THIS IS HOW MOZART CONDUCTED DON GIOVANNI IN 1787 ! 

I have to confess, I've never actually heard Don Giovanni. Now what I think is that first impressions is the ones that REALLY count. I've noticed it on myself many times, particularly with tempi of Bach's music, that once I get attached to a tempo, it's really hard to open my mind up for a new interpretation. Therefore, I think, when choosing which interpretation should we listen first is an important choice. With that said, I think it is at least as important of a skill to be able to stray away from what a person's used to and be open to new ideas. So what I really wanted to say is that since I haven't actually heard any of Don Giovanni before, I had very little bias when listening to your demonstrations, and as you yourself said in the video, it indeed sounded very natural! The tempo sounded very close to just right, like my favorite bachian or classical choices of tempo, if you get my meaning. Quite a great video. Once I've thought you've fallen to the "other side of the horse" as we say it over here, that is you've become biased and sticking to the other side of the argument "just because" with really no research/heavily biased interpretation of the research, but now I'm really beginning to think you're onto something, Great job, looking forward to future content.

This makes me love classical music again. My friend in band, (i only played trombone 2 years, I haven't played since) introduced me to mozart. I used to listen to it at night, while laying in bed and everyone else was asleep. I would create my own symphonies in my mind. I went to college, got married, and distracted with surviving, and just fell into pop music. When youtube opened up the world to international music, I began to listen to Asian music, and then music from all over the world, and once in a while, classical music, and now here I am again, back to mozart. Thank you.

Υοur research and interpretation made this gem sound so strange yet beautiful to my ears, like hearing it for the first time! Good job, regards from Greece

super video papa! 😉

I'd love to hear Don Giovanni in whole beat now, because that was gorgeous. It's like a whole new piece!

Great! The ouverture is really spooky at this speed, as it should be, really aticipating the finale (same music) with the ghost of the Commendatore lurking and flames of hell approaching...

The introduction of the overture sounds really terrifying! That should be the way to play it, nowadays. It is so logical

You play very musically - I really like your playing. That's rare amongst musicians - particularly classical, who normally play like machines these days. Before WWII, individuality and phrasing were acceptable, and expected in classical interpretation - no more unfortunately.

From the point of view of playing piano, I find this very encouraging because I can't play very fast, and I've always gotten a lot out of Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven anyway, noticing a lot more of the details at a more moderate tempo. Slowing things down would also make certain passages with fast scales and arpeggios manageable that I otherwise just would have to give up on. I also notice that as I gain proficiency on a piece, the difference in speed is not great between what I consider too slow and what I consider to be just about right. I must admit, though, that I often find passages played faster still to be more exciting, but of course within reason. I find your ideas very encouraging.

