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How did Don Giovanni’s reputation change after Mozart’s lifetime?

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Don Giovanni; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Don Giovanni Illustration (c. 1914) of a scene from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera *Don Giovanni* (1787), in which Don Giovanni attempts to seduce Zerlina.

While Don Giovanni was a success in Prague upon its 1787 premiere, it was an unusually intense work that was not entirely understood during Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s lifetime.1

Within a generation of the composer's death, however, the opera gained significant stature and was recognized as one of the greatest works in the genre. Its "demonic" character has since exercised a special fascination for audiences, inspiring a vast body of critical and interpretative literature.12

The perception of the work also evolved regarding its conclusion. The final scene, in which the surviving characters celebrate the restoration of social order, has often seemed jarring to later sensibilities that are more inclined to identify with the rebellious Don Juan than with the opera's moral resolution. Consequently, many performances throughout the 1800s chose to omit the final sextet, ending the production instead with the powerful scene of the libertine’s descent into hell.23