Don Giovanni

"James Levine's Mozart has no great distinction. He moves the music along without seeking to convey anything of the evolving drama. He is content to support the breathing and phrasing of his singers and is careful not to drown their voices. These are considerable virtues ... this well sung performance in traditional sets and costumes will meet most needs and provide much enjoyment".

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"To sum things up: this production has its points if one can accept the abstract setting, the cast are good actors and much of the singing is good but Welser-Möst's heavy-handed conducting lets it down seriously".

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"Simon Keenlyside ... er ikke umiddelbart typen på Don Juan, men han spiller og synger Mozarts forfører med en besnærende intelligens, som er fængslende. Opførelsen fra Covent Garden i London sat i scene af Francesca Zambello, som en gang også gæstede Det Kgl. Teater, er nok en af hendes bedste. Endnu mere overbevisende er den gamle dirigentmester Charles Mackerras. Hans Mozart har en dejlig naturlighed".

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"Royal Opera House har et sandt klenodie i Don Giovanniproduktionen, som den store afdøde scenograf Maria Björnson satte sit afgørende præg på ... Instruktøren Francesco Zambello råder over kvindetrekløveret Marina Poplavskaya, Joyce DiDonato og Miah Persson til Donna Anna, Donna Elvira og Zerlina".

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"Gilfrys dæmoniske Don er et genialt og i enhver henseende overdådigt portræt af en uimodståelig psykopat i en i øvrigt særdeles god forestilling".

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"Det er gennemgående gode besætninger ... med Rodney Gilfry som en velsyngende Don Juan og Lászlo Polgár som Leporello".

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"Ved sin side har Gilfry vel nok alle tiders Leporello, den ungarske bas László Polgár. Mage til forsoren bavian skal man lede længe efter. Oliver Widmer er på banen som en værdig Masetto til sopranen Liliana Nikiteanus drøm af en Zerlina, og da også Isabel Reys Donna Anna er billedskøn, bliver forførerfabelen til at forstå".

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"Her er kraftcentret dirigenten René Jacobs og Freiburg Barokorkester som spiller på historiske instrumenter ... Scenografien er hamrende kedsommelig og tilmed lidet befordrende for drejebogens dramaturgiske finurligheder ... Der er dog lyspunkter, især skal den bulgarske Donna Elvira fremhæves for scenisk nærvær og glødende vokalpragt. Nordmanden Johannes Weisser agerer en særdeles ung Don Juan. Ikke noget uinteressant koncept, han synger fortrinligt, men løber for tit rundt som en desorienteret hane i en hønsegård".

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"En meget inspirerende billedoptagelse af Mozarts Don Giovanni kommer som en dejlig overraskelse. Dirigenten er René Jacobs ... Man oplever et tæt samarbejde mellem hans og Freiburger Barokorkesters musiceren på originalinstrumenter og Vincent Boussards meningsfulde iscenesættelse ... Johannes Weisser (...) er absolut ikke dæmonisk, men ret sympatisk og drenget charmerende, og han ved, at pigerne falder for ham, hvad de også gør".

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"Scenegangen er livlig, personinstruktionen uddybet med mange detaljer, som umiddelbart kaster nyt lys på personernes interne relationer ... Simon Keeenlyside er en lyst og let klingende Don Juan, Anton Scharinger en saftig Leporello, og Eva Mei en fremragende Donna Anna, mens Malin Hartelius' Donna Elvira og Piotr Beczalas Don Ottavio slår til".

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"Diskutabel i Martin Kusejs fortolkning med Thomas Hampson som en lidt svag Don Juan, men med den vidunderlige Christine Schäfer som Donna Anna".

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"Voksen - i uhyggelig grad - er "Don Giovanni", hvor personerne er nutidsborgere i en hvid verden. Martin Kusejs personinstruktion gør Mozarts største opera til en psykologisk realistisk historie om kold forførelse, og det realistiske understreges af, at denne iscenesættelse er helt uden metafysik: Don Giovanni opsluges ikke, som han plejer, af Helvedes dyb, men dolkes af sin tro tjener, Leporello!".

