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Don Giovanni - an Italian name - is of Spanish origin. It is the story of Juan Tenorio, who was "discovered" for the stage by Tirso de Molina, a poet of the Counter-Reformation. The drama was called "El Burlador de Sevilla y combidado de piedra" - "The buffoon of Sevilla and the statue invited to a party.". The buffoon, an immoral swindler, cheats women and that in a Catholic country! It is Tirso de Molina's merit to have linked the story of Juan Tenorio with the story of the statue that can talk. If a libertine invites a monumenet for dinner, i.e. a deceased man, then he has sinned against the world beyond and deserves death as a punishment. This Spanish baroque drama was chosen by Mozart and da Ponte for a libretto. Don Giovanni is the incarnation of evil, he must end up in hell, not because of his sexual misdemeanour but for disturbing the peace of the dead. The superman Don Giovanni finds his great counterpart in the Commendatore, who comes from the world beyond and makes him, Don Giovanni, appear small and insignificant. 
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