Don Giovanni

The Age

Thursday September 27, 2007

Michael Shmith

Don Giovanni

Mozart

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, conductor Rene Jacobs

Harmonia Mundi

4/5

This brilliant recording of Don Giovanni, made after a series of live performances at last year's Innsbruck Festival, completes Rene Jacobs' triptych of Mozart/Da Ponte operas on Harmonia Mundi. As with Le nozze di Figaro and Cos fan tutte, this Don Giovanni respects the drama while emphasising the comedy. There is scarcely a moment in the score that has not been intelligently thought through. It has the edgy essence of performance caught on the run - just like Don G himself - and this helter-skelter momentum only adds excitement to its anti-hero's long day's journey into hell. The young cast brings refreshing vigour and impetus to the work: Johannes Weisser, a Norwegian baritone still in his 20s, is a first-rate Giovanni; Lorenzo Regazzo's sterling Leporello echoes his master's voice - a true rival there; and Alessandro Guerzoni's Commendatore and Kenneth Tarver's Don Ottavio are excellent. Olga Pasichnyk's Donna Anna narrowly eclipses Alexandrina Pendatchanska's Donna Elvira. The recitatives are wonderful, and Jacobs' work with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra is magnificent. The recording uses the 1787 Prague version, but incorporates the arias from the 1788 Vienna version. -- MICHAEL SHMITH

© 2007 The Age

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