Customer Reviews

Mozart - Don Giovanni / Sir Colin Davis Vol. 41

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have heard every recording of "Don Giovanni" from the 1935 Fritz Busch version to the more recent John Eliot Gardiner production. There are good performances in all of them, but for some reason this opera is so difficult that even top professionals do not always "jell" in it. For that reason, as well as my own personal tastes, I have gravitated to only four recordings over the years: this one, the 1955 Krips set with Siepi et. al., the 1959 Giulini recording and the 1986 Karajan version. All have strengths and weaknesses, but overall this is the one that satisfies me most musically and dramatically. The biggest problems with the Krips set are the lightweight singing of Danco and Della Casa as Anna and Elvira and the lack of dramatics throughout. In the Giulini, neither Taddei nor Sutherland sing their rhythms properly--Sutherland keeps a steady legato throughout, which is not a good thing--and Luigi Alva is a tight, nasal-sounding Ottavio. In the Karajan recording, Tomowa-Sintow is rough and wobbly, Agnes Baltsa is a mezzo Elvira with a short high range, and Samuel Ramey just sings his part in a straightforward, blulstery manner.

This leaves the current set which, oddly enough, I owned on LPs almost 30 years ago. I enjoyed the conducting, but Philips' LP sound of the era was shrill and blasting, with all soprano high notes sounding like shattered glass, and both Wixell and Ganzarolli sounded wiry and rough which was not my ideal for the Don and Leporello. Thanks to the miracle of digital remastering, however, most of these technical problems are eliminated. Now the sopranos sound full and rich-voiced, their brightness in the upper register coming across with naturalness and beauty. Moreover, Wixell and Ganzarolli now sound only a little rough-hewn, not grating. The only problems stem from the fact that Martina Arroyo always had a habit of "sliding into" notes instead of hitting them dead-on, and because of this she goes flat a couple of times in the opening scene, and the fact that Wixell and Ganzarolli sound so much alike it is hard to tell which is the Don singing and which is Leporello.

As a balace, however, this is BOTH a musical (like the Krips) AND a dramatic (like the Karajan) performance. Everyone is very much "into" their parts, everything is sung properly, all the syncopations and dotted rhythms are observed, and Davis' conducting digs into the music, in my opinion, even better than Krips, Giulini or Karajan. The end result is a very satisfying performance, one that I think you will listen to over and over again, which is not necessarily the case with the other three versions I mentioned.

One other thing. The album cover pictured here is not the Davis recording, but the Roger Norrington recoridng on EMI which is, quite frankly, weakly sung and conducted. If you want a scaled-down "Giovanni" you would be better going with the Gardiner, even though the Elvira and Zerlina have terrible voices.

Many critics and musicologists state with regularity that "Le Nozze di Figaro" is Mozart's most inspired opera. Perhaps so, but this recording certainly makes a strong case for "Don Giovanni." Although billed as a "drama giocosa" (literally, a "happy drama"), "Don Giovanni" represents Mozart at his darkest, investigating the nastier side of human nature--Don Giovanni is a philandering libertine, a liar, and perhaps also a rapist. Typically, Mozart infuses his heroines with music of indescribable beauty. As Donna Anna, African-American soprano Martina Arroyo sings with both dramatic thrust and subtlty, and with a depth of feeling that belies comparison with her recorded competition (which includes such starry names as Dame Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, and Anna Tomowa-Sintow). Arroyo provides even tone and an exemplary technique--traits essential to a viable Donna Anna. This Elvira is indeed one of Dame Kiri te Kanawa's finest recorded performances. Fresh from singing the role at Covent Garden, te Kanawa makes Elvira the emotionally overwrought figure that she should be, and she sings with exceptional tonal beauty and control of Mozart's delicate lines. As Zerlina, Mirella Freni is a marvel. So often, this role fails to impress. Freni's Zerlina avoids all traditional characterization and approaches the heart of the woman. The men are also in fine form. Primary honors go to Stuart Burrow's incomparable Don Ottavio. This role is thankless, yet Burrows sings with such conviction and plangency of tone that this Ottavio really does make an impression on both the listener and the plot. Wladimiro Ganzarolli and Luigi Roni are both competent as Leporello and the Commendatore. Ingvar Wixell, as the title character, adapts his Slavic voice to Mozart's requirements with surprising accomplishment. Wixell easily encompasses the range of the role, and his dramatic intentions are admirable. Sir Colin Davis conducts with a sure grasp of the score, and the orchestra makes a generally good impression. All in all, this is a fine recording, and perhaps the best recording of Mozart's darkly-hued score. At the incredibly affordable price, this set should not be missed!

