“Don Giovanni” – Act 2

ACT TWO

Scene One

A street near an inn. Night. Duet DON GIOVANNI Go on, clown, don’t annoy me! LEPORELLO No, no, master, I won’t stay! DON GIOVANNI Listen, my friend - LEPORELLO I want to go, I tell you! DON GIOVANNI But what have I done to you that you want to leave me? LEPORELLO O, nothing at all. You almost killed me. DON GIOVANNI Go on, you are mad! It was only a joke. LEPORELLO And I am not joking. I want to go. (Leporello starts to go.)

LEPORELLO As long as we leave the women alone. DON GIOVANNI Leave the women alone? You’re mad! You know that they are more necessary to me than the bread I eat! Than the air I breathe! LEPORELLO Do you have the gall, then, to betray them all? DON GIOVANNI Love is much the same in any form. He who remains faithful to one is being cruel to the others; I, who have an overabundance of sentiment, love them all. Since women cannot think clearly, they call my natural, kindly feelings betrayal. LEPORELLO I have never come across kindness more abundantly dispensed! Now then, what is it you want me to do? DON GIOVANNI Listen! Have you seen Donna Elvira’s little maid? LEPORELLO I? No.

DON GIOVANNI Then you have missed something, my dear Leporello. Now I want to try out my luck with her, and I thought, since it is almost evening, that I would whet her appetite all the more by presenting myself disguised in your clothes. LEPORELLO And why couldn’t you present yourself in your own clothes? DON GIOVANNI A nobleman’s clothes are not very popular among people of her class. (He removes his cloak.) Come on, hurry up! LEPORELLO Sir, for more than one reason - DON GIOVANNI Keep quiet! I can’t stand being argued with! (They exchange cloaks and hats. Donna Elvira appears at a window of the inn.) Trio DONNA ELVIRA Keep still, unjust heart! Do not beat so within my breast! He is a villain, a betrayer, and it is wrong to feel pity.

DONNA ELVIRA So then, can I believe that my tears have won over your heart? That, penitent, my beloved Don Giovanni returns to his duty and to my love? LEPORELLO Yes, my dear! DONNA ELVIRA Cruel one, if you knew how many tears and sighs you cost me! LEPORELLO I, my own? DONNA ELVIRA You. LEPORELLO Poor girl, how sorry I am! DONNA ELVIRA Will you ever run away from me again? LEPORELLO No, my angel. DONNA ELVIRA Will you be mine for ever? LEPORELLO For ever.

(Don Giovanni springs out of hiding and pretends to be waylaying someone.) DON GIOVANNI Ha, ha, ha! Death to you! DONNA ELVIRA, LEPORELLO Ye gods! (They run off.) DON GIOVANNI Ha, ha, ha! Fate seems to be on my side! Now let’s see. These are the windows. Let us serenade them. (He picks up a mandolin left behind by Leporello and begins to accompany himself.) Canzonetta Come to the window, my treasure, come to console my lament. If you deny me some relief, I want to die before your eyes! You whose mouth is sweeter than honey, you whose heart cradles sweet desires! Do not, my beloved, be cruel to me! At least let me see you, my loved one! Recitative DON GIOVANNI There’s someone at the window! Perhaps she! Pst! Pst! (Masetto enters followed by a group of peasants.)

MASETTO The villain, the scoundrel broke my bones and shattered my nerves. ZERLINA Oh, poor me! Who? MASETTO Leporello, or some devil who looks like him! ZERLINA Cruel man, didn’t I warn you that this insane jealousy of yours would bring some trouble? Where does it hurt? MASETTO Here. ZERLINA And then? MASETTO Here, and also here! ZERLINA Nothing else hurts? MASETTO This foot hurts a little, this arm, and this hand.

Scene Two

A dark courtyard of Donna Anna’s house Recitative LEPORELLO I see lights all around us, my love. Let us stay hidden here until they go away. DONNA ELVIRA What are you afraid of, my adored husband? LEPORELLO Nothing, nothing. Merely precautions. I’ll go and see if the lights are moving away from us. (aside) Oh, how to free myself of her? (aloud) Stay here, beloved! DONNA ELVIRA Ah, do not leave me!

Sextet Alone, in this dark place I feel my heart beating loudly, and such a fear assails me that I feel like dying. LEPORELLO The more I search for this door, the harder it is to find it. Softly, softly, I have found it! Here’s the moment to escape! (Donna Anna and Don Ottavio enter.) DON OTTAVIO Dry your eyes, my own, and ease your suffering! By now the shade of your father should have pity on your grief.

Recitative ZERLINA So it was you who, a short time ago, beat up my Masetto! DONNA ELVIRA So it was you who tricked me, rascal, passing yourself off as Don Giovanni! DON OTTAVIO So it was you who in this disguise came here to commit some felony? ZERLINA It’s up to me to punish him. DONNA ELVIRA No, to me. DON OTTAVIO No, no, to me. MASETTO Let us all have a hand in it.

