jmc's classics
Today is the anniversary of the premier of Mozart's Don Giovani (K527) 1787 which took place in Prague. Today Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte(1749-1838) who was also a Catholic priest.
Don Giovani along with the magic Flute were Mozart's two most popular operas. Don Giovani is based on the legend of Don Juan. There are many plays and musical pieces about Don Juan. The first play was written in the early 17th Century by Spanish writer Tirso de Molina (1583-1648). Don Juan was a fictional Spanish nobleman and womanizer. He was also arrogant. Similar to the real life Casanova. Richard Strauss wrote a tome poem based on Don Juan (Opus#20). Tchaikovsky wrote the Don Juan Serenade which has been a popular concert piece. There are many parallels between Richard Strauss and Mozart. it would take too long to discuss. Mozart spent time in Prague. He also wrote other works there. This opera has ben popular even since. My first experience was hearing the tenor James Melton Sing the area Il Mio Tesoro around 1975. I heard it on a 78 rpm. There have been many good performances at the Met and other opera houses. There are a lot of good recordings of this work. The one that have is on the Gala label. IT features Williaiam Furtwangler as the conductor and features Cesare Siepi in hte title role plus Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Walter Berry and Erna Berger. It dates from 1954 and is an older recording. It is a three disc set. It also features exerpts form The Magic Flute. The Gala Lable features historic recordings of operas.
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