The composition of Don Giovanni came on the heels of the success of Le nozze di Figaro of 1786. Figaro marked the first time Mozart was to work with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. Figaro redefined what opera buffa could be: it expanded on the stock characters and stock comedic situations of buffa and presented instead vivid, three-dimensional characters whose music and lyrics completely define them, keep the action of the complicated plot moving, and provide a framework for a serious examination of society and sexuality. Miraculously, Mozart and da Ponte managed to do the same thing two more times, with Don Giovanni in 1787 and Così Fan Tutte in 1790.

Da Ponte and Mozart worked very well together. This is one of the great collaborations of opera/musical theatre, and set the bar very high for those that followed, including Verdi and Boito, Gilbert and Sullivan, and Rodgers and Hammerstein. During the composition of Don Giovanni they lived across the street from each other and would yell back and forth as they wrote and composed. If you are in Prague you can see these two houses, bearing plaques commemorating the men. Don Giovanni premiered in Prague on October 27, 1787.

This opera has many serious aspects; within the first 15 minutes there is a rape, a duel, a murder and a vow of revenge. Towards the end of the work, in one of the most memorable moments in the history of opera, Don Giovanni is dragged down to hell. Despite all these serious events, Mozart called the opera “Opera Buffa” and the librettist, Da Ponte, called it a “Dramma Giocoso” meaning a work that is both serious and funny.