 Mozart - Don Giovanni / Gilfry, Polgar, Bartoli, Rey, Nikiteanu, Salminen, Widmer, Harnoncourt, Zurich Opera dvd movie. |
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Mozart - Don Giovanni / Gilfry, Polgar, Bartoli, Rey, Nikiteanu, Salminen, Widmer, Harnoncourt, Zurich Opera
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List Price: $39.99
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Features
• Classical
• NTSC
In Theaters : 2001
DVD Release : 18 June, 2002 |
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Mozart - Don Giovanni / Gilfry, Polgar, Bartoli, Rey, Nikiteanu, Salminen, Widmer, Harnoncourt, Zurich Opera Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Director versus Librettist
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I purchased this DVD on the strength of the opinion of one of Amazon's most active reviewers. However, for once his evaluation let me down. When I see Harnoncourt listed as conductor I am assured that his tempi will be erratic...but usually not better. The sets (when there are any) are pretty awful. The last half of the opera takes place in front of an unidentifiable structure that looks for all the world as if they simply set fire to the set from a previous show and left it on the stage.
Gilfrey is clearly a major talent with a pleasing appearance, beautiful voice and considerable acting abilty. But with his long hair loose in the last scene he looks too much like an American Indian. His side kick, played by the great Hungarian Bass Polgar looks much too seedy to be a servant of a Don with obviously unlimited means to entertain. Leaving him unshaven, and scruffily so, makes him look like a homeless person...would Don Giovanni allow his "frontman" to look like that? Among the singers Bartoli is the biggest drawback. When they first see her, Ottavio and Anna comment on her "noble aspect." Yet Bartoli plays her like a schrieking fishwife. I have never succumbed to Bartoli's charm and see evidence that, since she has been pushing her voice for years, the instrument is showing signs of a badly spread vibrato in loud passages.
The biggest problems, however, lie with the director. In scene one Donna Anna sings about her father "His limbs are cold, he no longer breathes." But she sings this 10 feet away from the corpse while looking intently at the floor in front of her. (she hasn't been near the body as yet) At various points Don Giovanni plants a kiss on Leporello's cheek. It seems totally out of character for the time and for the character's station in life. What purpose does this serve? Has the director read the libretto? Does he understand Italian?
As much as I dislike Vpn Karajan's conductorial tyranny, I have to go back to his version as my DVD of choice. |
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