BaL 7.07.18 - Mozart: Don Giovanni

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30
Building a Library on Mozart's Don Giovanni with Nicholas Kenyon.
The Marriage of Figaro had been a sensational success with Prague audiences. So, forsaking the fickle Viennese, Mozartwrote his new opera Don Giovanni especially for Prague where he anticipated - and received - another rapturous reception.
When it comes to gratifying his lust, Don Giovanni is a man who never takes no for an answer and he only gets his comeuppance when, as a consequence of his latest encounter, he has to confront the supernatural and descends, defiantly unrepentant, to hell. With its compelling drama and characterisation bound up in a succession of unforgettable musical numbers, Don Giovanni is among Mozart's greatest stage works; it sometimes feels as if the total of its recordings (by some of the finest musicians of this and the last century) adds up to the same number as Giovanni's sexual conquests.

Available versions:-

Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Coro di Ferrara Musica, Claudio Abbado
Berliner Philharmoniker, RIAS Kammerchor, Daniel Barenboim
Scottish Opera Chorus & English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim *
Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, Daniel Barenboim (DVD/Blu-ray)
Orchestra Academy of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Chamber Choir of the Palau de la Música Catalana, Bertrand de Billy (DVD/Blu-ray))
Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm
Choir and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Karl Böhm
Orchestra Of The National Theatre Prague, Chorus of The National Theatre, Prague, Tschechischer Sängerchor Prag, Karl Böhm
Orchestra & Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Karl Böhm
Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Paul Breisach
Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg Radio Symphony Choir, Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg *
Glyndebourne Festival Chourus & Orchestra, Fritz Busch
Gürzenich Orchester Köln, James Conlon (DVD)
MusicAeterna, Teodor Currentzis
Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Sir Colin Davis *
National Theatre Orchestra, Plácido Domingo (DVD/Blu-ray)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Christoph Eschenbach (DVD/Blu-ray)
Franz Joseph String Quartet
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, RIAS Kammerchor, Ferenc Fricsay
Deutsche Oper Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay (DVD)
Teatro La Fenice, Riccardo Frizza (DVD/Blu-ray))
Chor der Wiener Staatsoper & Wiener Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwangler
Chor der Wiener Staatsoper & Wiener Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Fürtwängler
Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic, Wilhelm Furtwängler (DVD)
Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Carlo Maria Giulini
RAI Symphony Orchestra of Rome, RAI Symphony Chorus of Rome, Carlo Maria Giulini
Frank Groothof *
Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (DVD)
Hungarian Radio Chorus & Nicolaus Estherházy Sinfonia, Michael Halász
Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Harding
Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Harding (DVD)
Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Chorus and Orchestra of the Zurich Opera House, Nikolaus Harnoncourt (DVD/Blu-ray)
Balthasar-Neumann-Orchestra, Balthasar-Neumann-Choir, Thomas Hengelbrock (DVD/Blu-ray)
RIAS Kammerchor & Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & Glyndebourne Chorus, Vladimir Jurowski (DVD)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (1960)
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Herbert von Karajan
Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Joseph Keilberth
Stuttgart Reichssenders Choir, Stuttgart Reichssenders Orchestra, Joseph Keilberth
New Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Otto Klemperer
Cologne Radio Chorus & Symphony Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Orchestra and Chorus of The Komische Oper Berlin, Zdenek Košler (DVD)
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Yakov Kreizberg (DVD)
Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Josef Krips *
Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken
English Voices & Freiburger Barockorchester, Louis Langrée (DVD/Blu-ray)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Erich Leinsdorf
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, James Levine (DVD)
Orchester des NDR, Chor des NDR, Leopold Ludwig *
Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Nicola Luisotti
Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Nicola Luisotti (DVD/Blu-ray)
Paris Opera Choir & Paris Opera Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Orchestre de Paris, Choeur de l'Opéra de Paris, Lorin Maazel (DVD)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Charles Mackerras (DVD/Blu-ray)
La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Jean-Claude Malgoire *
Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Sir Neville Marriner *Netherlands Chamber Orchestra - Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera, Ingo Metzmacher (DVD
Chor Der Wiener Staatsoper & Wiener Philharmoniker, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Graziella Sciutti, RAI Symphony Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli *
Wiener Symphoniker & Wiener Kammerchor, Rudolf Moralt
Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Riccardo Muti (DVD)
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Riccardo Muti
Vienna State Opera, Riccardo Muti (DVD)
Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
London Schutz Choir, London Classical Players. Sir Roger Norrington
Drottningholm Theatre, The Drottningholm Court Theatre Chorus, The Drottningholm Court Theatre Choru, Arnold Östman *
Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, David Parry (in English) *
Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Rea, Víctor Pablo Pérez (DVD/Blu-ray)
Prague Chamber Orchestra, Libor Pesek
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, Jérémie Rhorer
Ensemble Vocal de Paris, Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Hans Rosbaud
Coro di Torino della Rai, Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI, Max Rudolf *
Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra, Max Rudolf
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper & Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Wolfgang Sawallisch
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Chorus, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kurt Schröder
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices, Sir Georg Solti
Royal Opera House Chorus & Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Metropolitan Opera, Bruno Walter


(* Download only)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Please excuse the lack of solo singers in this list. Too many notes ...

