Stages & Screens

For almost 240 years we've debated whether Mozart's libertine adventurer is a hero, an anti-hero, or a villain. Where has the debate moved in this era, and what does it say about its oft-ignored co-author, Lorenzo Da Ponte?

By Delmington Peregrine  ·  October 28, 2026

Shortly before Mozart’s librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte was exiled from Venice either for cavorting with a married woman while serving as a priest (if you believe the authorities), or for writing poetry that celebrated a radical political candidate (if you believe him), Da Ponte broke up a fight between his mistress and three other women who had been his lovers. Depending once again on whom you trust, the three women descended upon Angioletta Bellaudi with knives, or they descended upon Angioletta Bellaudi without knives, and Da Ponte swooped in with his own knife and injured one of the assailants. Either way, the fight is alleged to have begun because both Angioletta and Da Ponte had their own lovers while they were together. Lorenzo, the story goes, was not troubled by his mistress keeping other men, but she was rabidly jealous of his. How totally Don Giovanni is that story? Envious lovers. Retributive violence. A libertine punished by the consequences of his own misdeeds.