So... what little evidence do we have about the tempi in Don Giovanni? Luckily we have one of the few opera playbills that states both the starting and finishing time of the show, for the Prague premiere in 1788 specifically. It says very clearly 'Der Anfang ist um 7 Uhr - Das Ende um halb 10 Uhr.' I.e. the opera begins at 7 and finishes at 9:30... thus is only 2hrs30mins long. This is also backed up by the Leipzig 1788 playbill which reads 'Der Anfang ist präcise halb 6 Uhr - Das Ende um 8 Uhr' - again 5:30-8 is 2hrs30mins. This alone should disprove the double-beat theory in Mozart (unless you propose that they read watches differently too?), but how does that relate to the Tomaschek metronome markings? I did some complex maths to see what I could find out... (3secs added for each fermata, and 5secs between each movement to account for discontinuity/time-wasted - only for non-attacca) * Overture (30 bars of Alla-Breve at 92 quarter-note=78)+(262 bars of C at 132 half-note+3=241)+5 = 324secs 1. Notte e giorno faticar… Ah, soccorso! (175.5 bars of C at 104 half-note+3=206)+(17 bars of Alla-Breve at 60 quarter-note=68)+5 = 279secs 2. Ma qual mai s'offre... Fuggi, crudele, fuggi (44 bars of C at 80 half-note=66)+(3.5 bars at 80 quarter-note=11)+(14.5 bars at 52 quarter-note+3=70)+(62.5 of Alla-Breve at 100 half-note=75)+(2 bars at 80 quarter-note=6)+(3 bars at 63 quarter note+3=14)+(7.5 bars at 100 half-note+3=12)+(6.5 bars at 60 half-note=13)+(55 bars at 100 half-note=66)+5 = 338secs 3. Ah! chi mi dice mai (108 bars of C at 84 half-note+3)+5 = 162secs 4. Madamina! (84 bars of C at 152 quarter-note+12=145)+(88 bars of 3/4 at 96 quarter-note+3=168)+5 = 318secs 5. Giovinette che fate all' amore (86.5 bars of 6/8 at 126 dotted-quarter-note)+5 = 87secs 6. La ci darem la mano (48 bars of 2/4 at 88 eighth-note+3=134)+(33 bars of 6/8 at 92 dotted-quarter-note=43)+5 = 182secs 7. Ah, fuggi il traditor (45 bars of 3/4 at 112 quarter-note)+5 = 77secs 8. Non ti fidar, o misera (88 bars of Alla-Breve at 96 quarter-note)+5 = 225secs 9. Don Ottavio, son morta! (23 bars of C at 92 half-note=30)+(8.5 bars at 52 quarter-note=39)+(5.5 bars at 58 quarter-note=23)+(2 bars at 92 half note=3)+(14 bars at 58 quarter-note=58)+(16 bars at 92 half-note=21)+5 = 179secs 10. Or sai chi l'onore (70 bars of Alla-Breve at 69 half-note+6) = 128secs 11. Finch' han dal vino (160 bars of 2/4 at 116 half-note)+5 = 88secs 12. Batti, batti (60.5 bars of 2/4 at 88 eighth-note+3=168)+(39.5 bars of 6/8 at 92 dotted-quarter-note=52)+5 = 225secs 13. Presto, presto! (91 bars of C at 100 half-note=109)+(47 bars of 3/4 at 84 quarter-note=101)+(75 bars of 2/4 at 120 quarter-note=75)+(33 bars of 3/4 at 96 quarter note=62)+(19 bars of Alla-Breve at 52 quarter-note=88)+(87 bars of 6/8 at 126 dotted-quarter-note=83)+(46 bars of 2/4 at 80 quarter-note=69)+(61 bars of 3/4 at 96 quarter-note=114)+(30 bars of C at 116 half note+3=34)+(34 bars at 84 quarter-note+3=100)+(89 bars at 88 half-note=121)+[31 bars at 120 half-note*=31]+5 = 987secs 14. Eh via buffone (75 bars of 3/4 at 72 dotted-half-note)+5 = 68secs 15. Ah, taci ingiusto core (84 bars of 6/8 at 104 eighth-note)+5 = 296secs 16. Deh, vieni alla finestra (44 bars of 6/8 at 80 dotted-quarter-note)+5 = 71secs 17. Metà di voi qua vadano (84 bars of Alla-Breve at 60 half-note)+5 = 173secs 18. Vedrai, carino, se sei buonino (104 bars of 3/8 at 116 eighth-note+12)+5 = 178secs 19. Sola, sola in buio loco (130 bars of Alla-Breve at 58 half-note+3=272)+(146 bars at 112 half-note=156)+5 = 433secs 20. Ah, pietà, signori miei! (106 bars of C at 112 half-note)+5 = 119secs** 21. Il mio tesoro intanto (101 bars of Alla-Breve at 96 quarter-note+3)[(Di rider tinirai e.t.c. at 69 quarter-note***)]+5 = 261secs 22. O statua gentilissima (108 bars of C at 160 quarter-note)+5 = 167secs 23. Crudele! Ah no, mio bene... Non mi dir, bell' idol mio (2.5 bars of C at 138 half-note+3=5)+(12.5 bars at 69 eighth-note=89)+(47 bars of 2/4 at 88 eighth-note+6=134)+(52 bars of C at 138 quarter-note=90)+5 = 323secs 24. Gia la mensa e preparata (46 bars of C at 100 half-note=55)+(70 bars of 6/8 at 80 dotted-quarter-note+6=111)+(44 bars of 3/4 at 152 quarter-note+3=55)+(38 bars of Alla-Breve at 152 quarter-note+3=63)+(178 bars of 3/4 at 72 dotted-half-note+3=151)+(53 bars of Alla-Breve at 112 half-note=57)+(87 bars at 50 half-note=209)+[32 bars at 82 half-note*=47]+(49 bars at 96 half-note+3=64)+(108 bars of 3/4 at 60 dotted-half-note+3=111)+(43 bars of Alla-Breve at 60 quarter-note+3=175)+(116 at 69 whole-note+3=104)+5 = 1,207secs Preliminary Total = 6,895secs Secco Recitatives (with timings taken from René Jacobs & Freiburg-Baroque recording as this gives a varied and comprehensive view of the work, taken in accurate speech-rhythm - cuttin, of course, the scenes from the Vienna version of the opera): +31+60+51+60+60+60+4+43+60+60+15+60+50+43+60+25+30+60+53+60+20+36+60+60+5+60+60+20+60+16+60+60+7+37+60+60+1+60+60+60+60+17+60+20 = 1,964 (Total = 8,858secs) + 5% time added overall to account for potential rits, breaths, general pauses, extra gaps, and dragging/fluctuation of tempo. Total Length = 9,301secs / 2hrs35mins1sec. The overture was not finished at the dress run so was probably not accounted for in the timings. Therefore -5mins24secs… Final Length = 2hrs29mins37secs, which rounds up to 2hrs30mins exactly as the original playbill states. Therefore, I believe (when read literally), we actually have a thoroughly reliable and historically accurate insight into Mozart's tempi here. Let's not tarnish a good source with misapplied theories and instead appreciate the information it actually gives us. Many of the tempi above are actually slower than even non-HIP performances tend to take them today so your notion that double-beat would be less than half speed is also incorrect in this case. I'm not suggesting that double-beat theory doesn't exist at all, but it is certainly not applicable to the music of Mozart. *Tomaschek does not account for the ‘più stretto’ here, so the difference in tempi given by Gielen has been added to approximate (half-note: 132-100=32) **incorrect title given (‘Ah per pietà’) in the Fink article ***these sections are treated as recitative and taken from the above recording (as the tempo is similar to 69bpm)

