La pravità castigata ("Depravity Punished") is a 1730 pastiche with music by multiple composers and an Italian language libretto by Antonio Denzio. It is the first 18th-century opera based on the Don Juan legend. It was also the first opera ever produced that retains the original setting and at least some of the original character names derived from early 17th-century dramatic prototypes of the Don Juan legend, the most important of which is Tirso de Molina's play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra. La pravità castigata was originally performed during Lent of 1730 in the opera theater of Franz Anton von Sporck in Prague, then revived with new music by Eustachio Bambini in Brno in 1734. The Brno performance was regarded as the original production for decades, and a published transcription of the libretto (which is missing two scenes from the Prague production) identifies it incorrectly as an anonymous text first performed in Brno. Composition and performance history The origins of La pravità castigata lie in the struggles of the impresario of the Sporck theater, Antonio Denzio, to attract audiences for his productions as the appeal of his venture fell into decline. There was great interest in the productions he started in Prague in 1724 for about five years, then attendance dropped sharply. Denzio was eventually forced to close his theater in 1735 after spending time in debtors' prison. One of the ideas that Denzio had to generate income for his failing opera company was to extend the operatic season into Lent, even though theaters throughout Europe were traditionally closed during the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent. Denzio's first Lenten opera was performed in 1729, a staged oratorio Sansone based on the Old Testament legend of Samson. The production included a highly unusual recitation of Jewish chants, whose Sephardic or Ashkenazic origins were carefully recorded in the libretto. For his second Lenten opera, Denzio attempted to stage something much more titillating and innovative in the way of subject matter. Before any opera could be performed in Prague during Lent, the express permission of the archbishop of Prague, Count Ferdinand von Khünburg, was required. In order to secure it, Denzio explained to the archbishop the beneficial effect for audience members of portraying on stage Don Juan's spectacular damnation for a multitude of sins never repented for. The archbishop did not express any disapproval and quickly issued the necessary