Mozart: Don Giovanni

The Age

Thursday July 24, 2008

Michael Shmith

Mozart: Don Giovanni

Soloists, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Cond. Rene Jacobs

Harmonia Mundi

4/5

This live two-DVD performance of Don Giovanni, recorded at a performance in the Festspielhaus, Baden-Baden, in October 2006, originated at the Innsbruck Festival. Bar a couple of cast changes, it is essentially the same fine performance as on the CD version, also for Harmonia Mundi. The first-rate interpretation of Rene Jacobs, who infuses the opera with excitement and brilliance, is always at the service of the music. Seldom a phrase goes by without some form of illumination. This includes the expertly witty recitatives. The mostly straightforward production, by Vincent Broussard, has fast-flowing and visual credibility that is underscored by Vincent Lemaire's single post-modern set and Christian Lacroix's absolutely fabulous costumes. Johannes Weisser's randy Don is twice as active in the flesh (as it were), and his Leporello, Marcos Fink, a harmonious foil. Alexandrina Pendatchanska's Donna Elvira and Malin Bystrom's Donna Anna are strongly voiced, with slightly more authority than the Zerlina and Masetto of Sunhae Im and Nikolay Borchev. By the time this production got to Baden-Baden it was well sung-in; as a result, the feeling of ensemble is paramount. The two DVDs include a 54-minute documentary about the production. -- MICHAEL SHMITH

© 2008 The Age

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