Don Giovanni With members of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program and the WNO Orchestra Conducted by Israel Gursky Production directed by John Pascoe Presented in the Kennedy Center Opera House
Operatic Magic: Anything can happen at the Opera Crazy parties? Bloody swordfights? Singing statues? Anything can happen at the opera. Welcome to an Opera Look-In, where you’ll get a sneak peek behind the magical and imaginary world of opera and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
PERFORMANCE GUIDE
featuring scenes from Mozart’s
Cuesheet
Opera Look-In
Taking You Behind the Curtain WNO’s Backstage team Meet our team of “opera-makers” who’ll help take you through the ins and outs of opera performance. Their business is to make the impossible seem possible!
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The Choreographer
The Stage Manager
The Conductor
The person responsible for the opera’s coordinated movements, such as dances or ballets. Some productions even have a special fight choreographer, like the one you’ll meet today, who designs the movements behind any and all battles onstage.
The stage manager keeps the performance running smoothly and oversees lighting, set and prop changes, entrances and exits—anything you can think of!
The person in charge of all things musical. He or she helps keep the instruments and singers in time by maintaining a beat and also giving clues as to how the music should sound (i.e., loud, soft, furious, or romantic).
The Vocal Coach
The Costume Director
The vocal coach helps the singers prepare their music before they rehearse with the other instruments, and helps them practice their “recitative” (lines that are sort of half speech, half song).
This person takes care of how the singers look and feel in their costumes, shoes, and accessories. The costume designer also decides who wears what and when.
The Wig and Makeup Artist The person who creates all the makeup effects for a singer’s face, hair, and skin. They’ll make the performers look more like their characters by helping them appear older, younger, or—as with the Commendatore in Don Giovanni— more frightening.
“Once Upon a Time…” Creating an Imaginary World
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What’s the story?
o, when you’re building a world where anything is possible, where do you begin? Read on for a guide to what you’ll see on stage today.
Don Giovanni tells the tale of a young nobleman who tries to chase as many ladies as he can—but gets himself into some big trouble as a result. One night, his attempts to woo a wealthy noblewoman go horribly wrong and he ends up committing murder. Though he then spends much of the opera flirting with everyone—including his former girlfriend, Donna Elvira, and the sweet peasant girl, Zerlina—it’s only a matter of time before his evil past catches up with him.
What is an opera anyway? “Opera” is a story told through music. Instead of speaking, the characters sing through their thoughts and emotions. Sometimes the characters sing by themselves (this is called an “aria,” pronounced AHR-ee-uh), and sometimes they sing in groups of two or more. Today, you’ll hear up to seven characters singing at once. There’s also an orchestra that uses different combinations of instruments at different times.
Meet the Cast Operatic music calls for many different kinds of singing, from the very high to the very low, and singers tend to fall into separate categories, based roughly on how high or low they can sing. Don Giovanni features eight different voices, each falling under a voice category or type:
Things to listen for:
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how the musicians help set a mood by playing or singing extra fast, extra slow, extra loud, or extra soft
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how the instruments play along with the singers and support them, while occasionally doing their own thing and playing a separate tune how characters often appear to be singing and speaking at the same time
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Don Giovanni, a young nobleman (baritone – a middle-range male voice) Leporello, his servant (bass – the lowest male voice) Donna Anna, a young noblewoman (soprano – the highest female voice) Commendatore, a military commander and Donna Anna’s father (bass) Don Ottavio, a young nobleman engaged to Donna Anna (tenor – the highest male voice) Donna Elvira, a young noblewoman and Don Giovanni’s former love (soprano) Zerlina, a peasant girl (soprano) Masetto, her fiancé (bass)
Putting It Together The Stuff That Dreams Are Made of
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t takes a whole lot of effort to create an opera. Sometimes as many as 70 people can be working at once during a single performance. We’ve put together an “Opera Checklist” to give you an idea of all the things you need to put on a masterpiece like Don Giovanni. If you see or hear any of the items on this list during the Look-In, check them off, just like a stage manager would do during the performance.
