Donna Elvira from Mozart’s Don Giovanni is a very interesting character. Mozart has her characterizes both in opera seria and opera buffa. I will be analyzing her character and how Mozart composed her music and Da Ponte’s libretto to reflect Donna Elvira. Donna Elvira is unwavering in her goal throughout the opera. She is in love with Don Giovanni even while being completely aware of his faults. We are first introduced to her character through Don Giovanni and Leporello. Don Giovanni states that he smells a beautiful woman. Donna Elvira enters looking for the monster that has been unfaithful to her. She is a humiliated, angry and determined woman. The determination can be seen clearly in this musical example: As she continues her aria, …show more content…
During this aria part of the trio, it brings out her opera seria side. However, as Don Giovanni and Leporello enter into the scene we see a more buffa style in the characters. In the recitative that immediately follows Elvira doesn’t allow either man to get a word in. Mozart smartly composes her recitative to go through multiple keys before Leporello is even allowed to fully speak. We are able to see her character go through her anger over this heartbreak but also to see her soft spot for Don Giovanni. Donna Elvira doesn’t appear again until she stops Don Giovanni going off with Zerlina. Zerlina is about to be married to Masetto, and has been seduced by Don Giovanni. Donna Elvira, in an almost comic way of stopping Don Giovanni from getting what he wants, lets Zerlina know that he is a cad. In a fury she replies to Don Giovanni’s lying ways with “Ah, fuggi il traditor”. The vocal line as well as the accompaniment have a dynamic rhythm such as: The rhythmic pattern in this piece is very clear and baroque Handelian style. It could also allude to Donna Elvira’s previous part of her life being a nun in a convent. This aria shows Donna Elvira’s not only her anger but also her deeply human, unpredictable, and bewildered