Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, London Classical Players, Roger Norrington :: Mozart: Don Giovanni / Dawson, Ainsley, Finley, Halgrimson, Miles, A. Schmidt, Yurisich; Norrington

Good first act, Amazing 2nd act

B. Edwards | 09/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've owned alot of different Don Giovanni's over the years, but ultimately I come back to this one. The only one that replaced it for a few years was Gardiner's, which I still prefer in some ways and enjoy listening to, but in the end this performance, and its amazing 2nd act, brings the most wild joy.



Cast wise the stars are Finley's Masseto and Argenta's Zerlina, both of which I find to be my favorite on record. Finley's beautiful baritone and perfect acting match so well with Argenta's angelic (though light voiced) Zerlina. I wish Finley had played the Don! Don't get me wrong, Schmidt is in very good form here, brutally masculine and powerful, but I'd prefer Finley's more golden tone. Still, Schmidt is a good Don..la ci larem la mano is particularly beautiful. Yurisch's Leporello may turn off some with his odd voice, but it is perfectly characterized and very comic sounding. It also can be surprisingly beautiful which catches you off guard after you get used to his regular comic tone. A great performance that really grows on you.



I also love Lynne Dawson's Elvira. Her soaringly pure soprano, tinged with that dark bit of sorrow is just perfect for Elvira in my book. The way her sorrowful wail pierces the textures at the final rejection (before Don is dragged to hell) still sends chills up my spine every time I hear it.



Miles is a profound and stable commendatore.



Ainsley's Ottovio is pure toned and beautiful, a good performance though not ideal. Halgrimson's Anna is my least favorite of the bunch. While pleasant to listen to, she does not capture my heart the way the other singers do. Im not sure why.



One middling performance then, several good ones, and 3 outstanding ones puts this up with the best sung Giovanni's. (Only if you like lighter voices though: I don't care for Wagnerian Mozart)



The most special bit here is the conducting and orchestra though. Norrington can be odd. The staid champaigne aria loses much excitement, the overture sounds somewhat contrived, the fast mask aria doesn't go over very well. The brass and tympani can be heavy handed at times. But so much is gained!



Don's being dragged to hell has never been so awesomely terrifying before, though it may sound oddly fast to those used to more romantic tempos. The first piece of the Act2 Finale has such fire and vigour! You can feel the Don defying all with his whirlwind of energy and passion. The mini-finale of the Sestina in act 2 is a sung and played tour-de-force, the statue scene just bristles and hums with out of this world string playing. Elvira's Fuggi and the following Terzetto are horrifyingly eerie and enchantingly sung by all involved. Zerlina's 2nd aria to Masseto has a wonderful profundity thanks to stellar cello bass and horn playing. The first act finale has such power that you really feel how pathetic Don and Leporelloro are before the combined righteousness of the rest of the world. Last but not least, the finale after Don is dragged down, which sounds so feeble in most performances rings here with rip-roaring panache and nobility, like Don's out of control desires now infuse the rest of the cast with flaming passion, but one that is free and exultant, no longer selfish.



These above are some of the reasons I love this performance the best, even with its oddities and quirks. It gets closest to the heart of the opera, and the orchestra is as much a star as the singers. When I hear other performances in comparison they just are sleepwalking through so much of the score compared to this Don!



One final quirk is the separate prague and vienna versions, which means you will have to do some fiddling to get everything you want in.



But if you don't mind hearing Don Giovanni in a new way, where lots of parts you liked are given annoying twists, but so many new wonders are opened up you will soon forget the annoyance, try this one. Definately my favorite Norrington record."

Excellent Mid-Priced Choice

B. Edwards | 12/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a highly underrated recording of Mozart's masterpiece, competitive with the best, especially at mid-price. Norrington made many mediocre recordings in the '80s and '90s, but his work here is a wonderful surprise: Dramatic, energetic, and with imaginative tempo and phrasing choices. As for the singers, once you accept the fact that they have light voices, they're all quite good. Lynne Dawson, one of the best singers of her generation, is especially touching as Elvira (the traditional "angry harpy" characterization is not for her). Amanda Halgrimson is probably the lightest-voiced Anna on record, but she's an intelligent singer who knows the part well, the basic quality of her voice is not unattractive, and she certainly has less trouble with the music than, say, Martina Arroyo for Colin Davis. The others range from good to very good, and they work together very well as a team, especially in the recitatives.The classic studio recording of "Don Giovanni" is Giulini's on EMI (highlighted by the best Anna on records, Joan Sutherland). But if you want a version with more up-to-date sound, or a version that's fairly observant of the need for appogiaturas and ornamentation, or just an excellent all-around performance at mid-price, this is the one."

A valuable educational tool

F. Behrens | Keene, NH USA | 07/17/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Although I agree with most of what reviewer Hogseth says on this site, I must in all fairness point out that the format of this recording makes it a valuable educational tool despite a not quite up to snuff performance. The first two CDs give us the original 1787 Prague version. the third gives us 23 numbers that were added to the next year's Vienna production or were changed from the earlier version. So we have the silly scene in which Zerlina has Leporello bound to a chair, another version of the drinking song, and so on. (This is a more sensible way of giving us the alternative sequences than that in the Telarc "Don Giovanni" that sends you playing with your programming buttons to hear one version or the other.)In short, here is a valuable resource to show students how even Mozart had to accommodate himself to the demands of his public and just as often of his cast. So while I will play this recording less frequently than my favorite one on Philips with Colin Davis on the podium, I will certainly use it in my seminars to show how opera is a living thing that responds to its enviroment."