But this is too much for Leporello, and at the beginning of Act II he tells his master: No, no padrone, non-vo' restar (No master, I want to leave you.) Giovanni hands him a purse with 4 gold coins, which in a moral gaffe', Leporello accepts, but:
Oh, senite; per questa volta la ceremonia
OK, Listen, I'll accept it just this once,
Accetto; ma non-vi ci avvezzate;
but don't make it a habit. Don't think that
Non-credete di sedurre I miei pari, you can seduce me with the power of money
Come le donne, a forza di danari.
The way you do the women. (Act II, 1).
Leporello is not really convinced and tries to convince Giovanni that the morality of his actions is leading to disaster, once again forming the basis of right behavior. He even later says a prayer that Giovanni will fail:
(Gia quell mendace labbro torna a sedur
(What a smooth deceiver he is!
Costei, deh proteggete, o dei!
I hope the gods protect her from her
La sua credulita!)
uncertainty! (Act II).
Yet even with Leporello's disdain for Giovanni, he begs his Master not to dine with the Statue, No, no attendete! (No, wait). All is lost, and after Giovanni is moved to Hell, Leporello can calm a bit. After telling the moral tale, and seemingly finding vindication in Giovanni's punishment, we can only believe that Leporello knew he tried his very best to reform Giovanni, but was, alas, unsuccessful. And now, Ed io vando all'osteria a trovar pardon miglior (And I'm going to the inn to find a better master.)
Musical Analysis -- Leporello- It is interesting that rather than a wide vocal distance between Leporello and Giovanni, Mozart chooses to score Giovanni as a baritone and Leporello as a bass. Often, the evil or nefarious characters in opera are regulated to the bass roles, in this case, the often ostinato-like resonance from Leporello seems to fuel the depth or grounding of both the musical key and the nature of the moral character. We open in F-Major, with Leporello's lament rocking back and forth from tonic (F) to dominant (C) in pianissimo and completing the triad at the end of the phrase B-flat.
When Leporello makes his famous list, we are solidly in the key of D-Major, the contrast key for Mozart (d-minor speaks of lust and evil), and we have a sense of urgency from the orchestra with continual eight notes as Leporello ashamedly makes his list:
The moral contrast is echoed in Act 2, Scene 1 when Leporello tries to get away from Giovanni, we are in D-Major, but the trills and movement form a template of upward argument between Giovanni and Leporello as the intensity grows. Note Leporello's solid D. Of "No," which ironically is echoed at the end of the opera when the Commendatore takes Giovanni into hell, even becoming a major scale of repeated, and finalized "no."
Almost each time Leporello speaks, whether it be to one of the ladies or to Giovanni himself, Mozart outlines a basic major chord, signaliing to us the moral integrity of the character which, in the case of this character, really remains almost true to his nature of honesty, steadfastness and honor. Note the outline of C-Major until we have the B-Flat introducing Donna Elvira, which then moves into F-Major and outlines that chord.
Note too, these contrast between chords, the outline of D-Major
when Giovanni makes his bribe to Leporello, to which Leoprello works back down the scale in d-minor, but redeemds himself with the plight of the women...
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