This CD of Don Giovanni is very very good. I love to listen to it. The singers are all perfect sounding for Don Giovanni, & sing like they have known their lines since they were born. Ingvar Vixwell sounds very beautiful & straight as Don Giovanni. He has a baritone voice like no other in the world. Waldimiro Ganzaroli as Leporello sounds great, accept at some parts he sounds a little whiny. Martina Arroyo is perfect for Donna Anna. She sings very clear with very good tone that is easy to understand. Stuart burrows is a great Don Ottovio, with the perfect, & most beautiful tenor voice for the part. Mirella Freni is a sweet & pretty sounding Zerlina able to sing such high notes very easily. Richard Van Allen is a good Masetto with a good bass voice(the character, Masetto is actually sung as a bass or a baritone). Luigi Roni is a solemn Commendatore with a very beautiful bass voice vith a very serious sound. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa as Donna Elvira sounds very beautiful with the perfect soprano voice for Donna Elvira. Nobody can sing Donna Elvira or anyone else better than Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. The orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis is very clear sounding with no problems at all. There are many CDs of Don Giovanni available, but I do think that you will like this one the most.

A wonderful cast of singers and a great orchestral balance. Te Kanawa is surely one of my favorite sopranos and once again she shines here. For the interpretation of Leporello, Ganzarolli in my opinion does the best job out of all the recordings I've heard. Wixell has a wonderfully rich baritone that is so well suited for the role of Don Giovanni. Arroyo's soprano is sweet and lovely Donna Anna, though there were some times where she seemed to lose a little bit of her oomph (but this was pretty rare). Burrows is a solid Don Ottavio. I especially felt great emotiveness by the singers in bringing out the nuances of their respective roles. I felt the anguish of Donna Anna following her father's death and the tense and chilling fear when the Commendatore demands repentance of Don Giovanni and he is eventually dragged into Hell. With respect to the orchestra, I felt the were well balanced with tempos that were well on. Overall, a stupendous recording.

Having never really heard the legendary Carlo Maria Giuliani version, I can hardly review this opera with great authority. I imagine it would be very difficult to top Davis's work in this 1972 recording. The singers all do wonderfully. Kiri te Kanawa sings Donna Elvira with both skill and passion. Mirella Freni is a vocally adorable Zerlina. Martina Arroyo and Richard van Allen, singing Donna Anna and Massetto respectively, perform with a wonderful mix of attitude and emotion. Ingvar Wixell's sonorous voice works well in the title role, making him sound like a real Don Juan. Stuart Burrows does a nice job as Don Ottavio, especially in his solos. There are some pleasant surprises too. Wladimiro Ganzarolli is full of warm character as the comic Leporello. Luigi Roni, a bass whom I had never heard of before I bought this recording, surprised me with his full tone and confident projection as the Commandetore. Sir Colin Davis does a wonderful job with pacing, providing the right amount of continuity when given such wonderful soloists. Why pay fifteen to twenty dollars more for the Guiliani version? This recording does much more than its fair share for the price.

It's also worth noting that the graphic shown above is not the actual cover, it has one of those "tragedy masks" of the stage of an opera house.

Of the Don Giovannis recorded during the 20th century this recording is the gold standard. Each singer sings their roles as well or better than their counterparts on other recordings --Arroyo captures Donna Anna's smoldering dramatic utterances with beautiful tone and technique. Te-Kanawa is simply a perfect Elvira --beautiful tone and technique --Freni is the ideal Zerlina. The men are not far behind with Stuart Burrows singing a magnificent Octavio, Wixell singing a masculine, seductive Don, Ganzarolli presents a properly slightly rough honed but peeved and sympathetic servant, Leperello. Luigi Roni is a magisterial Commendatore and statue while Van Allen - a great Giovanni in his own right-- makes Musetto a fully believable peasant who is manipulated by the Don. Colin Davis has captured the drama of the score in a highly taut but flexible reading. His conducting molds the opera with tempos that strike one as the way this score should be presented. It is a charged emotional reading, and the orchestra responds to his insightful conducting. If you can only afford one performance for your libary, buy this recording.

The Karajan/Tomowa-Sintow version was produced about 20 years earlier than the reviewer alleges.

