Mozart - Don Giovanni
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Features
• AC-3
• Classical
• Color
• Dolby
• DVD-Video
• NTSC
In Theaters : 2007
DVD Release : 13 February, 2007 |
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Mozart - Don Giovanni Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Suffers in comparison to the wealth of Don Giovanni productions available on DVD
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I hate to be critical of a singer whose great voice has brought me so much pleasure, but I expected much more from Thomas Hampson as Don Giovanni. After all, Hampson is known for being a bit of a ham onstage; I thought he'd channel that tendency into a memorable interpretation of the title character. But he doesn't seem to have a handle on the role, even though Giovanni can be validly interpreted any number of ways, from suave seducer to chilling psychopath. Hampson is far too casual onstage and even looks distracted at times. Yes, the voice is fine, but when he's not singing, he has very little stage presence. Ildebrando D'Ancangelo as Leporello is so much more energetic and alive onstage that it makes their many scenes together feel out of balance. In fact, D'Ancangelo's deep and expressive baritone (really a bass-baritone) made me want to see him in the title role instead of Hampson. (D'Ancangelo also plays Leporello in a 1999 DVD from the Vienna Opera.) Hampson excels in the Verdi roles I've seen him in on DVD (as the title role in "Macbeth" and as Rodrigue in "Don Carlos" to name two); perhaps Mozart is just not for him.
I've seen Christine Schafer do impressive work on DVD (e.g., as Gilda in a recent Covent Garden "Rigoletto"). Here, she starts out strong as Donna Anna. A few minutes into Act I, she and Don Ottavio (Piotr Beczala) give a chilling rendition of the duet that follows her father's murder ("Fuggi, crudele, fuggi"). They do a tremendous job of highlighting the jarring, dissonant sound that Mozart gave this piece. My expectations were high. But then in Donna Anna's Act I aria (after she recognizes Giovanni as her father's murderer), Schafer struggles, hitting several sour notes. In Act II, she sounds labored in the difficult but exquisite "Non mi dir." Beczala fares better as Don Ottavio. He gives a moving rendition of "Dalla sua pace," straight from the heart; and his "Il mio tesoro" is the highlight of Act II, as he navigates its many runs and sustained notes with great skill.
Melanie Diener as Donna Elvira is disappointing. In her first aria, she adds a lot of coloratura to Mozart's score, but then fails to hit several notes that he wrote out. This tendency continues throughout her performance. To me, Donna Elvira is the heart of the opera. Many play her as a madwoman, making her almost a buffa character which provides some comic relief in the opera. But that interpretation falls short to me because it's Elvira who steps in and, with the wild and short aria, "Ah, fuggi il traditor," stops Giovanni from seducing Zerlina. Then again, it is Elvira who, in the great quartet with Don Giovanni, Donna Anna, and Don Ottavio, so rattles Giovanni that he gets too close to Donna Anna, allowing her to see that it's he who seduced her in the dark. And it's Donna Elvira who, right until the end, is ready to forgive this doomed man. In addition to her vocal difficulties, Diener just doesn't develop a character (however one thinks Elvira should be interpreted).
As Zerlina, Isabel Bayrakdarian struggles vocally too. I find her voice to be harsh and sometimes shrill, not at all suited for the charming and flirtatious arias Mozart wrote for her character. By contrast, Luca Pisaroni as Masetto does a fine job; I love his deep baritone voice.
Robert Lloyd is in fine bass voice as the Commendatore, but his final confrontation with Giovanni is strange indeed. It lacks the tension and horror that this scene should have. And I object to the rewriting of the Mozart/Da Ponte version of how Giovanni meets his death. (I won't give it away.)
The modern setting of this production doesn't make much sense to me. I know the director is trying to make a point with all the women in bras and panties, but I don't know what it is (perhaps that we're too influenced by ads for underwear - maybe it's a European thing).
The bottom line for me is that it's a disappointing "Don Giovanni" when the best performers are those cast as Leporello, Don Ottavio, and Masetto (but kudos to those three - a star for each). With over 50 years of this great opera available on DVD (e.g., Cesare Siepi's classic portrayal of Giovanni at this same Festival in 1954), I can't recommend this one unless you're a "Don Giovanni" collector. |
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Mozart - Don Giovanni dvd movie.