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Paolo and Francesca |
Don Giovanni is a man of immoderate desires. The outcome of a lifetime of vice.
The libretto bills this opera as “Dramma Giocoso”, a comedic opera. It opens with the nihilistic Don Giovanni attempting the rape of a young woman whose cries bring her father to her aid. Dad, perturbed at the attempted rape comes at the perp swinging his sword, and Don Giovanni, the poster child for poor impulse control ends up killing him. He follows this up by crashing a wedding and seducing the bride to be! Pretty funny, huh?
Actually the music and libretto imply a great deal of humour but the action is quite brutal. Think of it as a Mozart version of Pulp Fiction or Fargo. Don Giovanni makes the fatal mistake of inviting a golem/zombie to dinner, with predictable results. The opera ends with him in the eternal fire of hell.
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Hell Awaits Don Giovanni! |
Given his concupiscence I would imagine he would end up in circle two but it seems too lenient to have him in the same circle as the relatively benign Paolo and Francesca. Nope, I would put him in circle seven, in the river of blood, along with all the murderers…