Music in Western Civilization）[J]. Peoples Music Publishing House，1982.

[4]Harold C. Schonberg （American）. Translated by Leng Shan and others. The Lives of the Great Composers （3rd Edition）[M]. SDX Joint Publishing Company，2007.