M602--Melamed--Don Giovanni

Prof. Daniel R. Melamed M325C, 855-8252 dmelamed (AT) indiana.edu
Office hours: Thursday, 2.30-3.30 and by appointment. E-mail questions are welcome at any time and are the fastest way to get an answer.

Course information, assignments, reserve lists and this schedule can be found at http://dmelamed.pages.iu.edu, also reachable through http://M602.melamed.org.

REQUIREMENTS

Class attendance/participation. Seminar members are expected to attend every meeting; please do not schedule conflicting activities. Religious commitments and serious illness are ordinarily the only acceptable reasons for missing a meeting; please let the instructor know beforehand by e-mail. Members of the seminar are expected to participate actively in discussions and to be fully prepared to do so every time.
Assignments for each meeting. Most meetings will be led (in shorter or longer segments) by members of the seminar based on assignments carried out beforehand in consultation with the instructor.
Final paper and presentation. The last meetings will be devoted to presentations by members of the seminar. At the first meeting we will establish dates for the presentations, which will be based on research papers circulated in advance. Completed papers will be due in electronic form for circulation one week before the date of presentations.

GRADING

The course grade will be based on presentations, participation and the final paper. There will be no examinations.

SEMINAR MEMBERS

Dana Barron

Kerry O'Brien

Molly Ryan

Amanda Sewell

Nik Taylor

Alexis Witt

D. Melamed

REQUIRED SCORE

A Dover reprint of the MW score is available at TIS or TIS Music. The NMA score and critical report are available online.

RESOURCES

Original libretto--Prague

Original libretto--Vienna

Libretto and English translation

Text of musical numbers in proper verse forms

NMA score and critical report available from this page.

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Introduction

1. Please read the following on Italian versification:

Robert Anthony Moreen. "Integration of text forms and musical forms in Verdi's early operas." Ph.D. diss. Princeton, 1975. Pp. 9-22.

Please also print and bring to class this summary of the principles of Italian versification, and this copy of the Don Giovanni libretto in proper verse forms. We’ll work on this material in class.

If you are new to the principles you can also read the following, which takes examples from Le nozze di Figaro:

Tim Carter. "Verse and Music in Le nozze di Figaro." In W. A. Mozart. Le nozze di Figaro. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Pp. 75-87.

A Figaro libretto is available here for reference.

21 January 2. Arias

[We'll read some recent literature on the analysis and interpretation of Mozart arias, and apply the ideas to arias from Don Giovanni]

1. Please read:

James Webster. "The analysis of Mozart's arias." In Mozart Studies, edited by Cliff Eisen, 101-199. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.

James Webster. "Understanding opera buffa: analysis = interpretation." In Opera buffa in Mozart's Vienna, edited by Mary Hunter and James Webster, 340-377. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

James Webster. "Mozart's operas and the myth of musical unity." Cambridge Opera Journal 2 (1990): 197-218. [Introduction and portion on arias, through p. 204]

John Platoff. "The buffa aria in Mozart's Vienna." Cambridge Opera Journal 2 (1990): 99-120.

John Platoff. "Catalogue arias and the 'catalogue aria.'" In Wolfgang Amade Mozart: Essays on his life and music, edited by Stanley Sadie, 296-311. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.

You can also take a look at

Carl Schachter. "The adventures of an F#. Tonal narration and exhortation in Donna Anna's first-act recitative and aria." In Unfoldings: Essays in Schenkerian theory and analysis, 221-35. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

James Webster. "To Understand Verdi and Wagner We Must Understand Mozart." 19th-Century music 11 (1987): 175-93.

2. Study each of the arias from Don Giovanni, including those from the Vienna version. Analyse the prosody and organization of their texts. Diagram their musical and textual organization. Sort them by character and by type. Consider them in light of the various perspectives discussed in the reading.

Come prepared to make a presentation on arias (as assigned) from as many points of view as possible.

