 To write their opera, Mozart and Da Ponte are known to have consulted with the famous libertine, Giacomo Casanova, the usual historic example of Don Juanism.Although not conclusively established, it is probable that Casanova attended the premiere of this opera, which was likely understood by the audience to be about himself.Charles Rosen saw what he called "the seductive physical power" of Mozart's music as linked to 18thC libertinism, political fervor and incipient Romanticism, while in a famous passage the philosopher Kierkegaard discusses Mozart's version of the Don Juan story.