Don Giovanni needs no further praise from anyone; it is one of opera’s supreme masterpieces. It has been the subject of more interpretations than sin. Leporello, the Don’s put upon servant, is as interesting a character as is the Don. His Act 1 ‘Catalog Aria’ (Madamina, il catalogo è questo) is as famous as anything in the opera. Interestingly, Leporello gets a full fledged aria, while the Don does not.
The’ Catalog Aria’ occurs in Act 1 immediately after Donna Elvira has confronted the Don bitterly complaining about his desertion of her after he had seduced her. He used the promise of marriage to have his way with her. Giovanni departs, leaving his servant to deal with the spurned woman. He proceeds to present Elvira with a staggering list of the Don’s seductions. He informs her that his master has seduced more than two thousand women across Europe: 640 in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, and an astonishing 1003 in Spain.
The aria, which is essentially a list, reverses the usual slow-fast order of an Italian aria and cabaletta, taking the piece far beyond the enumeration of the Don’s conquests. It wittily and cruelly depicts the compulsive nature of Giovanni, calling to mind Freud’s dictum that a man who can’t find what he’s looking for in a 1000 women is looking for a man. Leporello’s catalog goes further than counting; it describes the kinds of women the Don pursues: young, old, rich, poor, beautiful, ugly, tall, short. In other words, every female. From today’s vantage, we can’t be sure that there aren’t as many men as women on Leporello’s pages.
The aria reveals a lot about Leporello. On the surface, he’s having a good time humiliating the poor Donna Elvira, who must be stricken beyond horror by Leporello’s seemingly gleeful depiction of Giovanni’s rampant sexuality. But the servant is almost a slave to the Don’s monomania. The catalog is both a boast and a reproach to Leporello’s complicity in the Don’s sordid behavior. The aria is a great set piece that encapsulates both the humor and the darkness that pervades Mozart’s dramma giocoso.
The aria’s words, along with an English translation, are at the end of this piece.
The first interpretation is so good that it sets an almost impossible bar for any later Leporello. Feodor Chaliapin was by all accounts the greatest singing actor of the last century. His version of the Catalog Aria is full of mirth with a hint of menace. Leporello and Don Basilio in Rossini’s Barber were the two comic roles the great Russian basso included in his repertoire. Chaliapin Catalog Aria
Ildebrando D’Arcangelo gives a spirited rendition of the great aria, but he fails to make the first section into the patter song that Chaliapin delivers.
Adam Plachetka portrayed Leporello in a Met performance Oct 22, 2016. It was his role debut with the company. Malin Byström is the horrified Donna Elvira.
Sir Bryn Terfel has sung both Don Giovanni and Leporello onstage. This performance is from an outdoor recital in 2009. He adds a few words that Da Ponte didn’t write.
Leporello is one of Ferruccio Furlanetto’s signature roles. He has sung the part is many of the world’s great houses. This performance is from the Met in 2000.
Luca Pisaroni was Leporello in another Met telecast – 2011. He’s particularly good as he injects the menace inherent in the aria at just the right time. The aria is not a jolly affair.
Even after two and a half centuries, Mozart’s ability to make a list into a sublime work of art still dazzles audiences.
Madamina, il catalogo è questo
Delle belle che amò il padron mio;
un catalogo egli è che ho fatt’io;
Osservate, leggete con me.
In Italia seicento e quaranta;
In Alemagna duecento e trentuna;
Cento in Francia, in Turchia novantuna;
Ma in Ispagna son già mille e tre.
V’han fra queste contadine,
Cameriere, cittadine,
V’han contesse, baronesse,
Marchesane, principesse.
E v’han donne d’ogni grado,
D’ogni forma, d’ogni età.
Nella bionda egli ha l’usanza
Di lodar la gentilezza,
Nella bruna la costanza,
Nella bianca la dolcezza.
Vuol d’inverno la grassotta,
Vuol d’estate la magrotta;
È la grande maestosa,
La piccina è ognor vezzosa.
Delle vecchie fa conquista
Pel piacer di porle in lista;
Sua passion predominante
È la giovin principiante.
Non si picca – se sia ricca,
Se sia brutta, se sia bella;
Purché porti la gonnella,
Voi sapete quel che fa.
My dear lady, this is the list
Of the beauties my master has loved,
A list which I have compiled.
Observe, read along with me.
In Italy, six hundred and forty;
In Germany, two hundred and thirty-one;
A hundred in France; in Turkey, ninety-one;
But in Spain already one thousand and three.
Among these are peasant girls,
Maidservants, city girls,
Countesses, baronesses,
Marchionesses, princesses,
Women of every rank,
Every shape, every age.
With blondes it is his habit
To praise their kindness;
In brunettes, their faithfulness;
In the white-haired, their sweetness.
In winter he likes fat ones.
In summer he likes thin ones.
He calls the tall ones majestic.
The little ones are always charming.
He seduces the old ones
For the pleasure of adding to the list.
His greatest favourite
Is the young beginner.
It doesn’t matter if she’s rich,
Ugly or beautiful;
If she wears a skirt,
You know what he does.