28 January 3. Ensembles

[We will read literature on the analysis of ensemble numbers, and look at those in Don Giovanni]

1. Please read

James Webster. "Mozart's operas and the myth of musical unity." Cambridge Opera Journal 2 (1990): 197-218. [p. 204ff on ensembles]

Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker. "Dismembering Mozart." Cambridge Opera Journal 2 (1990): 187-195.

Tim Carter. "Opera buffa and the Classical Style: The Act I trio." In W. A. Mozart. Le nozze di Figaro. Pp. 88-104. [on Figaro, No. 7]

Joseph Kerman. Opera as Drama. 2nd edn. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. Chapter 4, esp. pp. 63-73.

Charles Rosen. The Classical style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. Pp. 288-296. [on Figaro, No. 18]

John Platoff. "Operatic ensembles and the problem of the Don Giovanni sextet." In Opera buffa in Mozart's Vienna, edited by Mary Hunter and James Webster, 378-405. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Tim Carter. "Mozart, Da Ponte and the Ensemble: Methods in Progress?" In Wolfgang Amadè Mozart: Essays on His Life and His Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, 241-249, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.

[Figaro resources:

Original libretto

Libretto (musical numbers in proper verse forms, modern transcription)

Libretto with translation

MW score

NMA: Score Critical report

Recordings: Jacobs Abbado Fricsay Barenboim Östman Marriner Solti Böhm

Outline]

2. Study each of the enembles from Don Giovanni, concentrating on No. 15 and No. 19, which we will discuss in class. Analyse the prosody and organization of their texts. Diagram their musical and textual organization. Consider them in light of the various perspectives discussed in the reading. You will profit from learning Nos.7 and 18 from Figaro, which are discussed in the readings.

4 February 4. Finales

1. Please read

This famous statement by Lorenzo Da Ponte on the construction of finales.

John Platoff. "Musical and Dramatic Structure in the Opera Buffa Finale." Journal of Musicology 7 (1989): 191-230.

John Platoff. "Tonal organization in 'buffo' finales and the Act II finale of 'Le Nozze di Figaro.'" Music and Letters 72 (1991): 387-403.

Wye Jamison Allanbrook. Rythmic Gesture in Mozart: Le nzze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. Chapter 12 [on the two finales]

Daniel Heartz. "An iconography of the dances in the ballroom scene of Don Giovanni." In Mozart's Operas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Pp. 179-93.

2. Learn the second-act finale of Figaro (resources above; outline here), analyzing its text and music and considering the issues discussed in the readings.

3. Study the two finales in Don Giovanni. Outline them; analyze their poetry and musical settings; consider them in light of the readings.

11 Feb 5. Topic/Rhythmic Gesture

1. Please read

Leonard Ratner. Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style. New York: Schirmer Books, 1980. Pp. 1-30.

V. Kofi Agawu. Playing with signs: a semiotic interpretation of classic music. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991. Chapters 1-3 and 7.

Wye Jamison Allanbrook. Rhythmic gesture in Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro & Don Giovanni. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. Chapters 1-2 and 7-11.

2. Study the music of Don Giovanni in light of the approach developed in the readings.

18 Feb 6. Genesis/Revision

We will examine the genesis and eventual revision of Don Giovanni from three perspectives:

1) Mozart and Da Ponte's creation of the work against the background of opera of various kinds;

2) The opera's genre and type, in particular its label "dramma giocoso";

3) Revisions for the Vienna production.

Please read the following on the various topics. Study the new and revised movements for the Vienna production. Here is an outline that attempts to account for the two versions. Original librettos are above.

Daniel Heartz. "Don Giovanni: conception and creation." In Mozart's Operas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Pp. 156-77.

Daniel Heartz. "Goldoni, Don Giovanni, and the dramma giocoso." In Mozart's Operas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Pp. 194-205.

