This 2004 Orfeo d’Or issue is the first
‘official’ release of Wilhelm Furtwängler’s 1953 Salzburg Festival
performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and has a superior cast
to the same conductor’s other Salzburg performances in 1950 and 1954.
What sadly lets this performance down is Furtwängler’s slow,
stodgy conducting. He seems to impose the monumentality of Wagner
and his own subjectivity onto the score, the result being a
very heavy and ponderous nineteenth century interpretation with
little if anything to do with Mozart’s sound-world. Throughout,
the woodwind is far too woolly and soft-grained, and the playing
of the Vienna Philharmonic is uncharacteristically lacklustre,
devoid of its usual distinctive character and style. It seems
to be constantly held back by Furtwängler’s plodding tempi and
mannered wilfulness.
However, what makes this mid-price set desirable
is the superlative singing of a stellar vintage cast. Cesare
Siepi is ideally cast as the Don, having a rich powerful voice
full of seductive, predatory charm. This was complemented perfectly
by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s dark and dramatic Donna Elvira, which
in turn contrasted beautifully with Elisabeth Grümmer's delicate,
translucent and softly sung Donna Anna. Erna Berger's somewhat
over-ripe Zerlina still comes across with youthful conviction
despite her age. Walter Berry's Masetto is sung with great clarity
and appropriate sarcasm of tone whilst Raffaele Arié's Commendatore
is suitably terrifying. Anton Dermota’s Ottavio is absolutely
beautifully sung, with an ultra-sweet tone yet without sounding
saccharine. Otto Edelmann's Leporello is ideally cast as the
Don’s slippery, quick-witted servant.
The mono sound is excellent for the period
with a natural balance between singers and orchestra and there
is hardly any excess stage or audience noise. The booklet notes
are up to Orfeo’s usual high standards containing critical commentary
accompanied with extracts from the original newspaper reviews
of the actual performance. This ‘live’ Don Giovanni is a collector’s
item specifically for opera-buffs and Furtwängler fanatics and
fills a gap in his recording legacy.
For those that find Furtwanger’s conducting
too wilful and mannered I suggest you purchase Dimitri Mitropoulos’s
Don Giovanni (Sony Classical: SM3K 64 263) from the 1956 Salzburg
Festival with Cesare Siepi as Don Giovanni, Elisabeth Grümmer
as Donna Anna, Gottlob Frick as Commendatore, Lisa della Casa
as Donna Elvira, Léopold Simoneau as Don Ottavio, Fernando Corena
as Leporello and Rita Streich as Zerlina, again with the Vienna
State Opera Chorus, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in
top form.
Alex
Russell
