Don Giovanni cd

Mozart - Don Giovanni - Wiener Kammerchor & Wiener Symphoniker, Rudolf Moralt (1955) {3CD Set Philips 438 674-2 rel 1993}
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© 1955, 1993 Philips Classics | 438 674-2
Classical / Opera

Rudolf Moralt (26 February 1902 – 16 December 1958) was a German conductor, particularly associated with Mozart and the German repertory. Born in Munich, he studied there with Walter Courvoisier and August Schmid-Lindner, and was engaged as a répétiteur at the Munich State Opera under Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch from 1919 until 1923. He was conductor at the opera house of Kaiserslautern (1923–28) and musical director of the opera house in Brno (1932–34). He also worked in Braunschweig and Graz before being appointed chief conductor at the Vienna State Opera in 1940 until his death. In 1942 he made a series of renowned recordings conducting the orchestra of the State Opera with the Austrian soprano Maria Reining.

Don Giovanni’s special amalgam of dark drama and sparkling comedy is captured with startling immediacy by Carlo Maria Giulini. The Viennese baritone Eberhard Wächter faces a particularly formidable pair of noble ladies: Donna Anna in the form of Joan Sutherland (in one of her rare recordings for a label other than Decca) and the Donna Elvira of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

This is a review of the 'live' Mitropoulos recording from Salzburg. Although it is in mono sound the sense of perspective is actually better than in many stereo efforts. Yes sometimes voices recede further than is ideal but that is to be expected in the theatre. The audience is unobtrusive between numbers. The stage noise is generally very low frequency so does not obscure the music.

This transcription of Don Giovanni for string quartet by an anonymous arranger perfectly conveys the symbiosis of voice and instrument – a hallmark of Mozart’s genius. Throughout the opera, the deft arranger recreates the balance between the purely musical aspects of the work, without detracting from its theatrical qualities. In short, drama and buffoonery are both preserved.

This is a review of the 'live' Mitropoulos recording from Salzburg. Although it is in mono sound the sense of perspective is actually better than in many stereo efforts. Yes sometimes voices recede further than is ideal but that is to be expected in the theatre. The audience is unobtrusive between numbers. The stage noise is generally very low frequency so does not obscure the music.

The central facts of this brilliant performance are the conductor's vision and energy, expressed through a virtuoso orchestra and a cast carefully selected for theatrical as well as musical skills. The feeling of unrelenting pressure in the music seems to be an externalization of Don Giovanni's compulsions, which are only thinly veiled by his aristocratic manner and Mozart's mellifluous but intensely dramatic music. Riccardo Muti's tempos are often fast, but not so fast as to interfere with the fine nuances of dramatic expression in the orchestra and the singers, and he makes the gritty realities underlying the often smooth surface of the words and music intensely clear at every point.

For some reason, Daniel Barenboim's recordings of the Mozart-Da Ponte masterpieces have been overlooked. All three have splendid casts - and among them, this may be the least spectacular, but it is nonetheless a wonderful performance. Joan Rodgers has a gorgeous voice, and sings Zerlina with radiant and womanly warmth - no voce infantile here, thank the gods. It's a pity she hasn't recorded more. She is, fortunately, in Barenboim's two other Mozart-Da Ponte operas, singing her heart out as Susanna and Despina. Furlanetto has an interesting take on the role of the Don. He usually sings Leprello, but here he sings the part of Don Giovanni with a rather unique interpretation.

This live recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni inaugurates a series of Mozart operas to be recorded live at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden in southwestern Germany, featuring a galaxy of top operatic stars. The performance marks an impressive beginning indeed for the project. The incongruously named Mahler Chamber Orchestra under French Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin may seem tentative and underpowered to those used to, say, the Vienna Philharmonic, but Nézet-Séguin keeps the music very tightly connected to the singers. The opera stands or falls on the voice and attitude of the seducer Don himself, and the performance of the young Italian bass-baritone Ildebrando d'Arcangelo may come to be seen as a milestone in his career development. He has a low yet lively voice, and he's a completely persuasive Don Giovanni.

Gardiner's set has a great deal to commend it. The recitative is sung with exemplary care over pacing so that it sounds as it should, like heightened and vivid conversation, often to electrifying effect. Ensembles, the Act 1 quartet particularly, are also treated conversationally, as if one were overhearing four people giving their opinions on a situation in the street. The orchestra, perfectly balanced with the singers in a very immediate acoustic, supports them, as it were 'sings' with them.