Aria LEPORELLO Mercy, dear people! Have mercy on me! You are right to be angry, but the fault is not mine. My overbearing master led me astray. Donna Elvira, have pity! You know what happened. (to Zerlina) Of Masetto I know nothing, (indicating Donna Elvira) this lady will confirm it. For the past hour or thereabouts, we have been together. (to Don Ottavio) To you, sir, I say nothing, I was afraid, an unlucky chance, a light approaching, darkness within. No way out, the door, the wall, then... well... I started that way then hid over here, you know the rest. But had I known I’d have fled this way! (Leporello approaches the door and runs out.) Recitative DONNA ELVIRA Halt, villain, halt! MASETTO The rascal has wings on his feet! ZERLINA With that trick he escaped us, the wretch. DON OTTAVIO My friends, after such doings we can no longer doubt that Don Giovanni is the villainous murderer of Donna Anna’s father. Stay inside the house for a while, and shortly I promise you vengeance. This is the demand of pity, duty, and love!

Scene Three

LEPORELLO Feminine, for certain. DON GIOVANNI Can you doubt it? A damsel pretty, young, flirtatious, I met in the street; I drew near to her, took her hand. She tried to escape. I spoke a few words, and she mistook me for, but guess who? LEPORELLO I have no idea. DON GIOVANNI For Leporello. LEPORELLO For me? DON GIOVANNI For you. LEPORELLO How nice. DON GIOVANNI So then she took my hand. LEPORELLO Better still. DON GIOVANNI She caressed me, embraced me: “My dear Leporello! Leporello, my dear!” So I realised she was one of your conquests.

LEPORELLO Damn you! DON GIOVANNI Naturally I took advantage of her mistake. I don’t know how she recognised me, but suddenly she began to scream. I heard people coming and I ran away. Then quickly I climbed over that wall. LEPORELLO And you tell me this with such indifference? DON GIOVANNI Why not? LEPORELLO But what if this girl had been my wife? DON GIOVANNI Better still! THE STATUE OF THE COMMENDATORE You will have your last laugh before the next dawn! DON GIOVANNI Who spoke? LEPORELLO Ah, it must be some spirit from another world who knows you well.

DON GIOVANNI Keep quiet, you fool. Who goes there? (He puts his hand on his sword.) THE STATUE Audacious libertine! Leave the dead in peace! LEPORELLO I told you so! DON GIOVANNI It must be someone outside having a joke on us! Hey, isn’t this the Commendatore’s statue? Read the inscription. LEPORELLO Excuse me, but I never learned to read by moonlight. DON GIOVANNI Read, I tell you! LEPORELLO “Upon the base one who sent me to my death I here await vengeance.” Did you hear that? I’m afraid! DON GIOVANNI You old buffoon! Tell him that tonight I expect him to dinner!

THE STATUE Yes! LEPORELLO I can barely move, my strength, oh Lord, has fled! For pity’s sake, let’s go, let’s fly away from here! DON GIOVANNI The scene is truly strange, the old man will come to dinner. Let us go and prepare it, let us leave this place. (They leave.)

Scene Four

A room in Donna Anna’s house Recitative DON OTTAVIO Calm yourself, my beloved. We will see the base one punished for his grave crimes; and we will be avenged. DONNA ANNA But my father, Lord! DON OTTAVIO We must bow our heads to Heaven’s will. Compose yourself, my dear! If you wish, I will compensate tomorrow for your bitter loss, with my heart, my hand, my tender love. DONNA ANNA Ye gods! What are you saying at such a sad time? DON OTTAVIO What now? Would you with new sorrows increase my own grief? Cruel one!

Scene Five

DON GIOVANNI I understand none of this. LEPORELLO Ta ta ta ta! DON GIOVANNI You’ve gone out of your mind. (There is a loud knocking at the door.) LEPORELLO Ah, listen! DON GIOVANNI Someone knocks. Open the door! LEPORELLO I’m afraid! DON GIOVANNI Open it, I say! LEPORELLO Ah! DON GIOVANNI Open! LEPORELLO Ah! DON GIOVANNI Lunatic! To put an end to it I shall have to go myself.

LEPORELLO I have no wish to see that again, so quietly I’ll hide. (The statue enters. Leporello hides under the table.) THE STATUE Don Giovanni, you invited me to dinner and I have come! DON GIOVANNI I never would have believed it, but I will do what I can. Leporello, see to it that another dinner is served at once! LEPORELLO Ah, master, we are lost. DON GIOVANNI Go, I said! THE STATUE Wait a moment! He who dines on Heavenly food has no need for the food of the mor tals! Other more serious considerations have caused me to come here! LEPORELLO I feel as if I have a fever, for I cannot control my limbs. DON GIOVANNI Speak then! What do you ask? What do you wish?

Epilogue

DONNA ELVIRA, DONNA ANNA, ZERLINA, DON OTTAVIO, MASETTO Where is the villain? Where is the ingrate? All my rage I want to vent on him! DONNA ANNA Only when I see him bound in chains will my anguish be soothed. LEPORELLO Abandon hope of ever finding him. Give up your search, he has gone far away. THE OTHERS What has happened? Tell us! Come now, hurry up! LEPORELLO A giant came, but I can’t go on - THE OTHERS Quickly, tell us, hurry up!

libretto by William Murray, 1961