After thirty years I had forgotten how fine Colin Davis's Don Giovanni was. I kept overlooking it because the Don, Ingvar Wixell, struck me as too lightweight for the part, but in fact he is a sly, urbane, even sexy anti-hero, a good alternative to Eberhard Wachter for Giulini, who tends to sound too fierce, even to rant. Wixell's main drawback is a nasal timbre and a tendency to sound petty, but he acquits himself particularly well in the recitatives, which are wittily improvised and embellished in the continuo. (The arias themselves, however, aren't decorated.) Davis is also fortunate that Ganzarolli, his Leporello, shows a vocal and temperamental contrast to the Don--this is really vital when you can't see the two characters on stage.

Everyone else desrves high praise as well. Kiri Te Kanawa, though not as full and fresh-voiced as she was for Lorin Maazel on Sony, is her generation's finest Donna Elvira, and Martina Arroyo is an accurate if somewhat light Donna Anna. Part by part, Giulini's singers on EMI outdo Davis's, but not by much. Mirella Freni is an equal match to Graziella Sciutti, and her La ci darem duet with Wixell is wonderfully characterized. Much as I love the Giulini, I must admit that Davis's conducting is lighter, faster, more vivacious, while Giulini feels more emotional and authoritative. The only places where Davis stumbles are in moments of dramatic surprise and fierceness, where he sounds a touch too elegant.

It's very good news, then, that we have two impeccable traditional Don Goinvannis in stereo. I wouldn't want to be without either, or the period-style productions under Daniel Harding and Rene Jacobs.

As I keep questing for a favorite "perfect" Don Giovanni for myself, I've found myself so far juggling three top contenders: the Giulini (sets an unquestionable standard of excellence), the Harnoncourt (complex and deep) and this one, the Davis. It's quite worthy of being the only Don Giovanni in anyone's collection and I think the ultimate choice depends upon how you like to view the story and the characters, whether your ideal Don is more the cunning, self-satisfied trickster of Tirso de Molina's play or the world-wearied rake of Moliere's later version... or a new mixture altogether. In this recording, all the singers are in fine form, their voices each producing their best sounds. Martina Arroyo's Donna Anna seems less aristocratic than either Sutherland or Gruberova; but she's full of angry, dramatic fire. Her darker, forceful-but-agile coloratura lends an added strength of character to the role which suggests a real adversary for Giovanni. This Anna's Ottavio is one of the most beautifully sung; Stuart Burrows is quite meltingly heroic and not one of the "wimpy" mold. He shines in golden form throughout both his arias. Likewise, Freni's Zerlina has more depth than many... Zerlina here is not a brainless coy flirt but a simple-hearted peasant girl with real affection for Masetto; she's quite moving. Kiri Te Kanawa sings her best Mozart role here as Elvira, in my opinion. She's warm and lyrical and completely in character. I happen to love Ingvar Wixell's grainy, distinctive baritone. He always sounds right for noblemen/anti-hero roles such as Don Giovanni... his style is perfectly balanced between cruel pleasure and aristocratic self-esteem. Ganzarolli is excellent as Leporello, not as biting as Taddei's nor as gentle as Polgar's. Every good recording has its own special, unbeatable moments. For this one, besides the outstanding and realistic characterizations by the singers (which also come out in well-acted recitatives), Davis must be commended for wonderful, often brilliant, conducting. He brings out nuances in certain portions of the opera that other conductors have not. I especially love his pacing and clarity of the major confrontation scene in Giovanni's palace... when they begin to sing Tutto tutto gia ci sa... every voice falls into place with the most distinctly chilling (but utterly harmonious) threat welling up behind the music that I've heard. On the whole, this is a beautiful, lush version of Don Giovanni. I would love to pick and choose various characterizations from all my favorite Don Giovannis and make up my own version but... it has been a real pleasure to own this one for its own merits. I highly recommend it.

I was hesitant in purchasing this recording of Mozart's great opera. Carlo Maria Gulini's and Herbert Von Karajan's versions had been reviewed by Amazon are are usually considered the best, but don't let that steer you away from this one. Sir Colin Davis brings his usual energy and pep to Mozart. The pacing is always good, never too dull and never over dramatic, the singers are fantastic never over-the-top and well balanced from Leporello's intro song to the Commendator's scene. The recording itself is done quite well: every instrument (besides the voice) is heard. The pricing for this CD is reasonable as well. I highly recommend this recording to anyone who wants a recording of Don Giovanni. Kudos to Sir Colin Davis and company!