Leporello in Don Giovanni Background-

Leporello in Don Giovanni

Background- Don Juan, or Don Giovanni in Italian, is a fictional character that begins to appear in poetry and literature in the early 1600s. The legend, though, is both timeless and archetypal. Don Juan is the classic libertine -- he enjoys seducing young virgins and fighting their men. After encountering a stature of a dead father of one of his conquests, he invites the father to dine with him, and the statue gladly accepts. The father arrives and in turn, invites Don Juan to dine with him in the graveyard. Don Juan accepts and upon arrival, shakes the father's hand in greeting, whereby the statue drags him to Hell (California Institute of Technology, 2009). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart turned this tale into an opera, really a drama giocoso (a mix of serious and comic) action with a libretto by Da Ponti. Don Giovanni premiered in October 1787 and is part of the standard operatic repertoire and number seven in the most-performed operas worldwide (Most Performed Operas, 2010).

The Opera plot generally follows the Spanish legend, but is a bit more embellished, as one might expect for the medium. There is more psychological underplay, and more contrast between victim and pursuer. For this essay, however, we are focusing on Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant who reluctantly keeps watch while Don Giovanni seduces the Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna and others. Leporello is the moral and ethical voice of reason, of right and wrong, and essentially, the conscious absent in Don Giovanni. Leporello know his master is doing the wrong thing, and attempts to find ways of subverting Don Giovanni's actions, even threatening to leave Giovanni unless he repents his evil ways. Leporello survives the final scene in which the Commendatore fails to convince Don Giovanni to repent, and so sinks into Hell with Giovanni held fast. Leporello is understandably terrified, and as the concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera "Such is the end of the evildoer: The death of a sinner always reflects his life" (Questro e' il fin), the orchestra reverts from D-minor to D-major and Leporello is left alone, terrified but vindicated. We hear this juxtaposition in tonality as a bit of a ticking clock -- back and forth, back and forth -- and are then reminded that we need the tonal resolution so that the opera can actually end.

Style and Convention- That Don Giovanni is an operatic masterpiece is a given. It was lauded in Prague during its premier, received additional material from Mozart before Vienna, but has lasted centuries. The idea of a rafe seducing women continues to be a popular fantasy for both drama and comedy, but the very set up of a peasant servant, Leporello, seemingly poor and uneducated, as the person with the moral wisdom and the nobble, Don Giovanni, wearing a mask and attempting to use his noble privilege to essentially rape and murder, also seems to be a psychological ploy to make a clear value judgment against the nobility of the time. One of the best representations of this is Leporello's catalog aria, Madamia! Il catalogo e questa, in which he tells Elvira of Giovanni's 1800 seductions, that Giovanni is not very choosy, although he prefers virgins. In most productions, it seems, Leporello pulls a long list from his pocket, but what is not immediately clear is "whether Leporello is proud of this list of if he is horrified by it. Imagine keeping a detailed list of this many conquests! This is ludic love personified" (Stimmel, 2010, 56). In the productions reviewed, the music that accompanies this list is repetitive and stacatto, almost as if Mozaart wanted to emphasize that Leporello's interpretation of Giovanii's "hobby" had become so repetitious that it was now almost past boring. This continues in contrast that the Don is never remorseful about what he has done, and cannot abide Leporello's critique or even understand why Leporello would not be completely in agreement with the "game." Ironically, at times, Leporello becomes more of a co-conspiritor, as when he distracts Masetto so that Giovanni can corner Zerlina. Leporello's peasant views also come out in the cemetary -- the fear of death, the fear of consequences, and rather than focusing on the physical pleasure of life, has some understanding of the spiritual world and the reasons and ways that a life of lust and lack of empathy for others may result in eventual doom. In this, Leporello represents both the comic bumbler (frightened, the scapegoat, the uneducated peasant), but also left alive and therefore vindicated. Visually, this is usually a mainstay of the performances in the continuity of the costuming -- older, more traditional productions show Leporello more comic and disheveled; while newer, more modern productions do emphasize the class distinction while also focusing on the lack of frill and fancy dress- a more base color pallete. This is confirmed in the music as well, as Mozart tends to score less embellishment when Leporello speaks than the other characters.

Character Analysis -- Leporello- Viewing a number of performances of Don Giovanni, one is often amazed at the actual breadth and subtlety in which the character of Leporello is interpreted. It is easy to see him as buffoon-like, a slave to his master's lusty behavior, an aider and abettor of immoral action. This presents a bit of a difficulty, since on the stage gestures and actions must be magnified to be understood, while when one gives a closer reading of the libretto, one finds far more of the psychology and pathos of the character. It is likely no coincidence, for instance, that immediately after the aria, Leporello is introduced:

Notte giorno faticar,

I work hard day and night,

Per chi nulla sa grader, and he never thanks me. . .

Voglio far il gentiluomo!

I want to be a gentleman!

E non-voglio pue server.

And I no longer want to be a servant

Vuol star dentro colla bella,

He's inside with his conquest,

Ed io far la sentinella!

