Da Ponte operas explained

The Da Ponte operas, or Mozart–Da Ponte trilogy, are the three operas composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart based on libretti by Lorenzo da Ponte:

All created for the Court Opera in Vienna, they are in Italian, the language considered most suitable for opera at the time, and are Mozart’s most popular operas apart from German: [[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]|label=none and The Magic Flute, composed on German libretti in the German: [[Singspiel]]|label=none genre.

All three are in the genre of Italian: [[opera buffa]]|label=none, with the urgency of a story covering a single day. Despite the light and comic character implied by the genre, they express an aspiration to freedom inspired by the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and deal with themes which were daring for their time, especially with regards to religion (Don Giovanni), politics (Marriage), and morality (Italian: Così|label=none).[1] Other common topics include the search for love or for sexual pleasure, disguise (especially transvestism) and the ensuing mistaken identities, the harassment of women by men, and the conflicts between master and servant.[2]

Productions as a cycle

Although the three operas were designed by Mozart and Da Ponte as completely separate, some stage directors endeavoured to produce them as a single story, in order to stress the continuities and echoes between them:

Literature

Notes and References

  1. News: La trilogie Mozart par Marc Minkowski et Ivan Alexandre. fr. 22 January 2023. 16 January 2023. Sceneweb.
  2. News: Trilogia Mozart Da Ponte – Bruxelles (La Monnaie). fr. 22 January 2023. 22 February 2020. Claude. Jottrand. Forum Opéra.
  3. News: Mozart, da Ponte et l'Opéra de Bordeaux : Trilogie du désir. 22 January 2023. fr. Joël. Heuillon. Olyrix.
  4. News: Clarac-Delœuil > le Lab : « La soirée d'opéra doit tester notre présent ». fr. 22 January 2023. 17 February 2020. Violette. Viannay. Forum Opéra.