Why did some 19th-century performances end with Don Giovanni’s descent into hell?

In the 19th century, many performances of Don Giovanni concluded with the protagonist's descent into hell rather than with the opera's original final scene. This choice was driven by the immense dramatic power of the scene in which the ghost of the Commandant appears to demand repentance from the libertine.1

The music accompanying this supernatural encounter is among the most formidable that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ever composed, utilizing trombones, extreme chromaticism, and jarring harmonies to underscore the gravity of the moment. Because this climax is so intense, it often overshadowed the subsequent epilogue—a cheerful sextet where the surviving characters reflect on the restoration of social order. For many 19th-century audiences and producers, ending the work at the moment of Don Giovanni’s damnation provided a more fitting and impactful conclusion to the story than the lighthearted moralizing that followed.12