Fascinating, as usual, Mr. Winters! I found this video just before the 3rd production of Don Giovanni I’ve attended. My request to such an esteemed academic and connoisseur as yourself, would be for a listener’s guide to Mozart’s score, which would delve into Mozart’s unique ability to create dramatic effects to suit the libretto. I imagine your insights would make the experience even more rewarding. Thank you for all your interesting content!

Very interesting video. Congratulations for your forte-piano playing!

Performing the entire opera in tempi like these would've taken an entire day...

I know I am late to the party and this maybe a stupid question anyhow, but considering how people back than wrote letters about their daily life to their friends and family about as regularly as we take pictures of our food, there have to be accounts of people who attended the performance and mentioned how much time they spent at the opera ... couldn't that help to narrow in on the actual tempo the performance was given in? I believe DG is about 3 hours today? How long would it have been back then? Anyhow, thanks for this very interesting video and I have to say I would love to hear the arias be sung in that tempo (and I image that, e.g., queen of the night would have been less of a machine gun and more of a mortar then, right?)

The overture sounded so amazing with your interpretation!!

Listening to period performances and DVDs/Productions of this opera, really interesting thoughts on tempi. The HIP groups seem to air on the side of fast but thankfully not too fast. In Mozart/Daponte and even his La Finta Giardiniera (a different librettist) there's a lot of humour, innuendo, puns, and other jokes that frankly would be lost at break neck speed. Even in Figaro where Figaro is so excited to be with his new wife and staying in the house between his master and mistress's bedchambers, Susanna reminds him of each of their ulterior motives to has the man and women at their respective beck and call with "Ding Ding, Don Don." As my friend's Romanian language GPS says "Limitat la viteza!" watch your speed (to some of these performances). I really like the sound and playing of your clavichord, such a great instrument.

wow ! your channel is amazing !

I'm just a musical peasant, having played guitar for over 40 years. I play mostly by ear, so obsessing over time signatures seems curious to me. Of course Mozart may have had a tempo in mind, but that doesn't take into consideration simple things like quality of the musicians, instruments, temperament of the patron, and other earthly factors. I also know from vast experience that performances are always fast, event if by a beat or two. While this discussion, like so many on time signature is interesting, it isn't going to give you an answer. The most you can hope for is a marginally acceptable discourse that is self perpetuating. What I would focus on, and I think you touch on it periodically in these videos is how the musical tastes of the audience/patron influences the music thematically. And, as someone already stated, tastes of the audience changed within a lifetime---just as it does now. What was all the rage in 1798 was passé in 1803.

