As one of the most universally acclaimed and famous works of musical literature, Don Giovanni has truly stood the test of time. Boasting an exciting plot, uniquely dramatic music, and a colorful cast of characters, Don Giovanni is impressive in its ability to fully enthrall and captivate audiences due to the seamless blending of those three elements. First premiered in 1787, the opera incorporates elements of two styles of opera popular during the Classical time period, opera seria and opera buffa, which are prevalent in his female characters, and, in particular, Donna Anna and Zerlina, and their musical hallmarks throughout the opera. To begin with, opera seria and opera buffa contrast especially in the characterization prominent in the operatic …show more content…
The turbulence of her emotion is portrayed by her melodic lines throughout the duet, while the small accompanied recitative displays not only the vengeful nature of her character, but provides an important plot point - she has forced her fiancé to take an oath swearing that he will avenge her father. “Their triple cadence on the same words conveys their endless, ineffective attempts to bring resolution to their grief,” (“Anna/Ottavio Duet: "Fuggi, crudele, fuggi" ”) and this display of such distressed and despairing emotion is in contrast to Anna’s aria, “Non mi dir, bel idol mio,” which demonstrates the honest and complex human emotions that Anna is going through in the wake of all the drama currently surrounding her life, as she professes her love for Ottavio while grieving for her father. Perhaps even more striking is the overall theme of this aria: a sincere love. While Don Giovanni often provides a quite comical, if not at times somewhat invalidating, take on love - the ever serious Anna’s genuine expression of love for Ottavio is perhaps jarring in retrospect when compared to the opera’s typical approach to love. However, the aria and its placement and theme is completely necessary to truly reinforce her status as a seria character, complex and saddled with