Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Don Giovanni (1787)
Don Giovanni – Samuel Ramey (bass)
Leoporello – Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass)
Donna Anna – Anna Tomowa-Sintow (soprano)
Don Ottavio – Gösta Winnbergh (tenor)
Donna Elvira – Julia Varady (soprano)
Zerlina – Kathleen Battle (soprano)
Massetto – Alexander Malta (bass-baritone)
Il Commendatore – Paata Burchuladze (bass)
Concert Association of Vienna State Opera Chorus
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Herbert von Karajan
Michael Hampe (stage director)
rec. live, 1987, Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg Festival
C MAJOR 761404 Blu-ray [193]
Don Giovanni was an opera that Herbert von Karajan had conducted on more than one occasion during the 1960’s. He was in charge of a lavish production of it at the 1967 Salzburg Festival; and as his recording projects tended to mirror his work in the opera house, one would have expected that he would tackle a recording of it at that time. However; at the same time period he was engaged in staging his massive Ring Cycle project for Salzburg/New York, and the enormous Boris Godunov for Salzburg. The recording of those five operas took precedence in his busy recording schedule; therefore, Don Giovanni had to wait until towards the end of his life. This Blu-ray is of that last Salzburg production. In 1987 his state of health no longer permitted him to direct the music and the staging, thus Michael Hampe was brought in to take charge of the production under von Karajan’s artistic supervision.
Mr von Karajan takes a fairly sober view of Mozart’s most multi-faceted score. His reading is all ‘Dramma” and very little “giocoso”. This does not mean that he neglects the lighter music of the score; these numbers are given a dulcet clarity but little sense of a smile or humour emerges. Nothing is rushed about, and von Karajan’s is by no means the most monumental sounding Don Giovanni to be heard. Both Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter retain that particular honour; however, one can find more than von Karajan does in the overall view of this score. Two years earlier von Karajan took substantially the same cast into the studio to record the opera. The only differences were the Berlin instead of Vienna Philharmonics, and Agnes Baltsa’s tempestuous Greek Donna Elvira instead of Varady’s. In that recording, nuances and subtleties abound for singers and orchestra alike. It appears this was not possible to achieve in the live performances, likely due to the vast stage and auditorium of Salzburg’s Large Festival Hall, at that time one of the largest performing spaces in Europe.
There is still much that one can enjoy in this Blu-ray. Samuel Ramey’s Don Juan is sung with firm, densely-focused tone. He forms a near perfect contrast with Ferruccio Furlanetto’s colourful, Mediterranean-sounding Leporello. The two are simply splendid in their recitatives together. While Furlanetto projects an adorable, bumptious charm as the servant, Ramey just misses conveying the personal allure necessary to make Don Juan believable. Paata Burchuladze tames his massive, craggy bass to offer some superb piano singing during the Commendatore’s death scene. Gösta Winnbergh offers a cleanly sung Ottavio; however, he often strains to be loud and forceful, something that he does not do in the earlier commercial CD release. Alexander Malta’s Massetto is hampered by the director’s concept of him as a boorish, abusive bully. In vocal terms, he is a competent singer but he is simply not ingratiating enough to hold onto Zerlina for long.
Donna Anna was one of Anna Tomowa-Sintow’s best roles. The powerful sound that emanates from her throat slices through the acoustics of the Large Festival Hall with no apparent effort on her part. She also has the ability to hone her voice down to an ethereal pianissimo sound that floats on the air, yet retains body and presence. Her account of “Or sai chi l’onore” is one of the chief vocal glories of this production. Julia Varady is angry desperation personified as Donna Elvira. Her high-caliber interpretation shows that despite increasing forays in heavier roles during those years, her Mozartian credentials remained unimpaired. Her heartfelt “Mi tradi quell’alma ingrata” is a sincerely rendered emotional respite. Kathleen Battle is a delicious Zerlina. Her gorgeous looks and sensual, golden tone steal the evening outright from the rest of the cast. Despite her scintillating account of “Vedrai carino”, she loses marks for keeping her eyes fixated on the conductor for the entire aria rather than engaging with the “beloved husband” lying on her lap.
Michael Hampe’s production is a very serious one, in the dark, sober sets of Mauro Pagano. There is very little light or colour to be seen, and it certainly doesn’t resemble the Seville that I once visited. Hampe offers a few flashes of brilliance in his staging, including some interesting byplay with Don Juan’s abandoned red cloak. Similarly the cosmic alignment approach that Hampe/von Karajan take to depict Don Juan’s retribution is novel and not inappropriate. There is also an interesting cinematic touch to the staging of the sextet in Act Two. Instead of having Ottavio and Anna wander into the action, the set brilliantly parts to reveal the Commendatore’s funeral service in progress with the two lovers in attendance. Ultimately I find it a real pity that no-one among the production team felt it was necessary to present some of the humour that Mozart and Da Ponte built into this opera.
This Blu-ray release touts that it has been mastered from an HD source. One could be forgiven for questioning that statement because the dark colours of the sets, costumes and lighting make most of the scenes look soft in focus, and often very pixilated. The only time the added resolution of HD is apparent is during the close-up shots, which in Claus Villier’s video direction, are infrequent at best. The PCM stereo track is of a high standard and I am unable to comment on the DTS Surround track.
Despite my criticism of von Karajan’s concept of the music, it is tempered by the realization of how much he was suffering in these last years of his life. During his very brief curtain call he is clearly in a great deal of pain and needs to hold onto the side wall to steady himself. One can only admire the determination which got him through these performances which prompts me to admire the entire venture rather more than I might normally be inclined to.
Mike Parr
Production Staff
Mauro Pagano– Set and Costume Designer
Helmuth Reichmann, Werner Breintenfelder – Lighting Designers
Walter Hagen-Groll- Chorus Master
Claus Viller– Video Director
Artistic Supervision- Herbert von Karajan
Video Details
Filmed in HD - Mastered from an HD source
Picture format: 1080i, 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1
Region Code A, B, C
Sung in Italian, with subtitles in Italian, English, German, French, Japanese, Korean