One week ago or so I found your videos on RU-vid by chance. I am very impressed by your work - especially because I am also tortured by rushed and overhasty tempi of so many of todays musicians. So, for example, I also cannot understand why Schubert, whose Sonatas are full of contemplative calmness (but which are played much much to fast today), could be such an enthusiastic admirer of Beethoven, if Beethovens music is really that fast and furious as it is usually performed today. But, certainly, your theory is, at least for the moment, still that: a theory. You bring in your videos, as far a I have seen, very interesting arguments for it. However, to be honest, I have a problem with the, so to say, main-argument of this clip concerning Don Giovanni: If I understand you well, Fink asked Tomaschek in 1839 to give him MM indications concerning a performance of 1791. That means a performance which took place 48 (!) years before. I think it's rather impossible to remember the tempi of an opera I heard nearly half a century ago. Even if this refers only to the Introduction. So I am very sceptic about calling Tomaschek a reliable witness. Surely, this is only argument among many others. And be sure that I hope, that your research will discover even more good arguments for your theory than you have already shown, because I think it's not only very plausible, but it has the power to chance our view towards the treasures of classical music fundamentally and in a way which is most remarkable. Thank you and best regards!

I love this kind of video where you breakdown your process and explain both in theory and practice.

Common sense? Allegro means fast, no snail-paced... As violinist who has played this overture, I would have to say that it is not possible to play at these slow speeds musically. Also, bear in mind that there were no chin or shoulder rests in 1787, without which is very difficult to play vibrato. Can you imagine playing such lengthy notes without vibrato... It would sound gruesome... even on a strad! Theory aside, if someone says allegro, it means fast and 132 crotchets in a minute fits just right. Another factor is this... Don Giovanni usually lasts 3 hours... can you imagine going to an opera lasting 6 hours?! Don giovanni, a cenar teco, m'invitasti, e son venuto... The poor bass, il commadatore, will run out of breath at the above tempi!

from what i gather the orchestra had zero time to practice. Sections of the opera were incomplete days before the premiere. Mozart rewrote the wood wind section so that it would not sound so badly out of tune. And of the performance, it was all sight read. Orchestra were part time amateurs. The actors improvised their lines. A truly authentic production would by todays standards be completely chaos. And it was done in 2 hours 30 minutes. I guess they skipped a lot of it.

thank you. you've made me want to hear all of mozart in this way. i'm re-working the string quartets and symphonies and the magic flute in my head as i think about this. it's pretty musical. mostly, what i've heard of mozart sounded like he was this silly show-off. most realistically, if people don't get what you're trying to do, rogers and hart wrote 'my funny valentine' as a totally up-beat flapper song, and someone told them to just slow it down. they did, and it became a great song instead of a novelty piece.

Is there a recorded performance of Don Giovanni that comes closest to how you would like it played or just one you prefer?

It makes so much more sense! Thanks

*Great video Maestro!*

Dear colleague, my sincere congrats for your sensitive and emotional playing. I'm sorry, I did not get this: the MM signature 92 for the Andante. First you say 'we take it for quarter notes' and then '...or we take it for the eight notes...'. You understand that makes a big difference. So, was the Tomascheck MM for quarters or for eights? Thank you. By the way I can figure how it may sound with an orchestra and... YES... A horrifying Deus ex machina' appears!

I always preferred the overture to be played slower. Celibidach was the only one I found who did it slow enough, but he only did the overture, from what I can tell. What is sad, is all the historically informed performances of it, are like they are trying to get it over with. Gardiner and Jacobs' sound way too fast, even compared to their contemporaries. Levine's 1990 had the best cast for his, but his is still a touch too fast and it's also unavailable (darn you Metropolitan Opera, I keep requesting it) . Karajan's has been my definitive CD release, but it's also a touch fast, but much slower than most. It's so nice to hear all the intricacies of the piece when it's slowed down. I'd be interested to hear more pieces taken to task and tempo from you. I for one, always try to find out what the composer's intention was. Stravinsky liked Bernstein's recording of the Rite of Spring. Ravel said Bolero should be 17 minutes long, so I often lean toward performances that are that long. Does that make me a musical snob, or narrow minded? Perhaps, but I like getting as close to what is intended as possible.