And I am the sentry! . . .

Non-mi voglio far sentir.

I don't want to be seen here (Act 1, Scene 1).

There are a number of very interesting clues here: 1) Leporello feels underappreciated and resentful; 2) Leporello wants to be a gentleman, but disdains what the gentleman does; 3) He does not seem to be proud of his role as a sentry, and certainly wants to hide. The overall message of this seems to set the stage of Don Giovanni being a moral play -- not as clear as the battle between good and evil, but clearly, a way of looking at the class differences between the two characters; noble and peasant. The music, however, is both playful and explanatory in that it outlines the major key structure that sounds almost instructive; as if Mozart was reminding us that Leporello's role was one of endless practice and continual slaving away -- much like one practices scales, arpeggios and chords when one is learning music.

This is echoed a bit later after Giovanni has killed the Commendatore, for it seems that Giovanni puts little if any stock in the sanctity of life and simply calls him a "meddling fool." Leporello, however, is horrified at the outcome and fears for the future, as well as the sanctity of his own soul:

Qual misfatto! Qual eccesso!

What a horror! What debauchery!

Entro il sen dallo spavento

The ghost enters my breast,

Palpitar il cor mi sento!

And I feel my heart throbbing!

Io non-so che far, che dir.

I don't know what to do or say. . .

And then chides his master:

Bravo, due imprese leggiadre!

Great, two impressive exploits!

Sforza la figlia ed ammazzar il padre!

Seduce the daughter and murder the father (Act I, Scene 1).

Giovanni is unconvinced and simply says, L'ha volute, suo danno (He willed his ruin). To which Leporello replies, Ma Donna' Anna, cosa ha volute? (And did Donna Anna will her's too?). This is a far cry from an unbending servant who blindly accepts his role without question. Here, Leporello challenges Giovanni, he is horrified at these base acts, and sees no possible reason or redemption in them.

At the beginning of Scene 2 Leporello again echoes this same discomfort after gleaning permission to speak freely:

Dunque quando e' cosi, caro signor padrone,

Well, if that's the case, my dear

Master, the life you are leading

La vita che menate e' da briccone!

Is disgraceful! (Scene 2)

Giovanni immediately chastises Leporello to the point which Leporello backs down, then compliments him as "il gran'uom" (an intelligent man) who knows when to change topics so, just as if the murder had not occurred, a new conquest can begin. We hear this based on the chords and progressions. As Leporello chastises Giovanni, the music modulates upward; at Giovanni's dismissal, it simply transposes into a new key and we are off with a new melody, almost as if the previous never existed.

Feeling guilty, Leporello catalogs the conquests from all over the world, noting that Giovanni cares not for pedigree, color, shape, age, size, economic status, etc. The key to his lust is easy -- voi sapete quell chef a (providing she wears a skirt). In other words, any female will do, as long as Giovanni can have the conquest. But this is too much for Leporello, and at the beginning of Act II he tells his master: No, no padrone, non-vo' restar (No master, I want to leave you.) Giovanni hands him a purse with 4 gold coins, which in a moral gaffe', Leporello accepts, but:

Oh, senite; per questa volta la ceremonia

OK, Listen, I'll accept it just this once,

Accetto; ma non-vi ci avvezzate;

but don't make it a habit. Don't think that

Non-credete di sedurre I miei pari, you can seduce me with the power of money

Come le donne, a forza di danari.

The way you do the women. (Act II, 1).

Leporello is not really convinced and tries to convince Giovanni that the morality of his actions is leading to disaster, once again forming the basis of right behavior. He even later says a prayer that Giovanni will fail:

(Gia quell mendace labbro torna a sedur

(What a smooth deceiver he is!

Costei, deh proteggete, o dei!

I hope the gods protect her from her

La sua credulita!)

uncertainty! (Act II).

Yet even with Leporello's disdain for Giovanni, he begs his Master not to dine with the Statue, No, no attendete! (No, wait). All is lost, and after Giovanni is moved to Hell, Leporello can calm a bit. After telling the moral tale, and seemingly finding vindication in Giovanni's punishment, we can only believe that Leporello knew he tried his very best to reform Giovanni, but was, alas, unsuccessful. And now, Ed io vando all'osteria a trovar pardon miglior (And I'm going to the inn to find a better master.)

Musical Analysis -- Leporello- It is interesting that rather than a wide vocal distance between Leporello and Giovanni, Mozart chooses to score Giovanni as a baritone and Leporello as a bass. Often, the evil or nefarious characters in opera are regulated to the bass roles, in this case, the often ostinato-like resonance from Leporello seems to fuel the depth or grounding of both the musical key and the nature of the moral character. We open in F-Major, with Leporello's lament rocking back and forth from tonic (F) to dominant (C) in pianissimo and completing the triad at the end of the phrase B-flat.

When Leporello makes his famous list, we are solidly in the key of D-Major, the contrast key for Mozart (d-minor speaks of lust and evil), and we have a sense of urgency from the orchestra with continual eight notes as Leporello ashamedly makes his list: