4/5 A Mostly Fine 'Don Giovanni' with Mostly Good Young Singers
  by J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA)
[Heads up: This is a 2009 reissue of a 2005 issue of a 1999 Vienna State Opera production filmed live at the Theater an der Wien. It is precisely the same product, but it has a different picture on the cover of the DVD box and thus might be confusing. The 2005 issue is, at the time I'm writing this, somewhat less expensive here at Amazon Mozart: Don Giovanni. The following is my original review from 2005.]

There is no doubt who the stars are in this Vienna State Opera production of 'Don Giovanni': the Vienna State Opera Orchestra (aka the Vienna Philharmonic) under Riccardo Muti. I have rarely heard such subtle, flexible orchestral support in what is, after all, generally considered a singer's opera, but one that has innumerable orchestral felicities. And they accompany a cast of singers who, while not all that well-known internationally at the time of this performance (1999), are performing at quite a high level. This live performance (not in the Opera House but in the more intimate Theater an der Wien) was recorded for Austrian television and directed for that medium by the ubiquitous (because he's so good) Brian Large. The stage production by Roberto de Simone is mostly traditional, although one peculiarity is that the costuming (by Zaira de Vincentiis) is updated era by era as we go through the various scenes of the opera -- Giovanni starts out in Act I, Scene I dressed in 16th century commedia dell'arte garb and by Act II he is dressed in a kind of 19th century costume, having along the way been dressed in 17th and 18th century wig and tights, etc. This is mildly puzzling but not intrusive, nor does it add much to the production. The sets are mostly utilitarian, albeit beautiful, and do not distort the action as is so often the case in recent European productions.

As I said, though, this is a singer's opera and here we have much to happy about. The young, lithe Carlos Álvarez (a Spaniard who had gone to medical school and become a gynecologist before switching his career to singing) makes a marvelous Giovanni, both in his singing and his acting. He comes across as very charming and one can see how he could win over Donna Elvira even after she has denounced him. The Elvira is Anna Caterina Antonacci. She is a beautiful woman and has a striking voice. She sounds thrilling, as in 'Mi tradi' in Act II. Donna Anna is sung by a young Canadian soprano, Adrianne Pieczonka, and she is simply marvelous. Her 'Or sai chi l'onore' is a bit covered, but I was won over by her overall performance. (As I write this, her moving 'Non mi dir' is replaying in my mind's ear. Lovely.)

Leporello is taken with complete gusto by the handsome Ildebrando d'Arcangelo. His servant is winning, cunning and hunky. And he can sing, too. His 'Catalog Aria' is a charmer. One surprise for me was the silken Don Ottavio of tenor Michael Schade. I had only heard him once before and thought he was a rather typical tenorino, but in this production he produced a sweet, full voice that did full justice to his 'Dalla sua pace' and 'Il mio tesoro.' And his acting was effective. Slightly less so was the Masetto of Lorenzo Regazzo. His voice was a little rough around the edges and his acting a bit stereotypical. It didn't help, probably, that he was mostly in scenes with the gorgeous and gorgeous-voiced mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager, who has since become an operatic superstar. Her 'Batti, batti' was delicious and her acting charmingly effective. The Commmendatore was the appropriately cavernous-voiced basso, Franz-Josef Selig.

You will have noticed that many of the principals are Latins -- Álvarez, Antonacci, d'Arcangelo, Regazzo -- and that, coupled with Muti at the helm, conspired, I believe, to make the opera more Italianate than it often is. Muti conducts on three different DVD releases of 'Don Giovanni,' one of which, from La Scala, I've also reviewed here. They're all good. But this one is also particularly good-looking, at least partly because of the young attractive cast. I recommend this DVD with only minor reservations as noted above.

1 DVD; LPCM Stereo; Subtitles in English, Italian, German, French, Spanish; liner notes in English, German, French. TT=173. No extras.

Scott Morrison