Mozart: Don Giovanni

Not that it is an irredeemably awful production, because it isn't. It does have some solid if not always consistent musical values that makes it more tolerable at least. But there's almost certainly not been a stranger-staged Don Giovanni than this one on DVD and it just didn't appeal visually. After enjoying Netherlands' Le Nozze Di Figaro and especially Cosi Fan Tutte(though both with reservations) this Don Giovanni was a disappointment.

Coming to what saves the production from faring worse, the orchestral playing is great and beautifully done, there could have been some richer tone quality sometimes but the playing itself is very stylish, well-balanced and not devoid of passion certainly. Ingo Metzmacher's conducting is incisive and energetic but also accommodating and spacious. The Act 1 finale is very exciting musically, such a shame though that this is not matched in the staging, and the tempo for the Catalogue aria is perfect, letting the teasing humour of the aria to sparkle. There are some solid performances in this production. Pietro Spagnoli has a strong, hearty voice if lacking some of the colour and darkness of other Don Giovannis, and he performs this complex role with gusto, bringing to it bringing a sexiness(the Serenade for example) and subtle menace too.

Jose Fardilha sings robustly and has a warm quality to his voice that sounds easy and well-projected both high and low. He is an amusing Leporello while not forgetting to make him bumbling or loyal, he also brings a twitchiness to his interpretation which was an interesting one and it worked. Of the ladies, Charlotte Margiono fared the best as Elvira. She has a voice that is both rich and flexible and this is an Elvira with plenty of spirit, fire and heart. Myrtò Papatanasiu is a very poignant and passionate Donna Anna if slightly erratic at times, you really feel the grief and rage that fills Or Sai Chi L'onore, and she has no problem being heard without being strained or pushed.

Was mixed on Mario Luperi, a sonorous voice that is shaped beautifully and with good musicianship but while deeply felt to begin with he is one of the least intimidating Commendatores on DVD. Though in fairness to him he is ill-served by the staging he's given, including the most idiotic and incoherent death scene for the character of any production of Don Giovanni. Cora Burggraaf looks the part as Zerlina, but is rather too wan, almost frightened-kitten-like on occasions. Her voice can sound shrill at times, its light tone comes across well in her arias, which suit her well, but she is almost swamped in ensembles. Marcel Reijans for me fared much better as Basilio in Netherlands' Le Nozze Di Figaro, the voice does have character but for personal tastes it needed more of a lyrical quality and less dryness- especially in Il Mio Tesoro- for this role. His stage direction is very uninteresting to begin with but he doesn't bring much personality or involvement to Ottavio. Robert Accurso's voice is not very strongly recorded so he did sound underpowered, and while Massetto is a jealous and angry character at times Accurso's acting was somewhat indifferent.

It's the visuals and staging that bring the production down significantly. The production, like a mix of bedroom showroom and bedroom dormitory(if that sounds weird that's because it came across that way looking at it), is rather ugly and garish visually, Don Giovanni is a dark, elegant opera and the production values, from the odd sets, dull and garish lighting and mish-mash costumes, are the complete antithesis here. Very little is done with the beds which were there all the time and often for no reason to be, looking more like obstacles to the singers than actually adding anything. Don Giovanni story-wise is as dark and complex- in a good way- as Mozart gets, however it seemed that because the directors were trying to bring their own style into the production the story was completely forgotten about, even those who know the opera will have difficulty following the story here. Worst of all the staging was never really compelling, apart from a few of the individual arias(ie. Catalogue aria), at times dull but mostly irrelevant and confusing. Especially in the cases of the most idiotic staging of the Commendatore's death scene, which was more of a clumsily done heart attack than a murder, and the end of Act 1 which was an incoherent mess. The climatic scene with Giovanni being dragged to hell completely lacks tension despite Spagnoli's best efforts, Leporello resorting to self-abuse in Zerlina's presence did not fit the character or the interpretation at all and I was never sure of the significance of the Donna Anna doll that Ottavio always had.

The video directing and picture quality are very good, but the sound is not always very well balanced particularly in the big ensembles, the orchestra can be heard just fine but the singing doesn't always blend together. All in all, has some solid things musically, with some great orchestral playing and conducting and some good performances, but let down badly by particularly the staging, which showed a lot of lack of taste and also an inability to make storytelling interesting and coherent. 4/10 Bethany Cox