Andrew Steptoe. "Da Ponte and the buffa plot." In The Mozart-Da Ponte operas. The cultural and musical background to Le noze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte." Pp. 98-120.

[Da Ponte and Wilhelm Kühe on the genesis of the opera]. Julian Rushton. W. A. Mozart. Don Giovanni. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Pp. 122-26.

Michael E. Robinson. "The alternative endings of Mozart's Don Giovanni." In Opera buffa in Mozart's Vienna, edited by Mary Hunter and James Webster, 261-85. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Wye Jamison Allanbrook. "Mozart's happy endings: a new look at the 'convention' of the 'lieto fine.'" Mozart-Jahrbuch 1984-85, 1-5.

Alan Tyson. "Some features of the autograph score of Don Giovanni." Israel Studies in Musicology 5 (1990): 7-26.

Dexter Edge. "Mozart's Viennese Copyists." Ph.D. diss., University of Southern California, 2001. Pp. 1742-1866.

25 Feb 7. Singers, Voice-Types, and Roles: Francesco Benucci as Leporello [Prof. John Platoff]

Readings:

Introduction to Dorothea Link. Arias For Francesco Benucci: Mozart's First Figaro And Guglielmo. Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 2002.

Julian Rushton. “Buffo roles in Mozart’s Vienna: tessitura and tonality as signs of characterization.” In Opera buffa in Mozart's Vienna, edited by Mary Hunter and James Webster, 406-25. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Pieces to study:

--from Don Giovanni: “Notte e giorno faticar” from the Act 1 Introduzione; the “Catalogue” aria; the Act 2 sextet.

--from Salieri’s La grotta di Trofonio: “Spirti invisibili” Recording    Score

    and

“Questo magico abituro.” Recording    Score

[Texts and translations in the Link introduction]

--from Le nozze di Figaro: “Se vuol ballare,” “Non più andrai farfallone amoroso” and “Aprite un po’ quegl’ occhi” [Resources above]

While Don Giovanni was created for Prague, Mozart no doubt had the leading Viennese singers in mind, knowing that the opera would be performed there as well. How did Mozart (and perhaps Da Ponte) decide which of the Viennese singers would perform which roles in the opera?

Why would Mozart have assigned Benucci the role of Leporello rather than that of Don Giovanni?

Did Mozart create vocal numbers to fit his singers “like a suit of clothes,” or did he think more in terms of vocal types, as Rushton suggests?

What can we learn about Benucci’s capabilities from other music he is known to have sung--especially numbers written expressly for him (as in Le nozze di Figaro and Salieri’s La grotta di Trofonio)?

How do the vocal characterizations of Benucci as Leporello, as Figaro and as Trofonio differ from one another? What do you think are the reasons for these differences?

Figaro and Don Giovanni casts

4 Mar 8. Critical approaches

Please read the following articles illustrating various approaches to Don Giovanni.

Edmund J. Goehring. "Episode and necessity in 'Non ti fidar' from Don Giovanni." In Mozart studies, edited by Simon P. Keefe, 137-62. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Benjamin Perl. "Mozart in Turkey." Cambridge Opera Journal 12 (2001): 219-35.

Stephen Rumph. "The sense of touch in 'Don Giovanni.'" Music & Letters 88 (2007): 561-88.

Elaine Sisman. "The marriages of Don Giovanni: persuasion, impersonation and personal responsibility." In Mozart studies, edited by Simon P. Keefe, 163-92. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Jessica Waldoff. "Don Giovanni: recognition denied." In Opera buffa in Mozart's Vienna, edited by Mary Hunter and James Webster, 286-307. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Laurel Elizabeth Zeiss. "Permeable boundaries in Mozart's Don Giovanni." Cambridge Opera Journal 13 (2001): 115-39.

