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Don Giovanni

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart · 1787

Mozart's 1787 opera about the legendary libertine Don Juan, written for Prague and blending comedy with the supernatural.

Mozart composed and personally conducted the premiere of this opera in Prague in 1787.

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Handwritten manuscript score on aged paper, first page of the overture titled 'Ouverture' with 'Don Juan' written above. Multiple staves of notated music in ink, with a library stamp and shelfmark near the bottom.
Manuscript, first page of the overture of Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1787.

About this source

What it is

Don Giovanni (K. 527) is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on the old Spanish legend of Don Juan. It premiered at the National Theatre in Prague on 29 October 1787.

Why it matters

The opera shows Mozart's success outside Vienna, especially in Prague, where contemporary reports described enthusiastic audiences and his own conducting at the premiere. It mixes comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements, and Mozart later revised it for Vienna, adding new arias. The surviving manuscript lets historians see exactly how Mozart composed and revised his music.

Look closer

  • What does the manuscript page tell you about how Mozart wrote and organised his music?
  • Why might a composer blend comedy with ghostly, supernatural scenes?
  • How did audiences in Prague and Vienna react differently, based on contemporary reports?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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