Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Marvellous Modern Don, July 1, 2003
This Don Giovanni is widely considered to be the best modern recording of all, and though I haven't heard all the recordings, I think this one would be hard to top. I've played it nearly every day since I got it!
For me, the star of this performance is conductor John Eliot Gardiner. Every time I hear one of his recordings I'm more convinced that he's one of the very best living conductors, and it shows in this fiercely dramatic Don. If you're used to another recording, like those of Giulini or Davis, you might find the overture and final scene to be breathlessly fast, but personally I find either option perfectly correct. But in any case don't assume that this recording is rushed simply because it is a period-instrument version. All of Gardiner's tempi probably do at least lean toward the quick side, but almost nothing here strikes me as excessive or idiosyncratic. The tempi here virtually always add to the effectiveness of the drama. Don Giovanni is one of the most brilliantly vigorous and enthusiastic operas ever written, and Gardiner's incisive conducting of the English Baroque Soloists, the orchestra he founded and clearly has a remarkable rapport with, brilliantly brings that out. I actually recommend heading to the final scene first of all--it really is a shocking, incredibly effective denouement, and in my opinion this version does it justice more than any other.
None of the singers stand out to me quite as much as Gardiner and his fantastic English Baroque Soloists, but this is not so much their inadequacy as the conductor's uniqueness and verve. In fact, they're all quite good and very equipped to cope with Mozartian challenges. You can find starrier casts (none so brilliant or classic as Carlo Maria Giulini's has been assembled since), but there are simply no weak links in this production, and they work well as a cast--this is a live recording, after all.
Rodney Gilfry and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo are well paired here as master and man, their voices clearly distingishable. Gilfry has become associated with the role of Don Giovanni, and for good reason--he really has the measure of the Don's character, and is an excellent vocal actor. D'Arcangelo's Leporello may seem a bit understated compared to many more over-the-top interpretations, and he perhaps could have taken a few more risks, but I actually think he is letting the music and words speak for themselves, and going for a more dry-humor effect, which works very well. His voice sounds great.
As Don Giovanni's nemesis, Andrea Silvestrelli is boomingly magnificent. I would not have accepted his invitation to dinner! He's one of the most resonant Commendatores I've heard, and is picked up to great advantage by Deutche Grammophon's mikes.
Of the other men, it's Christophe Pregardien's Don Ottavio that especially stands out to me. He makes the pyrotechnics in his famous arias sound easy, and the voice is truly beautiful and stylish. Julian Clarkson's Masetto doesn't stand out to this degree--he is a light Masetto (which is not really a problem) but his voice is good and he well expresses his character's irony in "Ho capito, signor si".
The women (Luba Orgonasova as Donna Anna, Charlotte Margiono as Donna Elvira, and Eirian James as Zerlina) are likewise all good and equipped to sing the most brilliant parts of their often quite difficult arias. Eirian James as Zerlina gets considerably more time on stage than usual, because this recording is of the Vienna version and includes a rather extended, and quite fun, exchange between she and Leporello, and she does quite well at it.
That is one of the most interesting features of this set. Almost invariably, the Prague version of Don Giovanni, with some added arias from the Vienna, is heard in performance and on disc. Some give the Prague version alone; this is a fairly recent phenomenon. Even rarer is a performance which gives the full Vienna version, complete with the Leporello/Zerlina duet. Here, Gardiner's tempi are brisk enough that the entire Vienna version is played, with all differing Prague numbers included as an appendix. Hence, you can program your CD player to use the appendix numbers, and hear the Prague version instead. Multiple versions of an opera are always a pain (if you think this is bad try Boris Godunov!) but I think the problem is well solved here.
This recording is marvelous. Gardiner and his orchestra were born to play this music, and I imagine Mozart himself would approve of the vivacity and crisp attack of these period instrument performers. Don't let anyone convince you to pooh-pooh period-practice until you've heard it for yourself; these instruments have a delightfully unique timbre. And I mustn't forget to add that all this is captured in faithful sound by DG's state-of-the-art recording technology--the sound is truthful and the bass comes out brilliantly, especially in the final scene. Besides all this, you get a cast that is a real, performance cast, captured during actual live performances. This should not be passed up.
|
|
|
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Glorious!, December 23, 1999
Of the 3 Da Ponte operas, Don Giovanni is Gardiner's most successful recording. Hi fiery conducting is both stylish and exciting, not unlike the magnificent Carlo Maria Giulini. His cast is admirable, I certainly prefer a high baritone than a deep bass as Don Giovanni. Let's not forget that Mozart wrote the role for the 21 year old Luigi Bassi, sure labeled a bass, but later in life he became a tenor, so most certainly he was what we now call a baritone. Rodney Gilfry is suave and sexy in the title role, and he contrasts nicely with the Leporello and especially with the Commendatore. The Donna Anna takes the vocal honours of the recording, the great slovak soprano Luba Orgonasova is nothing short of sensational, worthy of the greatest Donna Annas ever recorded. Charlotte Margiono is no less exciting and even more moving, this Donna Elvira is madly in love with the rascal. The Zerlina is more annonymous and could have been improved. It was wise to choose an Italian as Leporello, as young as Don Giovanni, but vocally well diferentiated. The Commendatore is sonorous and commanding. The period orchestra is beyond praise. If you want a digital recording of the greatest of all operas, deffinitely choose this one. If you already own the classic Giulini set, still this great recording is certainly worth owning.
|
|
|
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Giovanni of all, February 9, 2002
i have heard many recordings of Mozart's Don Giovanni, and I can surely say that this one is the best, although is not perfect.
The High couple (Anna and Ottavio) is perfect arranged in Luba Orgonasova and Christoph Pregardièn voices. Charlote Mrgiono is the best Elvira since Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (only reached by Lynne Dawson, Cecilia Bartoli and Della Jones) and the pleasent couple is very hilarious with Eirian James (although I still prefer Barbara Bonney in this role) and Julian Clarkson. But the best thing in this Don Giovanni is the singer who leads the title role. Rodney Gilfry's voice has - at the same time - light and shade, fear and courage, anger and love, better than Fischer-Diskau, he is above all the baritones of his generation.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
See all 24 tracks on this disc
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