[vinteuil]

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... thanks for the heroic work, Alpie.

If ever a BaL needed separate categories for 'winners' - HIPP, 'modern orchestra', and historically-significant - then this one surely does.

Me, I wd go for : René Jacobs 2006; Carlo Maria Giulini 1959; Karl Böhm [Prague] 1967; Josef Krips 1955.


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[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... thanks for the heroic work, Alpie.

Me, I wd go for : René Jacobs 2006; Karl Böhm 1967; Josef Krips 1955.

No objection to any of those excellent recordings - and the Krips would certainly be my own "Historically-Significant" choice, too. I would feel seriously deprived if the Kuijken fell into a time warp and were lost from history - and the Ostman is very good, too. As it's Kenyon, my own "Modern Instrument" Digital choice won't get an appreciative mention - the Karajan/BPO; but Davies and Klemperer are also splendid, Guilini is at his finest here (in the Studio and - even more so - Live) - and I bet Leinsdorf is superb, too.

No DVD versions to be considered? Having been deprived by the Beast from the East of my visit to the ON production this year, I bought the Harnoncourt, which I haven't got round to watching, yet.

[vinteuil]

... I would feel seriously deprived if the Kuijken fell into a time warp and were lost from history ...

... I agree

[ ... it fell into a memory warp here and was lost from my thoughts - coz it's in the big Brilliant box which I often forget. ]


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[vinteuil]

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... I do hope that Alpie's virulent anti-Norringtonism hasn't prevented him / won't prevent us from considering this estimable recording :

http://amzn.eu/ieSRXFM

.

http://amzn.eu/0gPPZym

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[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... I do hope that Alpie's virulent anti-Norringtonism hasn't prevented him / won't prevent us from considering this estimable recording :

http://amzn.eu/ieSRXFM

http://amzn.eu/0gPPZym

I can assure everyone that there's no bias in my listings and I include Norrington recordings regularly (albeit with gritted teeth). This one may not be generally available in the UK?


Amazon UK does list it, so I've added it.

[aeolium]

Many thanks for the list, EA.

All the versions I have are with the VPO: Furtwängler from the 1950 and 1953 Salzburg Festivals; Krips in 1955; and Böhm also live from the Salzburg Festival in 1977, with Milnes and Tomowa-Sintow. The 1950 Furtwängler is more exciting, though more flawed, than the later performance which was filmed by Paul Czinner, with Ljuba Welitsch as a fiery Donna Anna and Gobbi as DG. Krips is also wonderful, and Böhm extracts some terrific playing from the VPO.

I hope there are lots of extracts with a full range of performing styles. I liked the examples of the da Ponte opera recordings from Nézet-Séguin that have been played from time to time on CD Review, so will be interested to hear from his recording.

[MickyD]

I'm sticking with the Ostman - I love his cycle for L'Oiseau Lyre.

[vinteuil]

I liked the examples of the da Ponte opera recordings from Nézet-Séguin that have been played from time to time on CD Review, so will be interested to hear from his recording.

... it is the Nézet-Séguin that was chosen for the giant Mozart 225 box - I haven't yet listened to it...

http://amzn.eu/ed18xgS

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[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... it is the Nézet-Séguin that was chosen for the giant Mozart 225 box - I haven't yet listened to it...

As is Krips, too - YN-S is a joyously vigorous performance, splendid playing and conducting - but the singers didn't quite match this quality (a remembered impression from the two occasions I've played it).

I have the video of the Furtwangler performance somewhere, too - powerful, but missing the comic verve that Krips (and Karajan, and Böhm, and Guilini, and Davis) manage to get from the score without losing any of its profundity.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

As is Krips, too

Errr. No, it's not.

[vinteuil]

As is Krips, too...

?


... help! Where?? I have some arias from the Krips on CD 149, but thassorl - am I missing something?

[vinteuil]

Errr. No, it's not.

... bet you woz thinking of the Erich Kleiber le nozze di Figaro on CDs 150-152



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[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... bet you woz thinking of the Erich Kleiber le nozze di Figaro on CDs 150-152

Yuz, I woz.

I think it's me wot's "missing something"!


Tell you what - let's blame Conchis!