The Cleveland Opera

Don Giovanni

ACT I

Leporello waits outside a house where his master, Don Giovanni, is assaulting Donna Anna. She cries for help and her father, the Commendatore, runs to her assistance.

In the ensuing fight Don Giovanni kills the Commendatore. Donna Anna and her betrothed, Don Ottavio, vow revenge.

Donna Elvira, recently jilted by Don Giovanni, arrives in search of him. He escapes by leaving Leporello to read out his "book of conquests", in which the names of Don Giovanni's 2065 lovers are recorded.

Don Giovanni comes across a peasant wedding and promptly begins to charm the bride, Zerlina, but Elvira arrives and alerts her to his intentions.

Donna Anna and Don Ottavio then arrive, and as the Don takes his leave of them, Anna identifies him as the man who killed her father.

At a party held by Don Giovanni, Zerlina reassures her lover Masetto of her affections, but she begins to weaken in Don Giovanni's presence.

Wearing masks, Anna, Elvira and Ottavio arrive at the ball, which is interrupted by Zerlina's scream. She stumbles onto the stage, Don Giovanni attempts to blame Leporello for the attack, and Anna, Elvira and Ottavio unmask themselves to publicly denounce Don Giovanni.

ACT II

Don Giovanni exchanges his costume with Leporello and serenades Elvira's maid as soon as Elvira has left with Leporello, believing him to be the remorseful Don.

Masetto arrives with a gang of men who are intent on punishing Don Giovani. The Don, pretending to be Leporello, tells Masetto how to find the murderer, then beats Masetto half to death.

Don Giovanni and Leporello meet in a graveyard, where the statue of the Commendatore addresses them. Don Giovanni flippantly invites him to dinner.

The statue duly arrives and demands his repentance. Unbending, Don Giovanni is finally dragged screaming into hell.

The remaining characters plan their future and reflect on what they have learned.

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