1 - The Prague Don Giovanni

Summary

The parts produced for the première appear now to be lost, but a theatre score with additions by Mozart is owned by the Prague Conservatory. The history of this important source is outlined by Jonášová in her article on Gugler's edition of Don Giovanni. A conscientious and reflective scholar, Gugler adopted a thoroughly modern approach in seeking to locate and examine early manuscript copies and sets of parts. During the course of his preparatory work, he wrote to Franz Thomé in Prague, applying for permission to see the parts. He was informed that they had been lent to the Böhmische Landes Theater, and he was advised to contact Smetana, the current director. Thomé also drew Gugler's attention to the existence of a very early score, believed by some old members of the orchestra to have been used by Mozart when he first conducted the opera. This tradition was by then long established. In the fore-word to his Czech edition of 1825, Stiepenek claimed to have based his work on the ‘original Italian score from which Mozart himself directed the first performance’. However, by the mid-nineteenth century this manuscript was in Vienna, and Gugler wrote to ask for its return. Apparently hoping for an early response, he delayed replying to Smetana's initial letter (now lost), but when there were no signs of progress, he decided to send him a detailed list of questions concerning the parts. The response has survived and is the subject of Jonášová's study.

Gugler was aware of the value of different types of source. He knew that parts simply copied from the Breitkopf & Härtel edition of 1801 would be of little interest, whereas old parts stemming directly or indirectly from 1787 might well contain much more significant information. He therefore requested Smetana to identify in his detailed responses whether the part in question was ‘alt’ (old) or ‘neu’ (new). Smetana obliged most of the time, though on a few occasions he forgot, leaving Gugler frustrated. The majority of Gugler's sixteen questions concerned difficulties with the orchestral score of Don Giovanni, caused by the loss of Mozart's autographs of the additional scores containing the wind, brass and trumpet parts.