Mozart. Don Giovanni. And a car.

3 Comments

  1. classicallyspeaking

    that stuff in the car is pretty raunchy! ahem, a bit less ambiguous than others. is this the production you’re playing in?

    this is one my absolutely favorite operas…I’ve seen it twice but I’ve yet to see a production I totally love. IU production when I was student had an odd version of the end (I wrote some (pretty stuffy) program notes for it. http://music.indiana.edu/publicity/opera/2006-2007season/internal/giovanni/programnotes.html)

    I liked it better when we saw it through the SF Opera movie transmissions (http://sfopera.com/opera.asp?o=246) but I don’t really like the camera work for the SF operas (I think the Met Opera movie transmissions, though too full of close-ups, are more engaging in the theaters)

    my husband’s favorite so far is the 1954 DVD with Furtwangler conducting (he’s kinda creepy) and Siepi as an oh so slimy Don Giovanni

    (the true test of Giovannis for me is the scream at the end…which is why I like Bo Skovhus’ recording;) but I’m also partial to one conducted by Giulini because of Joan Sutherland and Elizabeth Schwartzkopf. yeesh, I think I’m rambling.

    I’m really enjoying your blogging about playing the opera=)

  2. Sorry I didn’t approve this comment sooner; WordPress thought it was spam. Oops!

    Yes, pretty raunchy indeed. Not my cuppa, to be sure.

    The think is, some think Donna Elvira was seduced and liked it, while others would call it rape. This one makes it look like she wanted to be seduced, yes?

    But no, this isn’t the production I’m playing. I’m doing the Merola Opera production in San Francisco. The singers sound mighty fine, but I’ve not seen the staging yet. That comes on Tuesday.

  3. Oh … and what is the “odd version at the end”? I’ve done it when we leave out the final chorus, as I guess that’s how Mozart originally wrote it. Is that what you mean?

    Just curious!