Customer Reviews

Mozart - Don Giovanni / Skovhus · Girolami · Pieczonka · I. Raimondi · Halász

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

 

 

This Cd is a must have. its so underated and unseen because of so many other great composers. but forget about the others, Halasz is far ahead of all others in this classic Cd of great singers and music. Don't let this one slip by, it deserves a good listening to. The experiance is lasting.

Adrianne Pieczonka is a godess. She is my favorite Donna Anna of all time and loved her in this performance. All the rest were pretty mediocre (except the brilliantly sung Donna Elvira of Regina Schorg) but she made up for them. Buy this CD with confidence.
If you like Adrianne than buy Don Giovanni by Glyndbourne or Don Giovanni by Muti with Carlos Alvarez and Michael Schade.

I disagree with the Amazon reviewer that Michael Halász did a fine job.
The 'band' is fine, if not superb, but the conducting is the sole cause of all the problems that beset this otherwise very fine performance.
I utterly disagree that Girolami is a pedestrian Leporello. Far from that. It is just that we have had far too many 'star' Leporellos - they distract the audience (always mixing him up with the Don); they substract from the drama (by being too flambouyant).
Girolami's Leporello simply avoids 'all' such stuff - his is a dark buffa bas baritone, not easily found among the current breed. Bryn Terfel could have been such one, but his singing is never 'buffo' - he is far too serious for such, and hence, a good Wotan he makes, but as Leporello, he lacks the buffo (in Abbado's DG 1998 version).
This 2000 version of Naxos boosts of a wonderful pairing of Leporello and Giovanni, and another wonderful pairing of Ottavio and Anna.
Don Giovanni has been Skovhus's signature role. He is without doubt the BEST Don Giovanni since Cesare Siepi - he has the suave phrasing and sweetness of timbre; he also has the incisive heft denoting the underlying brute in the Don. His mellifluous duet with Raimondi (a very capable Zerlina), his swaggering Champagne aria, and the alluring serenade as well as the brutish aria that lures away the enemy Masetto are all done to such degree of vocal finesse that only 'perfection' would aptly describe.
On top of this, his pairing with Girolami's Leporello is simply a choice of genius - Leporello being the rustic, dark buffa guy, while the Don, the sophisticated libertine. Their marked contrast made their ensemble works (duets in particular) stand out as no other recording or performance has hitherto managed (not even Giulini, with Taddei feigning buffa all the time).
On top of all this goodies, the Donna Anna of Adrianne Pieczonka is a real revelation. Kerl's Ottavio may be a trifle to heroic, but such a change is welcome amid an entire batch of wailingly timid Ottavios. Polish bass Monarcha proves to be a steely Commemdatore.
The saddest bit is the non-purpose driven conducting of Michael Halász, who sags and lags, and at times pulls his soloists to well-nigh grinding halts.
Naxos was capable of lining up a wonderful line of soloists, but failed to choose the right conductor!

This is half the price of most recordings of Don Giovanni.

It is also pretty small beer, a good night in a provincial house, but nothing more. It is not to be compared with Giulini, Krips, Mitropoulos, Davis, Klemperer, Haitink, Harnoncourt, Gardiner, et. al.

The singers are earnest, the conductor gives his all, but if you can listen without remembering how little you paid, it is simply not competitive. There are expensive recordings that are bad, and cheap reissues that are good, but there are too many excellent recordings of Don Giovanni in the catalog for this one to be taken seriously. It is not good enough to treated as an equal.

It's only a bargain. Save a little extra money, keep browsing and go with the big leagues. Mozart deserves it and so do you.