Songtexte Don Giovanni: Epilogue - David Timson

Powerful stuff. But now there's a problem, or at least an issue
After that overwhelming ending to the action, we have an epilogue
In which the surviving characters all comment on the fate of
Don Giovanni and tell of their future plans. Leporello will
Find a new master. Elvira will go into a convent. Donna Anna
Will hold out on Don Ottavio for another year. Masetto and
Zerlina will get married at once. The contrast between the
Death of Giovanni and the opening of the epilogue is startling

One explanation for the epilogue – assuming that you think as I do
That it is bizarre and needs an explanation – is that Mozart's
Audiences would want not only a highly moral ending, but also
A happy one. They would want to be sent away reassured and
With toes metaphorically tapping. Whatever explanation you
Select – and popular taste, combined with conventional morality
Would make the desire to please the crowds the most likely
The opera ends with a very conventional and complacent
Statement: that this is the fate that awaits all evildoers