Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a Classical composer and musician. He completed more than 800 works in his life—including outstanding examples of most of the genres of his time: symphonies, concertos, chamber music, opera and choral music—and is regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.
Don JuanDon Juan (Spanish:), also known as Don Giovanni (Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanishlibertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra (The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest) by Tirso de Molina.
OperaOpera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet.
Lorenzo Da PonteLorenzo Da Ponte (né Emanuele Conegliano; 10 March 1749 – 17 August 1838) was an Italian and American librettist, poet and Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's most celebrated operas: The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790). He was the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University, and with Manuel Garcia, the first to introduce Italian opera to America.Dramma giocosoDramma giocoso (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: drammi giocosi) is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of dramma giocoso per musica and describes the opera's libretto (text). The genre developed in the Neapolitan opera tradition, mainly through the work of the playwright Carlo Goldoni in Venice. A dramma giocoso characteristically used a grand buffo (comic or farce) scene as a dramatic climax at the end of an act.
LibrettoA libretto (from the Italian word libretto, lit.'booklet') is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also sometimes used to refer to the story line of a ballet or the texts of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem, or sacred cantata. The Italian word libretto (pronounced, plurallibretti) is the diminutive of the word ("book").
Rake (stock character)In a historical context, a rake (short for rakehell, analogous to "") was a man who was habituated to immoral conduct, particularly womanizing. Often, a rake was also prodigal, wasting his (usually inherited) fortune on gambling, wine, women, and song, and incurring massive debts in the process. Cad is a closely related term. Comparable terms are "libertine", "roué" and "debauchee".
The Trickster of Seville and the Stone GuestThe Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest (Spanish: El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra) is a play traditionally attributed to Tirso de Molina, although several scholars now attribute it to Andrés de Claramonte. Its title varies according to the English translation, and it has also been published under the titles The Seducer of Seville and the Stone Guest and The Playboy of Seville and the Stone Guest.
Köchel catalogueThe Köchel catalogue (German: Köchel-Verzeichnis) is a catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, originally created by Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, in which the entries are abbreviated K. or KV. Its numbers reflect the ongoing task of compiling the chronology of Mozart's works, and provide a shorthand reference to the compositions. For example, according to Köchel's counting, Requiem in D minor is the 626th piece Mozart composed, thus is designated K. 626.Don (honorific)The terms Don (in Spanish and Italian), Dom (in Portuguese), and Domn (in Romanian), are honorific prefixes derived from the Latin Dominus, meaning "lord" or "owner". The honorific is commonly used in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well as in the Spanish-speaking world and Portuguese-speaking world, as well as some other places formerly colonized by Spain or Portugal.LibertineA libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour observed by the larger society. The values and practices of libertines are known collectively as libertinism or libertinage and are described as an extreme form of hedonism or liberalism.
Tirso de MolinaGabriel Téllez, O. de M. (24 March 1583 – 20 February 1648), also known as Tirso de Molina, was a Spanish Baroque dramatist and poet, as well as a Mercedarian friar, and Catholic priest. He is primarily known for writing The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest, the play from which the character Don Juan originates. His work also includes female protagonists and the exploration of sexual issues.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.