It seems hardly possible to write critically of the music of ’Le Nozze di Figaro,’ Mozart had in a superabundant degree that power which is characteristic of our greatest novelists, of infusing the breath of life into his characters.  We rise from seeing a performance of ‘Le Nozze,’ with no consciousness of the art employed, but with a feeling of having assisted in an actual scene in real life.  It is not until afterwards that the knowledge is forced upon us that this convincing presentment of nature is the result of a combination of the purest inspiration of genius with the highest development of art.  Mozart knew everything that was to be known about music, and ‘Le Nozze di Figaro,’ in spite of its supreme and unapproachable beauty, is really only the legitimate outcome of two centuries of steady development.  Perhaps the most striking feature of the work is the absolute consistency of the whole.  In spite of the art with which the composer has Individualised his characters, there is no clashing between the different types of music allotted to each.  As for the music itself, if the exuberant youthfulness of ’Die Entfuehrung’ has been toned down to a serener flow of courtliness, we are compensated for the loss by the absence of the mere bravura which disfigures many of the airs in the earlier work.  The dominant characteristic of the music is that wise and tender sympathy with the follies and frailties of mankind, which moves us with a deeper pathos than the most terrific tragedy ever penned.  It is perhaps the highest achievement of the all-embracing genius of Mozart that he made an artificial comedy of intrigue, which is trivial when it is not squalid, into one of the great music dramas of the world.

Mozart’s next work, ‘Don Giovanni’ (October 29, 1787), was written for Prague, a city which had always shown him more real appreciation than Vienna.  It was adapted by Da Ponte from a Spanish tale which had already been utilised by Moliere.  Although, so far as incident goes, it is not perhaps an ideal libretto, it certainly contains many of the elements of success.  The characters are strongly marked and distinct, and the supernatural part of the story, which appealed particularly to Mozart’s imagination and indeed determined him to undertake the opera, is managed with consummate skill.

Don Giovanni, a licentious Spanish nobleman, who is attracted by the charms of Donna Anna, the daughter of the Commandant of Seville, breaks into her palace under cover of night, in the hope of making her his own.  She resists him and calls for help.  In the struggle which ensues the Commandant is killed by Don Giovanni, who escapes unrecognised.  Donna Elvira, his deserted wife, has pursued him to Seville, but he employs his servant Leporello to occupy her attention while he pays court to Zerlina, a peasant girl, who is about to marry an honest clodhopper named Masetto.  Donna Anna now recognises Don Giovanni as her father’s assassin, and communicates her