Mozart's Don Giovanni

In 1953 the Salzburg Festival staged a production of Don Giovanni, not in the Festspielhaus but in the huge open air Felsenreitschule (a former quarry) with its imposing baroque rock wall. Directed by the renowned Herbert Graf, with stage design by Clemens Holzmeister, the Vienna Philharmonic and an near ideal cast played and sang under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwängler.

The success was so great that in 1954 a film was produced by Paul Czinner. Technical limitations of the time meant it wasn't a live performance, instead the opera was filmed in situ over many evenings and nights after the 1954 Festival had ended. As Furtwängler died only a few months later this film is an all important document.

Costumes and scenery are traditional in the best sense of the word and the set makes perfect use of the rocky backdrop of the Felsenreitschule stage. Both chorus and soloists are excellently directed and the acting is adapted to film- not all the facial expressions would have been seen from the audience in a performance. Audio is mono but good for the time.

Cesare Siepi as Don Giovanni was THE Don of the 50ies and 60ies and hasn't been surpassed to this day. He and Ezio Pinza, the Don of the 30ies and 40ies, were the ideal Don Giovannis, both had the physique du role, both were Bassos Cantantes as opposed to the more usually cast baritones. Siepi sings with flawless legato and goes seamlessly from lowest basso notes into the high baritonal range. He can tone down his big voice to a seductive mezza voce and has the power for the final scene. Tall, slim and elegant, he looks great in tights, moves lithely like a panther and displays all the arrogance of the Don's class. The switch to seductor is played perfectly as is the terror in the final scene. There he shows his most fantastic acting and singing, pulling himself together and standing up unrepentantly to the Commendatore, only to be overcome again by terror.

Otto Edelmann's Leporello is the perfect contrast in figure and voice. Even though the vocal range is similar there is no mistaking Leporello, but he can also pull off a Don-imitation when serenading Elvira. With his burly figure he adds comic buffo relief but also shades of the badly treated renitent working man. After he has overcome initial intonation problems the only thing that jars a bit is the not quite idiomatic Italian.

Deszö Ernster sings the Commendatore with great menace. His voice shows signs of his age in the slightly loose vibrato but the confrontation in the finale is nonetheless thrilling.

Donna Anna is sung by Elisabeth Grümmer and her portrayal is one for the ages. Her large lyric soprano is soulful and beautiful, especially in the high register and she acts fantastically- no wonder, because she first trained as a classic actor before turning to singing.

Her Don Ottavio is Anton Dermota, who has his 1st act aria Dalla sua Pace cut and in the other one (Il mio tesoro) he struggles a bit with the long phrases. I must confess I never was keen on his sound and his Ottavio is one that makes the viewer and listener understand why Donna Anna always postpones her marriage. But the same goes for Kenneth Riegel in the Losey film- no Anna is ever going to marry such a boring Ottavio;-) Mozart made this role a thankless one.

Donna Elvira was originally sung by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf but she (or Walter Legge) decided the film was not for her. So we get Lisa della Casa instead which to my taste is a positive change (sorry, I cannot like the artificiality of Schwarzkopf). Della Casa was a beautiful woman with a lovely voice. Her interpretation may be a bit generalized and she isn't as intense as Grümmer but still an asset for the film.

Masetto is played by a very young Walter Berry, a joy to watch and listen to!

His Zerlina (Erna Berger in her mid 50ies) sounds good and youthful if you close your eyes but even with the most skilful lighting and all tricks in the book you cannot overlook that this Zerlina is 30 years older than a Zerlina should be. To Berger's credit she makes the best of the situation. She isn't the only one with this predicament: I find Teresa Berganza in Losey's film also miscast and there even the voice sounds too old, which Erna Berger's doesn't.

All in all the nearly 3 hours of this Don Giovanni never get boring. In spite of Furtwängler's sometimes slow tempi he holds it all together and the singing and acting are so good that there's always something to keep your attention. For me the absolute highlight is Don Giovanni's last scene where Mozart's music transcends the classical style. After that drama the final triumphant sextet always feels like a slight letdown but that's because we hear the music with modern ears- in Mozart's time audiences would have been relieved to be back to normal.

When we think of Don Juan on film, Errol Flynn is the actor that comes to mind. Few people know that there is a better film Don than he.

Although usually - though not exclusively - a baritone part, the film makers chose the Italian bass Cesare Siepi for the part of the Don. The opera singer Sir Geraint Evans once said in a TV interview that "the Don must have dignity." He then singled out Siepi.

And we can see what Sir Geraint means. Siepi is the one man who looks better than Errol Flynn in doublet and hose. He moves gracefully, looks distinguished, has an excellent physique, is good-looking, acts wonderfully well and is blessed with that magnificent self-trained voice. If Errol Flynn WAS Robin Hood, then Cesare Siepi WAS Don Juan, even though, of course, in his personal life, Siepi was modest, highly principled and, according to Sir Geraint Evans, maybe a little shy.

As a film it is a bold attempt to link film and opera, the highest form of art known to man. This works, and through cinema we can rerun the performances again and again. The fact that the music is by Mozart makes this film all the better. The director makes the action look as though we are in our own private box at the opera house, rather than make it look like a Hollywood musical, and that adds to the film's magic.

One side effect of this film is that you then start to trawl the record shops looking for records by Siepi and other members of the cast.

The mere fact that there is a film version of Mozart's Don Giovanni will be of interest to music lovers everywhere. The fact that it is a well-made, well-performed film makes it so much better.

The opera itself is a masterpiece, with some of the best music Mozart ever wrote and the Commendatore scene is one of my favourite scenes of all time of any opera. Add to that a compelling story and characters and you have a brilliant opera. The 1955 Don Giovanni is excellent, even if I do prefer the Joseph Losey film and the 1987 production. The camera work is very, very good and enhances the beautifully constructed costumes and settings very nicely. The orchestra play with style, and while Wilhelm Furtwangler's conducting has a more romantic approach to what I am used to hearing when I watch or hear Don Giovanni it is still very skillful and has an outstanding sense of dramatic style and musicianship. The performances range from very good to outstanding, Erna Berger and Lisa Della Casa are for me the least convincing in their roles, Casa could have done with more spite and Berger while singing very well and the camera work does admirably in trying not to let her age show I do think is too old for Zerlina. Elisabeth Grummer is a beautifully sung and convincing Donna Anna though, Dezso Erster is a very intimidating Commendatore, Anton Demotta is a very good Ottavio and Walter Berry is a truly excellent Massetto. Otto Edelmann is rather flat to start with, but he does get much better and his acting as Leporello is good. Best of all is Cesare Siepi in the title role, his voice is magnificent, handsome with a dark and noble quality, and his acting from charming to devilish is outstanding. All in all, excellent, worth seeing for the music, the Commendatore scene and Siepi. 9/10 Bethany Cox