Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart La Ci Darem La Mano Duettino From Don Giovanni

Today Bridget Mermikides brings us her arrangement of this baritone and soprano duet from one of Mozart’s most famous operas, describing the antics of lothario Don Giovanni.

- Bridget Mermikides

In this issue, we examine yet another stunning work from the musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Mozart’s brilliance and productivity are of course well documented, and yet they’re still hard to fully appreciate. To provide some context, by the time he composed the opera Don Giovanni (from which this arrangement is taken), he was just 30 and had already composed hundreds of incredibly beautiful and skilled works, including a staggering 38 symphonies, 37 concerti, and 17 other operas. Compare that to certain modern bands with whom we readily tag with the title ‘genius’.

Don Giovanni was premiered in 1787 in Prague and advertised as what would now be considered a ‘drama-comedy’. It tells the story of the eponymous, arrogant, womanizing and amoral nobleman Don Giovanni and his shenanigans, before his ultimate unrepentant demise. Là Ci Darem La Mano appears in the first act of the opera and is a duet between our protagonist Don Giovanni and Zerlina, who is soon to be married.