Reminds me of Furtwängler's Mozart a little (who ironically of course couldn't have cared less about metronome markings "as text" - historical or otherwise). Thank you so very much for sharing your efforts!

I’ve never heard all the articulations in the overture until now 😮 Such a shame we’ve missed all those notes for over a hundred years!

Incredible profound video congratulations you are brilliant thank you. You always make my in tempo.

Would you spend some time on the Goldberg Variations?

AuthentucSound!!! ¿What part of the master piece of Mozart are you playing from the 11:10 minute to 12:33? Extremly Beautiful, so so incredible, please tell me what part of what piece is... ¿is a don giovanni piano version?

I think the key here is to have an open mind regardless of music and tempi and not to get caught up in "what should" or "according to this recording" etc. etc. You do a make a strong case here and I really really approve greatly. More freedom to music in general is what music and interpretation needs today. Not Robots Stuck To A Metronome, or being fascistic in just following the notes and not being able to add notes, appoggiaturas, etc or colors to the music. As if this here recording or interpretation is the final word. No. Music is a search for each and everyone of us. Cherish it, because we will all perish regardless. And to throw a boot at message below. First impression is never last(to citate AXE commercial).

Do you have a video playing this song? I would love to hear it.

Sounds much more natural in your interpretation. Incredible how things may change according to trends!

This is extraordinary. Thank you so much for all of this work and for sharing it with all of is. This is impacting a Handel and Mendelssohn trio recital I will be doing.

Loved and subbed!

sounds beautiful Wim! I would love to hear the complete overture on the clavichord!

Very interesting video, thank you!

I've heard and seen Don Giovanni several times. This sounds good to me!

So, Don Giovanni was meant to be a suspenseful opera and not meant to be played as a farcical piece the way we are used to hearing it?

Love it! I have seen this opera three times. ❤️

I am waiting for the book in english. How is the translation process going? I will buy it as soon as it comes out.

I must admit that I often hedge my bets by using completely different tempi for repeats, say in the little preludes, when I find both beautiful in their own way - usually starting allegro, repeating andante - 2nd section first time andante and then the repeat ending the piece on a more upbeat speed. Well, it works as a kind of incipient Sonata form 😊 No historical precedent, but why not?

Where can I find Tomaschek MM numbers??

thank you. great videos!

I really like the slower tempi. The music is more dramatic and allows the harmonies and counterpoint to be better appreciated. However, two concerns re the slower speeds come to my mind: 1. If all the tempi are halved, how long must the opera last? 2. If the tempi are halved, can the singers sustain their notes well enough and perform the phrases in one breath? Another question then comes to mind - 3. Are there different uses of metronome markings with respect to whether the time signature is Common Time (4/4) or Cut Common Time (2/2) or Simple Duple Time (2/4)? Different rules for compound times? Do the halved metronome speeds only apply in certain time signatures?

Who knows how accurate Thomaschek's metronome was? Or good his memory was or a performance he heard 40 years ago? Or if the Czech orchestra with a different conductor five years after the premiere was accurately replicating Mozart's tempos?

This way of playing seems to make sense, but I have just a few "reservations" 1. How did almost everyone forget that a beat was back and forth on the metronome and switch to each half-swing being a beat? You'd think at least half of the performers today would have been taught this if it was the standard a couple hundred years ago. Put more simply, how was this "transition" made across all of classical music? 2. Certain tied notes or long notes in piano music can't really be sustained for as long as written. 3. How would an adagio be played? They seem fairly slow as it is, making one twice as slow could be very boring! Or are they also indicated to be too fast?

i would have loved to meet mozart in person

I prefer the metrical reading of classical pieces, but the performance you give for Tomaschek's speed I measure at 144, not 112. I still think 112 read non-metrically is too fast, but it's more manageable that it seems here, if I measured correctly.

Very interesting! This gives me material to think about.

That room sounds great: good acoustics.

I'm not sure I've performed the whole opera, but I've certainly performed the Overture to Don Giovanni a number of times and know the rest of the opera quite well, as I taught an Intro to Opera course for years. 134 to the quarter is fine to me, but I hear you doing a lot of ritardandi. I'm not looking at a score right now, but I don't remember them being there, and I think if the overture is played more nearly straight in this tempo, it will work fine, but to me, with all those ritardandi, it dies.

