Blending comedy, melodrama, and the supernatural, Mozart’s 1787 opera, Don Giovanni, tells the story of an arrogant, promiscuous nobleman, who, before the final curtain, receives the ultimate hellish comeuppance.
Don Giovanni attempts to seduce the peasant girl, Zerlina, and disarm her jealous fiancé, Masetto. At the beginning of the second act, Masetto and his friends look for Don Giovanni in order to kill him, but they are outsmarted by the cunning, disguised seducer. Don Giovanni takes away Masetto’s weapons, beats him up, and runs away, laughing.
The scene concludes with Vedrai, Carino (“You’ll See, My Dear”), the tender and seductive aria in which Zerlina comforts her injured fiancé. The warmth of Mozart’s inner voices tell us that, underlying Zerlina’s flirtatiousness, is a deep, sincere love. It is a dramatic moment which stands in contrast with Don Giovanni’s shallow manipulations. As the aria progresses, Zerlina’s fluttering heartbeat is translated into a rhythmic pulse in the low strings, and later the woodwinds.
It was this music which moved the four-year-old Tchaikovsky to tears and instilled in him a lifelong reverence for Mozart, whom he came to regard as “the ideal musician and artist in all aspects.” The young Tchaikovsky was so fascinated with the melody of Vedrai, Carino that his mother showed him how to play it on the piano. (Tchaikovsky Research)
This 1999 performance, recorded live at the Theater an der Wien, features Austrian mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager in the role of Zerlina, with Riccardo Muti leading the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera:
Recordings
- Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527, Carlos Álvarez, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Roberto de Simone, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Vienna State Opera, Riccardo Muti, Angelika Kirchschlager, Adrianne Pieczonka, Michael Schade Amazon
- Kathleen Battle with James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
- Lucia Popp with Sir Georg Solti and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Featured Image: Playbill for the 1788 Vienna premiere of Don Giovanni