Leporello (Mozart: Don Giovanni). Bass. Don Giovanni's manservant. He is obliged to help his master in his amorous adventures, keeping watch for him when he seduces ladies. Tries to convince Donna Elvira of Giovanni's terrible nature by reciting a list of his master's seductions including, in Spain, 1, 003 conquests. Forced to change clothes with his master to help assist in yet another seduction, he is mistaken for the Don by Donna Anna and her fellow-conspirators, who are determined to reveal Giovanni as a murderer. He has to run for his life. Terrified when it speaks to them in the graveyard, he fails to prevent Giovanni inviting the Commendatore's statue to dinner. After Giovanni's demise, Leporello departs in search of a new master. Aria: Madamina, il catalogo è questo (‘My dear lady, here is a list’ - the so-called Catalogue Aria). Created (1787) by Felice Ponziani. See also article by Bryn Terfel, p. 220.
LEPORELLO
(Don Giovanni - Mozart)
by Bryn Terfel
From day one, Leporello fell nicely into my vocal bass-baritone category, which is half the battle. But what an opera! Two men constantly at the centre of the action - tumbling, rolling, throwing each other into skirmishes without any inhibitions. After a night of ‘Leporelloing’ I feel as if I've played in a rugby international.
One of the most fascinating things about this character is his relationship with his master, Don Giovanni. It is clear that neither one could exist without the other. They feed on one another like parasites, thus creating a strange telepathic understanding. There is no doubt at all who is the master. When the manservant sidekick has time to himself, he grumbles constantly and longs to break free, but he would be unable to do so of his own accord. Leporello's whole being is enhanced by the precarious life his master leads and the unexpected adventures which result from this. On the one hand they reverse, rather badly, the master-servant relationship, and on the other hand, Leporello is thrown by his master into numerous life-threatening situations. Clearly Leporello is a descendant of the commedia dell'arte tradition, but he also has a devilishly cynical gusto that has created a lethal weapon to crush the desires of any female admirer of the Don. Donna Elvira, after being subjected by Leporello to the infamous ‘Catalogue aria’, would testify to this. (I once forgot this essential list on the holy Salzburg stage. I somehow managed to sneak away during Elvira's aria, returning in the nick of time, to the amazement of my Don, to sing a rather harassed Così ne consolo mille e otto cento.) In my opinion, being a good servant is important to Leporello: it is evident he takes incredible pride in keeping tally of his master's conquests, and when he serves the Don that final fateful dinner, he does so with the utmost professionalism. But at the same time, his attitude is ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’. This is highlighted in the final minutes of the opera when, after the soul-searching, conscience-ridden ‘Aaaagh’ of the Don as he descends into the fires of hell, Leporello, with no regrets, no tears, goes off to the tavern to seek a better master.
I have had a fabulous time with this character, but it is not without its hazards. During a dress rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Leporello was constantly picking up Giovanni's cast-offs: his rings, his sword, cape, hat, boots, mandolin, and the odd conquest - the only thing I didn't have to bend and pick up was the catalyst of the entire drama, the body of the Commendatore after the Don savagely disposes of him in the first five minutes of the work. Unfortunately, the constant tendering and the raked stage played havoc with my back and I slipped a disc, resulting in cancelled performances and keyhole surgery to remove the offending part (from which I am fully recovered and able to throw myself back - no pun intended - into this glorious role). It was a potent reminder of what it is really like to become the overworked manservant. Perhaps when the time comes I should take a leaf out of Leporello's book and go to that same tavern to seek a servant of my own for my future new character.
