The opera is not a straight narrative, but rather a loosely connected set of ten scenes, each with its own name. Don Juan is in love with Death personified by La Morte, the only woman he has not been able to seduce. The Shadows (six women) function as a
Greek chorus, commenting on the action and on Don Juan's past life.
Act 1 ;Scene 1
Nocturne As a haunting solo flute melody plays, Don Juan enters a dark, abandoned house to seduce another woman. La Morte follows his steps, knocking on the door, but only ecstatic moaning and heavy panting are heard from within. ;Scene 2
Song of Fire The Shadows sing of a woman whose desire for Don Juan burns so intensely that he envisions her body aflame, colored with the hues of blood. ;Scene 3
Midnight Mass In an attempt to reform his libertine ways, Don Juan attends Midnight Mass in a church but succumbs to the seduction of a nun. During this temptation, La Morte plays a
Gloria on the organ, which transforms into a macabre
foxtrot played by a jazz band., 1914) ;Scene 4
Chimera Don Juan climbs a rocky ridge formed by naked female bodies. At the summit, he finds La Morte waiting. Suddenly, three women appear, exclaiming: "Deception!" In despair, Juan stumbles downward as the Shadows titter. ;Scene 5
Gallery Don Juan meanders through a gallery adorned with statues of his ancestors. Each statue represents a predecessor who, after a life steeped in sin and servitude to numerous deities, ultimately encountered the most formidable one, represented by the so-called 'only true love'—La Morte. Don Juan reflects on the shared destiny that courses through his veins, acknowledging that he, too, will become silent and still in the tranquility of death. Unseen by him, La Morte reaches out with a longing. ;Scene 6
Dialogue A woman, previously appearing as a nun, is frightened by Don Juan's change of heart. She pleads with him not to abandon her, but he is captivated by a vision of another woman in blazing red and rejects her. ;Scene 7a
Tempest On a clear day, Don Juan and Marguerite make love. As they kiss, the stage darkens into a raging storm, under which La Morte, consumed by jealousy, appears and takes Marguerite to the other world. ;Scene 7
Conversation with the sea On the sea-coast, Don Juan stands beside the corpse of Marguerite. He confesses to the waves his desire to end his futile attempts at love and his longing for death. The waves respond only with their perpetual "to and fro".
Act 2 ;Scene 8
Carnival Night During
Carnival Night, a ''
commedia dell'arte'' troupe invites the crowd to witness the return of the title character in Mozart's
Don Giovanni. Don Juan, now aged and dressed in period attire as if stepping straight out of legend, dances a foxtrot with Donna Anna, ignoring her warnings about her husband's presence. The troupe returns, and
Arlecchino announces the upcoming midnight duel scene of horror. Despite Donna Anna's pleas for him to flee, Don Juan tries to abduct her. Her husband, masked as the Commendatore, intervenes and challenges Don Juan to a duel. Don Juan fatally wounds the Commendatore. He triumphantly sways his sword to a tango as the gigantic statue of the Commendatore illuminates intensely. Juan attempts to take Donna Anna, but she rejects him as "the very image of death" and kills herself with his sword. ;Scene 9
Banquet Don Juan, unable to accept Donna Anna's death, shakes her body, demanding a response. When he calls to her, her corpse eerily raises its upper body. Juan implores her to laugh with him as they will soon face the Commendatore's stone fists, and he can finally unite with his new bride, La Morte. As naked women dance around him in flames, drawing him into a frenzied orgy of pursuit, La Morte appears above them. Juan expresses his desire for her, and though she warns of his impending destruction, he persists with sensual confessions of love. Just as he is about to embrace La Morte, who extends her arms to him as the only man to pass her test, the distant statue of the Commendatore raises its fist and curses him to eternal life. Driven mad, Don Juan shoots himself with a Browning, but instead of dying, he transforms into an even younger man, accompanied by the background sound of a jazz band. ;Scene 10
Nocturne Doomed to desperately repeating the cycle of his life over and over again, Don Juan enters the same darkened house where the opera began, accompanied by the same solo flute, to seduce yet another victim. La Morte knocks on the door as before and falls to his knees, desperately hoping for his salvation. Again, only ecstatic moaning is heard from within. The final words of the opera given to ebbing La Morte: "What would bring us salvation is still so distant, so distant". ==Recordings==