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"Bieito er grænsesprængende, men ikke meningsløs ... Første akt frem til Don Giovannis store finale er et fantasifuldt crescendo af gemytlige gemenheder, men så begår Bieito den overkill at lade hele andenakten foregå umiddelbart i oprydningsfasen efter det kiksede kalas ... Der musiceres med riv og rusk af Bertrand de Billy og Liceu Operaens orkester. Her stikkes intet under stolen".

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"In Claus Guth's 2008 Salzburg production, set in a surreal revolving forest with bus shelter as prop, Don Giovanni and Leporello - brilliantly acted by Christopher Maltman and Erwin Schrott - duly become grimly dysfunctional down-and-outs ... Bertrand de Billy offers no revelation, though his briskish, no-nonsense direction accords well enough with Guth's uncomical, unheroic and largely dehumanised conception".

"This film powerfully captures the fiery essence of Francesco Zambello's production for the Royal Opera. Striking light and fearless camera angles highlight the best elements of Maria Björnson's design ... And, consistently strongly cast, it's as good for the ear as for the eye".

Vurdering (performance): 5/5.

Vurdering (picture & sound): 5/5.

"This is eminently listenable and surprisingly viewable ... It's not particularly edifying to see so much of Simon Keenlyside's torso or to have Giovanni taking his last supper in shorts, but by modern standards it's almost tasteful".

"In Claus Guth's 2008 Salzburg production, set in a surreal revolving forest with bus shelter as prop, Don Giovanni and Leporello - brilliantly acted by Christopher Maltman and Erwin Schrott - duly become grimly dysfunctional down-and-outs ... Bertrand de Billy offers no revelation, though his briskish, no-nonsense direction accords well enough with Guth's uncomical, unheroic and largely dehumanised conception".

"The sets are extremely simple, the voices not powerful but fresh, and there's a spontaneity about most of the show".

Vurdering (performance): 3/5.

Vurdering (presentation): 4/5.

"Der vorliegende Mozart-Zugang aus Baden-Baden hat nur einen aufregenden Dirigenten aufzuweisen: René Jacobs ... In Christian Lacroix's bunten Kleidern bewegt sich das junge, wenig persönlichkeitsstarke Ensemble wir Kleiderpuppen. Johannes Weiser ist in der Titelrolle eine erotische Nullnummer".

Vurdering (Szene): 1/5.

Vurdering (Musik): 3/5.

"Her er en Don Giovanni, som er til at holde ud. Det sceniske udstyr er stærkt begrænset ... Sangerne er ikke navnkundige ... Johannes Weisser som Don Giovanni er faktist en af de mest overbevisende. Alt i alt en Don Giovanni, man kan have nogen glæde af, fordi den ikke er irriterende ekstrem i iscenesættelsen, og, måske først og fremmest, fordi der ageres godt".

"Eine bedingte empfehlung ... Erwin Schrott durfte seinen Don, der endlich einmal wieder ... ein machomässiger Sexprotz, kultiviert, aber dauerlüstern ist, endlich vor der Kamera spielen ... Anna Netrebko ... die Stimme scheint aber inzwischen für die Koloratur fast zu schwerfällig ... Neben ... Leporello Luca Pisaroni, der seine dienende Sache fabelhaft macht, ein ordentliches Restensemble".

"This modern-dress production by Philipp Himmelmann is full of handsome stage pictures bathed in twilight, wintry blues ... as much as one enjoys her [Netrebko] full-bodied tone during lyrical sections, you have to turn the blind ear towards her coloratura".

"Simon Keelyside singt und spielt den Don wie eine Lebensrolle. Wunderbar weich, doch auch markant vokal dahinfliessend, mokant mit den Worten spielend ... Welser-Möst und das Zürcher Opernorchester setzen sich mit ausgewogen balancierten Tempi und hell strahlendem Klang fast zu ostentativ von der kantigen Harnoncourt-Dramaturgie ab".

Vurdering (Szene): 3/5.

Vurdeing (Musik): 3/5.

"Sehr erotisch ist das nicht, und es offenbart trotz aller visuellen Ambition samt rasanter Kamerafahrten wenig Neues auf dem Karussell viriler Verführungskraft ... Mariusz Kwiecien in der Titelrolle zwar über sehr männliche Baritontöne verfügt, aber ansonsten eher Leere ausstrahlt ... Nicola Luisotti versieht einen sachlich waltenden, behutsam anheizende Dirigierjob".

"A two-storey structure that takes up the whole stage and is made up of rooms with doors that appear and disappear ... In short, it's inspired and fascinating ... you'll be riveted ... Musically and dramatically, there is only one performance that lives up to the scenery and the direction ... Anyone who misses Mariusz Kwiecien's performance here will regret it ... A truly great DVD version of this opera? Well, except for the weird constant changes of hairstyles and outfit".

"Don Giovanni als mafioses Familiengemälde. Als Mischung aus ausgebranntem Marlon Brando ... präsentiert sich Bo Skovhus. Der dänische Bariton ... sang hier zum letzten Mal seine Signaturrolle, auch vokal müde, ausgehöhlt - und zerstörte so konsequent einen weiteren Mythos. Das ist mutig und berührend zugleich ... Und was für grossartige Singdarstellerinnen! ... Das Ende überzeugt nicht wirklich".

"Tcherniakov's reading gives depth to a drama too often tripped up by creaking period theatrical conceits ... Bo skovhus is electrifying in the lead role ... The staging reveals the distinctive psychosis of each character ... This DVD is a must-see".

Vurdering (performance): 5/5.

Vurdering (picture & sound): 4/5.

"The singing is good, and the acting is so accomplished that you feel you are watching 'real life' rather than 'a performance'. The orchestra plays well. If Louis Langree's conducting lacks tenderness, it certainly accords with this very unjocular interpretation of da Ponte's dramma giocoso ... Tcherniakov has more knowledge than understanding. He should have commissioned a new drama, not traduced da Ponte and Mozart".

"Whether viewers will respond to this DVD with ... delight will depend very much on individual taste. It is certainly well worth seeing, and not just for its shock value. Musically it is a thoroughly decent performance. Bertrand de Billy ... conducts the singers and orchestra with a real flair".

"Calixto Bieito's Giovanni - the staging that scandalised London ... the Catalan director's vision of the last hours in the life of the "extremely licentious", not-very-noble man is set in a contemporary world of sex, violence, remorse and social and psychological breakdown ... If you think you prefer your Don Giovanni as a clone of Errol Flynn's 1930s Elizabethan movies, I urge you to try this serious, black and often wickedly funny piece of theatre".

"Reichlich uninteressant ... und auch die zerknautschten Laken allein machen noch keine Knisteratmosphäre ... Ein weiteres italienisches Mozart-Missverständnis; zumal ausser dem Rollenroutinier Ildebrando D'Arcangelo kaum einer der Sänger wirklich aufhorchen lässt".

"The result is diverting, but not really worth the ecstatic response accorded it in the booklet ... The show is costumed traditionally, for a change ... but scenically it's very spare indeed ... Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, previously a marvellous Leporello, is an equally persuasive Giovanni ... a true stage animal ... The women are more problematic ... Riccardo Frizza ... keeps the drama moving briskly ... This performance dislodges neither of my top two recommendations in the crowded Don Giovanni DVD catalogue".

"Pisaroni turns up ... as a first-rate Leporello ... D'Arcangelo is Don Giovanni to the life: romantic, insouciant, courageous ... Excellent support from conductor and orchestra ... I enjoyed both of these productions; but for more tradional versions, try ... Francesca Zambello's Don Giovanni from Covent Garden (Opus Arte)".

"Director Jonathan Kent has placed this production in the world and era of Fellini's La dolce Vita ... Gerald Finley is a Don of remarkable self-assurance and narcisism, his impeccable diction and technically flawless singing an extension of this monstrous character ... The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenmet play with fire and parssion".