The Vienna Don Giovanni
Aspects of Don Giovanni's compositional history are uncovered and the study provides for detailed evidence with which to evaluate Da Ponte's recollections. The essential truth of his account - that the revision of the operain Vienna was an interactive process - seems to be fully borne out. A general theory of transmission is proposed, which clarifies the relationship between the fluid text produced by re-creation and the static text generated by replication.

In the year following its 1787 Prague première, Don Giovanni was performed in Vienna. Everyone, according to the well-known account by Da Ponte, thought something was wrong with it. In response, Mozart made changes, producing a Vienna 'version' of the opera, cutting two of the original arias but inserting three newly-composed pieces. The dilemma faced by musicians and scholars ever since has been whether to preserve the opera in these two 'authentic' forms, or whether to fashion a hybrid text incorporating the best of both.
This study presents new evidence about the Vienna form of the opera, based on the examination of late eighteenth-century manuscript copies. The Prague Conservatory score is identified as the primary exemplar for the Viennese dissemination of Don Giovanni, which is shown to incorporate two quite distinct versions, represented by the performing materials in Vienna [O.A.361] and the early Lausch commercial copy in Florence. To account for this phenomenon, seen also in early sources of the Prague Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, a general theory of transmission for the Mozart Da Ponte operas is proposed, which clarifies the relationship between the fluid text produced by re-creation (performing) and the static text generated by replication (copying). Aspects of the compositional history of Don Giovanni are uncovered. Evidence to suggest that Mozart first considered an order in which Donna Elvira's scena precedes the comic duet 'Per queste tue manine' is assessed. The essential truth of Da Ponte's account - that the revision of the opera in Vienna was an interactive process, involving the views of performers, the reactions of audiences and the composer's responses - seems to be fully borne out. The final part of the study investigates the late eighteenth-century transmission of Don Giovanni. The idea that hybrid versions gained currency only in the nineteenth century or in the lighter Singspiel tradition is challenged.

IAN WOODFIELD is Professorand Director of Research at the School of Music and Sonic Arts, Queen's UniversityBelfast.
1141726983
The Vienna Don Giovanni
Aspects of Don Giovanni's compositional history are uncovered and the study provides for detailed evidence with which to evaluate Da Ponte's recollections. The essential truth of his account - that the revision of the operain Vienna was an interactive process - seems to be fully borne out. A general theory of transmission is proposed, which clarifies the relationship between the fluid text produced by re-creation and the static text generated by replication.

In the year following its 1787 Prague première, Don Giovanni was performed in Vienna. Everyone, according to the well-known account by Da Ponte, thought something was wrong with it. In response, Mozart made changes, producing a Vienna 'version' of the opera, cutting two of the original arias but inserting three newly-composed pieces. The dilemma faced by musicians and scholars ever since has been whether to preserve the opera in these two 'authentic' forms, or whether to fashion a hybrid text incorporating the best of both.
This study presents new evidence about the Vienna form of the opera, based on the examination of late eighteenth-century manuscript copies. The Prague Conservatory score is identified as the primary exemplar for the Viennese dissemination of Don Giovanni, which is shown to incorporate two quite distinct versions, represented by the performing materials in Vienna [O.A.361] and the early Lausch commercial copy in Florence. To account for this phenomenon, seen also in early sources of the Prague Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, a general theory of transmission for the Mozart Da Ponte operas is proposed, which clarifies the relationship between the fluid text produced by re-creation (performing) and the static text generated by replication (copying). Aspects of the compositional history of Don Giovanni are uncovered. Evidence to suggest that Mozart first considered an order in which Donna Elvira's scena precedes the comic duet 'Per queste tue manine' is assessed. The essential truth of Da Ponte's account - that the revision of the opera in Vienna was an interactive process, involving the views of performers, the reactions of audiences and the composer's responses - seems to be fully borne out. The final part of the study investigates the late eighteenth-century transmission of Don Giovanni. The idea that hybrid versions gained currency only in the nineteenth century or in the lighter Singspiel tradition is challenged.

