Product: Mozart: Don Giovanni (1977 Glyndbourne Festival Opera) [VHS]
Rating: 4.0
Valuable historic performance of Mozart's greatest work.
That Don Giovanni is Mozart's greatest work has not been disputed. In fact, some even claim that this is the greatest opera ever composed.This great work has been widely performed and prolificly documented either in sound or in sound and visual. I personally own more than half a dozen DVDs and a dozen of sound recordings of this opera.This 1960 film conducted by Molinari-Pradelli boosts of a well-nigh perfect cast: Mario Petri's Don is in every bit as convincing as Eberhard Waechter in the Giulini recording - dark, suave, luminous and villainly all in one. Perhaps the only one to compare visually as well as vocally with Petri is Cesare Siepi. Sesto Bruscantini protrayed the most 'buffo' Leporello. His vocal as well as acting skills are both of the highest order, and really shines in this role. Of the male cast, another truly outstanding performance comes in Luigi Alva's unlovely Ottavio. Unlovely the character might be, Alva put up a truly daunting show in Ottavio's fiendishly difficult arias. Cesari's Massetto is fuly convincing, if not outright brilliant.One of the most difficult aspect in staging Don Giovanni is to line up three top sopranos. Well, here we have here, three unimpeachably capable sopranos to grace Mozart's score: Teresa Stich-Randall, the American 'Joan Sutherland', delivering a beautiful rendition of Donna Anna and putting up a truly noble front dramatically. She is flanked by Leyla Gencer, another incomparable Donna Elvira in the same ranking as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Lisa Della Casa. The Zerlina is the Giulini choice Graziella Scuitii, who at 1960 was in top charm and vocal capability. Her petty stature and silvery soprano really could not have been bettered in any choice for Zerlina.The picture and sound quality, however, are both historical, and if you are not mindful of these, this DVD really should under no circumstances by overlooked.It is simply impossible to line up such musical talents in one show these days!