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Impressive Don of Bryn Terfel

tenor_in_training | 01/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bryn Terfel's Opera Arias album with James Levine gave us a taste of how his Don Giovanni would sound when he sang Don's serenade. Immediately one could see his portrayal brings to life the dark almost demonic side of the celebrated character, much different than a typical baritone Giovanni shows. This approach is not altogether new: Siepi, then Ghiaurov, and then Ramey made this interpretation a solid perfectly acceptable alternative. The "face" of the opera changes drastically - it's not a jocular, half-satirical showpiece about how a nobleman goes to hell to the delight of the plebeians anymore. Instead, the funny side of Mozart then is somewhat downplayed and his gift for drama is emphasized. Terfel is very convincing as obsessed and often-sinister Don (now any volunteers for the role of Masetto?). Sometimes, though, he just has fun with the role, looks like it appeals to his personality. Leporello is played here by wonderful young basso Michele Pertusi who proved indispensable as a Rossini bass in recent years. His deep voice makes a nice contrast to Terfel's, particularly during their sparkling dialogues. (Btw, Terfel himself makes a fine Leporello due to his endless comical talents.)This set boasts Sir Solti's greatest asset - Renee Fleming, possibly the finest Donna Anna on record. Her voice is powerful but never overbearing, rich and subtle at the same time. Ann Murray is a very nice Elvira, although I tend to look for striking difference between the two lead female voices (examples might be Tomowa-Sintow and Baltsa or Sutherland and Schwarzkopf". A pleasant surprise is Herbert Lippert's well-controlled elegant rendition of Don Ottavio's notoriously difficult arias (Sir Solti's support must not go unnoticed here - masterful!). Mario Luperi's Il Commendatore is powerful and haunting, his bass is very unusual and stands out strongly. Zerlina is a bit too serious, one misses the likes of Kathleen Battle, but it's not really a problem for this marvelous set. Decca did a nice editing job on this live performance, the sound is clear and spacious, practically free of audience's "additions" that tend to ruin even the best of performances. Now there are two great DDD sets: this one and Karajan's DG studio recording. Both of them present dark-voiced Don Giovanni's, but, obviously, the two great conductors chose different ways of orchestrating. (The overture alone can illustrate what I mean here.) I wanted to hear both, the Berliners normally have a slight edge over LPO, but here I would not rush to make a choice. Samuel Ramey is somewhat more "seductively evil" if that's what you want to see, but Terfel can also be funny and he's not hesitant to experiment with his voice every now and then. Please stop comparing everything to the Giulini set, it gets old. Yes, that was a great performance, but completely different! (The sound there, by the way, is not any good). Should we just stop and settle there without allowing the younger singers to take a crack at Mozart's masterpiece? You think that's what he would want? As a matter of fact I want to hear more Aidas and more Carlos and more Figaros. The art of opera is a living art and must be appreciated as such. Also, could someone explain what is "quick and simple Mozart"? There's room for guessing here... And the Gardiner set is first, again, very different, and second, does not compare to this one. Comparing Orgonasova and Fleming? You decide. Just listen."

Bad to the Don

Akimon Azuki | 11/17/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I love Terfel and I hear that he was a great Don Giovanni on stage, but I am vexed, I am very vexed that I shelled out $50 for this lousy set ... The cover should give you an idea about the artistic quality of this recording: Terfel looks rather surly and constipated.

He sounds good, and turns in a lively Champagne Aria and a sweet La ci darem la mano, so if you don't mind paying such money for two arias, go ahead, but there are several other problems with this Don.

First of all, you may want your Don Giovanni to show some colors, but even sung in Terfel's glorious voice, this Don is a one dimensional thug. This has much to do with the atmosphere in the recording studio rather than Terfel's admirable acting chops. You also may want your Don to sound distinctively different from Leporello, and Masetto. No luck here, as demonstrated in duets. Petrusi is a good Leporello, but Terfel was a great one and he spoiled many other Leporellos for me. Don Ottavio is bland, and Commendatore is a little better, but if you have a booming voice, you have a Commendatore, and that's pretty much the case here.

The female ranks are appaling. Zerlina is just blah, that's about all I can say, but Ann Murray is absolutely the worst Donna Elvira on record, and I was astonished at sheer horror of her In quali eccessi aria, dead slow, wobbly and shrill. She swoons some of her notes so badly that you may get sea-sick. And just to add the insult to the injury, the orchestra, dragging along with her, actually sounds flat in several places.

There's also unbelievably obnoxious Renee Fleming as Donna Anna. If you like vacuous Donna Anna, with extra embellishments, sort of like Sutherland but more annoying, that's exactly what you will get here. In Non mir dir, she has this cutesy little bellow before the first "bene", hits a very labored trill at the end and then actually sloooows down just before that very final note. You can mourn a murdered father and suffer heartbreaking dilemma but there's always room for pretty singing. She floats and floats her notes, and decorates, until there's no life left in this aria, with no sense of musical line or any drama. The poor orchestra again drags along, you can practically hear them mutter under the breath "finish that floating and get on with it!"

The whole recording oozes something like boredom and feeling of stale, musty production in a small podunk town, not a star studded line up in expensive studio recording. It's just too sad that Terfel couldn't get a better record of one of his signature roles.

The finale is not that bad, Solti's heavy handed conducting works OK, hence I am giving this album two very generous stars but at this price and with this much hype you would expect the flames of hell to practically leap out of the speakers. Buy this set only if you have money to waste."

Look elsewhere

J. Luis Juarez Echenique | Mexico City | 12/15/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Not a good recording. Solti doesn't seem to have any new things to say on the greatest of all operas since his 1978 recording. The old cast had Margaret Price and Lucia Popp on the plus side, the new one only has Renee Fleming. Ann Murray is best forgotten, and Terfel is not really suited to the title role, he is a better Leporello. If you want a modern digital Don Giovanni get Sir John Eliot Gardiner's recording in ARCHIV. It has a sensational Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Luba Orgonasova and Charlotte Margiono. Rodney Gilfry is a charmer, a high baritone suits the role best. Gardiner's conducting is very exciting, and musicologically well informed."