Commander in Opera: Contexts.

The aim of this article is to analyse the presence of Commander in Mozart's Don Giovanni as well as show the references to other opera depictions regarding the myth of Don Juan. Commander, also known as the Stone Guest, is an animate tombstone figure, which appears in every classic-based version of the story about Don Juan Tenorio (Don Giovanni) in order to summon a rogue to conversion; when he fails to do so, he drags him to hell. The spectacular character of the final scene turned out to serve as an inspiration for numerous opera makers, from Mozart to Rimsky-Korsakov (Mozart and Salieri). This theme, which has not been the subject of research before, is definitely worth exploring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]