Customer Reviews

Mozart: Don Giovanni ~ Muti

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Muti's Don Giovanni emphasizes the drama at the expense of humour, and is one of the most succesful recordings in driving this point home. Every scene contributes to the feeling that there is only one possible outcome to the mess that the Don's got himself into. The thing works, primarily thanks to one of the most powerful death scenes on disc.

To me, Mozart's opera is able to sustain this treatment, but only just. The casting of this recording help tremendously. The spotlight is shared between Shimell, who sings a rough, violent Don, young-sounding but mature, and Ramey, a firm Leporello in it for the bounty and not buffo at all. The other singers are of less importance, but very fine nonetheless - Lopardo must rank as one of the best Ottavios ever and Rootering is a firm and dramatic statue. Muti is the real driving force, providing lots of energy without sounding driven for its own sake, as he tends to do in some Verdi.

The recording is on the reverberant side, which proves a particular liability to the chorus, the ladies and Ottavio. However, the singers are beautifully integrated with the orchestral sound, which yields particular wonders during the last act.

In short, get this recording while you can. If not the best, it surely belongs with the small group of great Don Giovannis on record.

I would have to agree with Rodrigo, who goes into much more technical detail than I could on what's wrong with the singer's performances and Muti's conducting. But surely, while not a recording for the connisseur, it's not a bad addition for anyone who wants an introduction to the opera itself. "Don Giovanni" is such a different work from all the rest of the operas that Mozart wrote; this would have to be considered also when trying to figure out how one would conduct it. This opera recording, which I listened to every single day for a whole year, has taught me so much about opera as an art form and singing as an art that I am forever indebted to all the musicians, singers and the conductor. No, it isn't perfect or even great but Shimell isn't bad, Ramey is terrific, Studer and Vaness sound just fine and Lopardo really does a beautiful rendition of "Dalla sua pace." I still get shivers down my spine when I hear it, it's so beautiful. I don't expect opera to be perfectly beautiful and sublime all the time, and sometimes we can learn more from a medicore recording than from a great one. I would recommend it as a learning tool, even if it isn't the most beautiful performance I've ever heard. Ease up, Rodrigo, even Pav has bad days and both Mozart and Verdi wrote some clunkers in their day.

Muti would seem to have the right dramatic instncts for Don Giovanni, whose action is closer to Verdi than any other Mozart oprea. But the vociferous attacks and blunt melodrama that Muti applies in Verdi don't belong in Mozart. He seems to have enoucraged his singers to forget the "giocoso" aspect of Don Giovanni--I've never heard a performance so relentlessly free of humor.

Yet in a sense this is all beside the point. Casting is 90% of an opera's success, and Muti made two very bad choices: his Don and Leporello. Samuel Ramey is a heroic bass, suited for Boris Godunov, Boito's Mephistopheles, and the Don himself, but he lacks the common touch, much less the buffoonery that is essential to Leporello. His Catalog Aria, for example, hasn't a smile or rib tickle in it; you'd think Leporello was reading off a list of condemned men. William Shimell was an unknown before Muti chose him as the Don, and he quickly returned to unknown status. It's painful to hear him bark his way through Finch'an dal vino--he shouldn't have been put in this posiiton to begin with. His sereande, Deh, vieni alla finestra, reveals a charmless, rather hollow bass. By definition the Don shouldn't be completely overshadowed by Leporello.

With two leads who are out of commisison, it doesn't much matter than the young Cheryl Studer makes for a spectacular Donna Anna, as vocally secure and thrilling as the young Sutherland under Giulini. Frank Lopardo would make a better impression as Don Ottavio if Muti didn't decide arbitrarily to take Dalla su padre at the speed of molasses in winter. Everyone else is good enugh, but by the time Donna Elvira enters, well sung by the veteran Carol Vanness, one senses that the ship is badly listing. Two stars for a botched opportunity.

An opera should be a perfect mixture of music, acting and words. If you want to listen to one of the best recordings of an "opera without images", since this is a CD and not a DVD, you should listen to this masterpiece. Don Giovanni became one of my three favorite operas (Don Giovanni, Carmen and Queen of Spades) thanks to this recording conducted by Maestro Mutti, one of the best opera conductors in the world.

I've heard some really boring versions of Don Giovanni, and when an opera is upwards of three hours long, it's not hard to see why. This recording, however, is anything but boring. The orchestra sounds so energetic, and the singers are more than satisfactory. Shimell, Ramey, and Studer are all outstanding voices, and should be applauded for their noticable hard work. I would remiss if I did not mention the direction of Riccardo Muti, a conductor I do not know very well. The balance was perfect the entire time, and never once had trouble hearing every part. I highly reccomend this recording to anyone wanting a fresh look at this classic opera.