11 Mar 9. Gazzaniga/Bertati: Don Giovanni

Recording: Weil [Includes only the set numbers, not the simple recitative]
Original libretto, including Il capriccio drammatico Act I    Act II
Libretto and translation: Part 1   Part 2
Libretto in proper verse forms
Score [optional] on reserve: M1500.G39 D6   PDF: 01    02    03    04    05    06    07    08    09
Outline
Arias by character

Drawing on the resources above and the readings below, make a complete study of Gazzaniga and Bertati's Don Giovanni. Prepare a presentation on some aspect of the piece that interests you--finale construction, aria types and distribution, poetic organization, topics and rhythmic gesture, relationship to Mozart and Da Ponte's piece (in some particular respect), ensemble construction, relationship between Il capriccio drammatico and Don Giovanni, etc. Please e-mail the entire seminar as you settle on a topic.

Stefan Kunze. [Introduction to the edition above.]

John Platoff. "Catalogue arias and the 'catalogue aria.'" In Wolfgang Amade Mozart: Essays on his life and music, edited by Stanley Sadie, 296-311. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.

Nino Pirrotta. "The Traditions of Don Juan Plays and Comic Operas." Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association 107 (1980-81): 60-70.

Stefan Kunze. Don Giovanni vor Mozart: die Tradition der Don-Giovanni-Opern im italienischen Buffa-Theater des 18. Jahrhunderts. Munich, 1972 [ILL request pending]

Edward Forman. "Don Juan before Da Ponte." In W. A Mozart. Don Giovanni, edited by Julian Rushton, 27-44. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

25 Mar 10. Don Giovanni on film

[Sellars]

Videodisc ADB0702 [Reserve]
VHS M1500.M84 D5423 1991 pt. 1 and pt. 2 [Reserve]

Program notes [from the stage production]

[Losey]
VTP-S .M939 A.2-84 [Reserve]

Drawing on the videos and readings below, make a study of the Sellars and Losey films of Don Giovanni. Prepare a presentation on some aspect that interests you. Please e-mail the entire seminar as you settle on a topic.

Marcia Citron. Opera on screen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. Chapter 1 [Introduction], Chapter 5 [Losey], Chapter 6 [Sellars], notes.

Marcia Citron. "Absence and presence in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's film Le nozze di Figaro." In Between opera and cinema, edited by Joengwon Joe and Rose Theresa, 133-53. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Jeremy Tambling. Opera, ideology and film. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. Chapter 6 [Bergman Magic Flute], Chapter 8 [Losey Don Giovanni].

1 Apr 11. Reception

Please read the essay by Everist and as many essays as you possibly can from the Goehr/Herwitz collection. Prepare a presentation on some aspect of the work's reception that interests you. Please e-mail the entire seminar as you settle on a topic.

Mark Everist. "Enshrining Mozart: 'Don Giovanni' and the Viardot Circle." 19th-Century Music 25 (2001): 165-189 .

Lydia Goehr and Daniel Herwitz, eds. The Don Giovanni moment. Essays on the legacy of an opera. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. [ML410.M9 D63; Oncourse]

15 Apr  13. Così fan tutte

Recordings:   Östman    Jacobs    Solti    Levine
Score [online]
Score [reserve] M1500.M93 C83 1983
Libretto and translation: Act I    Act II    Just the set numbers
Outline
Arias by character
Cast

For background on the work's genesis, you can read

Bruce Alan Brown. W. A. Mozart. Così fan tutte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Chapter 2, chapter 4, chapter 5.

And for optional but entertaining further context

Pierpaolo Polzonetti. "Mesmerizing Adultery: 'Cosi fan tutte' and the Kornman Scandal." Cambridge Opera Journal 14 (2002): 263-296.

For an interpretive perspective of the opera, please read

Edmund J. Goehring. "Despina, Cupid and the Pastoral Mode of 'Cosi fan tutte.'" Cambridge Opera Journal 7 (1995): 107-133. [Goehring examines the work from three perspectives in his book, on reserve.]

In class we'll examine and analyze some numbers.