tbh productions of don giovanni that are like “don giovanni should have Nuance because then it’s interesting” miss the point entirely. the don is supposed to be a hollow stereotype and little else because the opera isn’t about him at all

don giovanni is an opera about a bunch of people and how they deal with a truly evil person, with leporello and elvira being the actual main characters at play. the don having nuance takes away from that- he’s really moreso a mirror for the other characters to reflect upon

even the music of the opera reflects that- every character in the opera has their unique musical style that sets them apart and makes them identifiable. everyone but the don that is, who simply parrots the styles around him without having one of his own

that’s also why the don died supernaturally- as a flat character surrounded by realistic characters, he’s on another plane of reality from them. as he lives unnaturally, he must die naturally too.

and note he only dies after leporello and elvira- the main characters and the only characters in the opera that truly love and care about the don- turn on them. he can’t operate without them there.

because it’s really that moment when he dies, not when the statue sends him to hell. the don is nothing but a set of facades- and when the only few who care about him finally see through the facades once and for all, what else is there?

also like. i’m going to be real with you chiefs leporello and donna elvira are way more interesting characters than literally anything you could do with don giovanni and work much better as protagonists send tweet