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Which earlier writers and plays influenced the Don Giovanni story?
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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.
The story of Don Giovanni is rooted in popular legend, which was first given a definitive literary form in the 17th-century Spanish tragic drama El burlador de Sevilla (The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest), attributed to the dramatist Tirso de Molina.21
Following Tirso’s original work, the legend evolved through various adaptations that influenced the development of the character and the narrative structure used by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte:
- Strolling Players: In the 17th century, the story became a staple for Italian traveling performers, who integrated the theme into their pantomime repertoires and brought it to France.2
- French Adaptations: The legend was further shaped by various French arrangements, most notably Molière’s play Dom Juan; ou, Le Festin de pierre (1665).2
Da Ponte is credited with the ability to infuse these borrowed themes with new life, skillfully interweaving tragic and comic elements to create the libretto for Don Giovanni in 1787.3