I would like to know what you think of Glenn Gould and his Bach Interpretations. Great thank you.

This dude has an obsession with weird tempi. I bet he’d find a “correct” different tempi by composers, such as Richard Strauss, Rachmaninov, and Bernstein, who have videotaped performances of their own compositions. Interesting content sometimes though.

We came to the same conclusion although by different means. I support your conclusion.

Wow, that's so different from what I'm used to that I couldn't even tell you were still playing the overture!! (granted, I'm also not used to hearing it on keyboard...) But I dig it

Thanks subtitle Indonesia

Wonderful.

wonderful insight!

looks like real candles

Wow.

I revisited this post today and had a thought. I found an average orchestral performance of the overture on another channel and ran it opposite your playing at the slower tempo. While it presents no particular problems on the face, something did come up as I examined my comparisons. Your tempo is a good 25% slower perhaps?... Well, Don Giovanni is three hours long excluding intermissions. An extra 25% added makes it 3 3/4 hours long. That's like the Ring Cycle. Do you really think that the slower tempo and its effects on the entire opera's performance time (given contemporary expectations for opera goers) conflict logically at that speed?

Dear Wim, Do you know the EMI Klemperer [London] recording of the Don [complete]? I think you might appreciate it. It is very close to your reading. I love the Don [the only opera I can easily listen to for pleasure on so many levels], and I suspect that you would also love it in Klemperer's uncompromising reading. Best wishes from George

Notice how people play Liszt's Don Juan-fantasy. Those sixteenth notes are played in Thomasceck's tempo.

So according to your theory Don Giovanni lasts 6 hours instead of 3 hours?? Hows that possible?

Very interesting, but please, try to go straight to the point. You tube videos are not supposed to appear like real life, it should be more clear, more concise.

What is the publisher of the score because this is very interesting

These observations are carefully studied thus give the Public interested on this kind of Musical-Investigation, a clear and accurate historic lesson on how Music was played in the days of the Great Masters......with regards the first Recording of Don Giovanni, I have reservations about the "true-speed " of that recording, as we must take in consideration the Electricity Voltage of that Period and the Mechanical R.P.M of the Recorder and the Player's capabilities, the Tempo sounds much too "Fast therefore a bit un-realistic",.....very difficult and awkward to make a fair "judgement based on the sound reproduction of those first Music making Machines........

Absolutely the best way for Don Giovanni- far more dramatic opening. It has always baffled me why musicians rush through pieces at breakneck speed. It might show off their skill as players but also often shows a deplorable lack of feeling for the music. Perhaps I just opt for slow because that is the best my stiff fingers can do!,

are there any modern recordings that come close to this interpretation?

Having been ill for a few days I have spent time comparing the Fink/Tomaschek tempi with a (fairly) modern recording .. one made in 1989 by Nicholas Harnoncourt which is on RU-vid. The results are very interesting. There are, of course, differences of tempo but it is fairly equally balanced between who is faster. In 21 examples Tomaschek's speed is higher than Harnoncourt's but in 18 examples the opposite is true. Some of Harnoncourt's Allegros are MUCH faster than Tomaschek e.g. Ah Fuggi and Finche Han Vino from Act 1 and Ah! Signor from Act 2. Tomaschek often has higher tempo markings for Andantes and Allegrettos. In 13 cases Harnoncourt's tempi match Tomaschek precisely. No-where do I find T's Metronome markings to be 'unplayable' or even unreasonable although one (famous) number is very different. Deh Vieni (Allegretto with mandolin accompaniment) is usually performed as if it were a steady Andante with an eighth note at around mm = 100 or even slower. Tomaschek's tempo of dotted quarter note = 74, although surprising to us since we are used to the much slower tempo, actually makes sense of Mozart's tempo description and puts the music into the tempo range of Allegretto Minuets etc. Obviously Tomaschek does not represent some 'Gospel Truth', and probably even Mozart's own tempi would have varied a fair bit, but there seems to be no reason to dismiss Tomaschek's tempi as wrong or in need of radical re-calculation. Adding a huge 30% to T's tempi is inevitably going to make them seem ridiculous. Also it is extremely unlikely that he meant that EVERY part of the opera was being performed too quickly, his intention was surely to correct particular problems while giving general guidance for the whole. Thanks for your interesting posts

Thank you for your videos Wim. Today I just had my first piano recital, I was very nervous while playing and made quite a few mistakes which I dont usually make. Do you have the same problem? If so, how do you overcome this stage fright? Thank you!