Orchestra Players Those people in the dark pit at the foot of the stage. Their instruments keep the opera on its musical feet. Listen carefully for the fortepiano (an 18th-century keyboard), which accompanies the singers’ recitative.
Props Those items onstage, like swords, wine glasses, food, etc., that are touched and used by the singers at certain times and chosen especially by the director.
Sets The stuff that gives the opera a sense of place, including the walls, windows, furniture, and those specially textured “scrims” that also count as set pieces.
Costumes Anything the characters wear, including hats, shoes, and jewelry. Sometimes, designers have to gather information about what the characters are wearing from the words sung in the opera. For example: Donna Anna mentions that Don Giovanni is in disguise in the first scene.
Lights Special lights set up all around the theater that help you see the action onstage and give you clues about the story, such as the time of day. Plastic “gels” are used to change the color of the lights and metal “gobos” are used to create different shadows or textures.
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For Teachers
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ear Teachers: Here are some thoughts and activities to share with students before the curtain rises and a little bit of homework fun for when it comes down.
Before the Look-In Pre-Opera Prep Ask students what they think the experience of opera might be like. What sights and sounds do they expect? Be sure to point out that operas are similar to movies; they have something for everyone (romance, comedy, action, thrills).
Playlist Shuffle Have students consider what type of music they enjoy. Do any of their favorite songs tell a story? Ask them to think about how this idea can apply to an opera.
Fun with Instruments Today, students will hear a full-sized orchestra. Can students list the four orchestra families? Ask them what instruments they can identify by ear. Listen for these unique sounds during the show.
After the Look-In Role Reversal Many singers have tackled both Don Giovanni and Leporello on stage. Do students think these characters are similar? Have each student create mock text messages between the nobleman and his servant and read them aloud without indicating which character is speaking. Can the class identify who’s who?
Spoiler Alert The overture music and the music in the final scene of the opera were designed to sound alike. Do students think Mozart spoils the ending by playing the finale music during the opening? With older students, discuss foreshadowing and the ways it might be used on stage (Hint: music, sets, lighting, lyrics).
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Re-entering Reality A Few Things to Know Before the Final Bows About the Composer… Even if you’ve never heard classical music before, odds are you’ve heard of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Mozart began composing at age five and went on to become a master musician, writing symphonies, operas, and more—all in just 35 years of life. Don Giovanni is one of three operas he created with the writer Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the words to the songs you’ll hear today.
David M. Rubenstein Chairman Michael M. Kaiser President Darrell M. Ayers Vice President, Education
Michael L. Mael Executive Director Francesca Zambello Artistic Advisor David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of WNO. The Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program is made possible through the generous support of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Support for Opera Look-Ins is provided by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation.
ozart’s music helped pave the way for many future composers, and his works are among the most performed in concert halls and opera houses around the world.
About Our Guest Storyteller… Does the storyteller’s face look familiar? That’s because she’s Andrea Roane, anchor for Washington D.C.’s WUSA TV, Channel 9 and host of the morning news. A broadcaster for more than 30 years, Ms. Roane has received many awards and honors.
Support for Washington National Opera education programs is provided by Prince Charitable Trusts; The Morningstar Foundation; The Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation; and National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Additional support for Performances for Young Audiences is provided in part by The Clark Charitable Foundation; Mr. James V. Kimsey; The Macy*s Foundation; The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; the Park Foundation, Inc.; the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; an endowment from the Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation; the U.S. Department of Education; the Verizon Foundation; Washington Gas; and by generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund, and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.
www.kennedy-center.org/artsedge Look-In is produced by ARTSEDGE, an education program of the Kennedy Center. ARTSEDGE is a part of Thinkfinity.org, a consortium of free educational Web sites for K-12 teaching and learning. Learn more about Education at the Kennedy Center at www.kennedy-center.org/education The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement from the Federal Government. © 2012 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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Cover photo by Roy Blunt