The work is fairly teeming with famous numbers, most of them admirably suited for use on the concert stage. Notable in the score are Elvira's plaintive song, " Ah! chi mi dice mai " (" Ah how shall I discover ") ; Leporello's famous " Catalogue Aria," containing a resume of his master's amours; the duet of Don Giovanni and Zerlina, "La ci darem la mano " (" When with thy hand in mine, dear ") ; Elvira's great aria, " Mi tradi " (" Though by him I've been neglected ") ; Donna Anna's equally notable scena, " Or sai, chi l'onore " (" Thou knowest who it was ") ; Don Giovanni's dashing drinking song, " Fin ch'han dal vino " (" Now that they're merry ") ; Zerlina's charmingly coquettish song " Batti, batti " (" Chide me, chide me, dear Masetto ") ; the " mask " trio for Donna Elvira, Donna Anna and Don Octavio; Don Giovanni's serenade, " Deh vieni " (" Come smiling forth "); Zerlina's beautiful Vedrai, casino " (" List and I'll find love ") ; the great tenor song, " Il mio tesore " (" Go then my love entreating "); and Donna Anna's " Non mi dir " (" Say not then ").
The overture of this opera is a wonderful piece of musical construction, all the more remarkable from the fact of its having been written in a single night. It foretells the nature of the story which it precedes by a seeming argument, which grows to a struggle between a single choir, that of first violins, and the entire orchestra. One feels prepared for the combat which is to come, a strife between the licentious Don Giovanni and the combined efforts of the majority of the characters portrayed. After the almost chaotic music, in which the violins seem to be struggling to be heard above the other instruments, and exerting to their utmost power all the strength for con quest which is theirs, and the persistent, firm, but calmer and grander arguments of the rest of the orchestra, there comes a lull, the uproar gradually, softly, dies away, the conflict is over, and a calm pervades the atmosphere as the curtain rises on the first act.