What an interesting chanel : congrats !

As someone who is not even remotely familiar with operas of Mozart let alone opera in General... this all sounds completely natural like this for the first hearing... It seems like it would be too childish and playful...

I think You've got a point. Before I get to know your theory I was just wondering how musicians on those times could play that fast on those slow response keyboard instruments. Also, I wondered if nowadays speed wouldnt be considered vulgar or untasty mostly if we consider that life a couple of centuries ago had another pace and aristocrátic environments wouldnt consider rush as a virtue.

Shocking? The only shock is that I spent all my seventy one years listening to no-Mozart!

At this tempo, the Commendatore (who sings accompanied by the same music) would have to breathe in the middle of every word.

Very interesting! I can't read music... but I'm a complete fan of Mozart, I always wandered why all of his operas sound so different tempo wise. Did Mozart or other musicians didn't write the tempo in their compositions? I have don Giovanni directed by Riccardo Muti, and compared to other directors is for me at least the best performance . The timing feels perfect!

Playing begins at 5:35.

if we consider mozart as the maradona of music, then we could compare the speed maradona played footbal and the speed mozart played music, but we must consider footbal is a sport and music is an art

Seductively erotic…is my impression of this tempo….which makes sense given the theme and the century…bravo Winter..

The Ouverture sounds more like some Enio Morriconne music for a western movie. Amazing!

How do we know if Tomaschek remembered that correctly at the age of 65, having it heard almost 50 years back in his past when he was just 17 years old? Furthermore, for Don Giovanni we cannot tell if Tomaschek’s metronome indications were actually much slower than what was played in 1839 because G.W.Fink speaks about tempi in general, not Don Giovanni specifically. I also doubt that he has tried Tomaschek’s metronome indications himself at the piano to see if they made more sense to him. Secondly, the Ouverture is clearly marked Andante alla breve, whereas in your tempo you are actually feeling the quaver (eighth note) as a ground beat. This is clearly against the character of this music, in my humble opinion.

The Thumbnail is great😂😂

Lol that thumbnail it looks as if u be headed Mozart and you are holding his head

It sounds good to me. I don't remember Don Giovanni oeuverture.

Sorry, but I don't like this s l o w tempi. Mozart knew, one of the very important things in the opera is, to use a tempo, that vocalists sounding 'credible' and a sensible and reasonable breathing technique is possible and give time for longer notes to 'grow'. This creates a good feeling, for musicians and listener.

I love Don Giovanni! I think the tempo you present works very well. Especially when you consider it in light of the rest of the opera and I can feel this pacing working throughout the opera. Sorry to be missing so much lately but I haven't been well and have had to spend time in other places. Is it just me or are the strings and soundboard on your clavichord opening up? It sounds more open than it did last year.

wuerde lieber sie in deutsch hoeren... wie ist es mit den d. scarlatti sonaten?vielleicht geben sie beispiele gespielt im historischen tempo...

How long would the opera last? 4 cd's?!

Really good episode ! Love it !

All my life I have been very upset and disturbed by the overture to Don Giovanni and also that of Figaro, too fast, and nothing could help me, although I did try to learn to "listen fast," and after many bars I could marvel even at the supersedes they were going, at the structure, power, and glory of Mozart. I am seventy seven now, and, having heard three or four of your videos, I feel like I am glimpsing the promised land. Will I enter it? Get to hear an actual performance? Vincent Shaw Flack

There\s no shock in what you are playing and seeing. tt seems music for the 18th century was more thoughtful, it seems people wanted faster with less to think about. It seems to me the 19th century was too much in a hurry and got more confused in the later part of the 1800's. Musi should be able to feel an emotion and sensitivity.

Our scientific minds long for a "per minute" notation. I.e. ♩= 120 to us should mean 120 quarter notes per minute--very scientific, but no one marked their tempi that way. They say "MM". But what is the definition of MM? It only means "set your metronome to 120". Then what? As the robots in old sci-fi used to say, "insufficient data. Does not compute". Obviously different composers and editors used this device in two different ways back then.

you are right-everything is played too fast

I LOVE this.!

I would like to hear a video on Bachs tempi in vocal choral phantasiasn etc.