IAN WOODFIELD is Professorand Director of Research at the School of Music and Sonic Arts, Queen's UniversityBelfast.
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The Vienna <I>Don Giovanni</I>

The Vienna Don Giovanni

by Ian Woodfield
The Vienna <I>Don Giovanni</I>

The Vienna Don Giovanni

by Ian Woodfield

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Overview

Aspects of Don Giovanni's compositional history are uncovered and the study provides for detailed evidence with which to evaluate Da Ponte's recollections. The essential truth of his account - that the revision of the operain Vienna was an interactive process - seems to be fully borne out. A general theory of transmission is proposed, which clarifies the relationship between the fluid text produced by re-creation and the static text generated by replication.

In the year following its 1787 Prague première, Don Giovanni was performed in Vienna. Everyone, according to the well-known account by Da Ponte, thought something was wrong with it. In response, Mozart made changes, producing a Vienna 'version' of the opera, cutting two of the original arias but inserting three newly-composed pieces. The dilemma faced by musicians and scholars ever since has been whether to preserve the opera in these two 'authentic' forms, or whether to fashion a hybrid text incorporating the best of both.
This study presents new evidence about the Vienna form of the opera, based on the examination of late eighteenth-century manuscript copies. The Prague Conservatory score is identified as the primary exemplar for the Viennese dissemination of Don Giovanni, which is shown to incorporate two quite distinct versions, represented by the performing materials in Vienna [O.A.361] and the early Lausch commercial copy in Florence. To account for this phenomenon, seen also in early sources of the Prague Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, a general theory of transmission for the Mozart Da Ponte operas is proposed, which clarifies the relationship between the fluid text produced by re-creation (performing) and the static text generated by replication (copying). Aspects of the compositional history of Don Giovanni are uncovered. Evidence to suggest that Mozart first considered an order in which Donna Elvira's scena precedes the comic duet 'Per queste tue manine' is assessed. The essential truth of Da Ponte's account - that the revision of the opera in Vienna was an interactive process, involving the views of performers, the reactions of audiences and the composer's responses - seems to be fully borne out. The final part of the study investigates the late eighteenth-century transmission of Don Giovanni. The idea that hybrid versions gained currency only in the nineteenth century or in the lighter Singspiel tradition is challenged.

IAN WOODFIELD is Professorand Director of Research at the School of Music and Sonic Arts, Queen's UniversityBelfast.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781843835868
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer, Limited
Publication date: 11/18/2010
Pages: 232
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

List of Tables viii

Preface x

A Note on the Use of the Term 'Score' xii

Glossary xiv

Abbreviations xv

Plot Summary xvi

Casts of the First Performances xviii

Introduction 1

1 The Prague Don Giovanni 13

A possible cut

Prague musical fingerprints

Errors

2 The Vienna Don Giovanni 31

The Graz score

The Court Theatre score (O.A.361/1)

The Court Theatre parts (O.A.361/Stimmen)

Later copies deriving from the Court Theatre score

The Lausch and Juilliard scores

The casting of the Vienna Don Giovanni

The full version (Vienna 1)

An intermediate version?

The final versions Vienna 2a and Vienna 2b

Da Ponte's story

3 The late eighteenth-century dissemination of Don Giovanni 115

Guardasoni's performances of Don Giovanni in 1788 and 1789

The reception of the Vienna Music in 1790s Prague

The 1798 Vienna revival

The autograph of Don Giovanni after Mozart's death

The Breitkopf & Härtel full score

Later manuscripts based on the published score

Conclusion 142

A theory of transmission

Summary

Appendix 1 Error transmission 151

1.1 A selection of Set A Prague errors

1.2 A selection of Set B Prague errors

1.3 A selection of readings in O.A.361/1 differing from the autograph

1.4 A selection of errors in O.A.361/1 deriving from the Prague Conservatory score

1.5 A selection of errors in O.A.361/1

Appendix 2 Page-break analysis 158

2.1 Prague version

2.2 Vienna 2a version (Lausch score)

2.3 Vienna 2a version (Julliard score)

2.4 Vienna 2b version

2.5 Graz score

Notes 189

Bibliography 203

Index 209

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