Mozart: Don Giovanni [DVD Video]
by Vincent Boussard
![Mozart: Don Giovanni [DVD Video]](/images/Mozart-Don-Giovanni-DVD-Video-B0015YDC00-L.jpg)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Johannes Weisser, Malin Bystrom, Rene Jacobs, Sunhae ImDirector: Vincent Boussard
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); German (Original Language); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, Import, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 172 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-05-13
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Harmonia Mundi (France)
Movie Reviews of Mozart: Don Giovanni [DVD Video]
Movie Review: Mozart's masterful Don on period instruments
Summary: 5 Stars
Following his commission for a new opera to be performed in Prague after his great success there with Figaro, Mozart canceled all personal appearances in Vienna for the year 1787 and hunkered down to compose his new work without distraction. However, being Mozart, the flood of ideas omnipresent in the labyrinth that was his mind forced him to create the masterful string quintets in C Major and G minor K.515 and 516, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik K.525, and the brilliant Violin Sonata in A Major K.526, as well as several other pieces, while he was writing Don Giovanni. There is no doubt he considered this new opera a composition of great importance, pressing Da Ponte for his best work. Desiring a new operatic form, Mozart himself labeled Don Giovanni a 'dramma giocoso': something beyond mere opera buffa, nevertheless something witty and entertaining. Rene Jacobs has recorded all of the Da Ponte operas, with Cosi Fan Tutte and Le Nozze di Figaro resulting in especially brilliant performances. His version of the Don, however, has sparked some mild controversy over his choice of tempos and an occasional variability in the speed of certain arias. Jacobs' justification for these tempo changes is his desire to remove the 19th Century accretions since the era of E. T. A. Hoffman that have caused much of the opera to be performed too slowly. He returns to Mozart's original tempo markings, as well as utilising letters written by Mozart and Da Ponte in which the opera is discussed. He has brought a similar vision to this DVD performance, filmed at the Innsbrucker Festwochen on 6 October 2006 at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.
The cast is mostly young, with Malin Bystrom an unusually beautiful Donna Anna with a lovely voice. Johannes Weisser is a youthful, handsome Don who brings a light rakishness to the role, rather than the dark malevolence someone like Bryn Terfel has mastered. The rest of the cast are quite good, all of them somewhat lighter in effect than in other adaptations I have seen. It works because this is a period instrument performance, the superb Freiburger Barockorchester playing with limpid grace and a crystalline clarity of tone that illuminates Mozart's brilliant score. There is a suave assurance to their playing, a musical buoyancy that matches the relatively lighter tone of the singers. Heavier voices simply would not work with this orchestra. Though some may be put off by the occasional variability in tempo, or by the slight quirkiness of some arias similar to that found in the CD version, I found this production's slightly frothy vocal quality well matched by the mercurial sound of Mozart's masterful scoring as played on period instruments. The band and the singers seem to be able to turn on a dime whenever it is called for. The performance includes the final sestet, removed by Mozart for the first Vienna performances.
The simple set resembles German Expressionist films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: angles askew, simple geometric designs. Costumes suggest their 18th Century counterparts (while remaining strangely modern), and are also simple. The stage direction is similarly unencumbered. The sound in PCM stereo and DTS 5.0 is clear and rich, instruments and voices have a wonderful bite and presence that is perfect for the period performance style. The packaging and enclosed booklet are quite nice, in typical Harmonia Mundi fashion.
A lithe period instrument performance with a strong young cast makes for a good investment if you are amenable to Rene Jacob's Mozart. Strongly recommended.
Mike Birman
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