Mozart - Don Giovanni - Ghiaurov, Janowitz, Jurinac (1970)[flac

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Don-Giovanni-Sesto-Bruscantini/dp/B000000UOA

This 1970 live Don Giovanni is an odd performance, not altogether satisfying (and certainly not up to the level of GiuliniΓÇÖs magnificent EMI recording with Waechter and Sutherland), but with much to offer. Nicolai Ghiaurov is in his most luxurious voice as the Don, and if his interpretation is not subtle, well, who says itΓÇÖs supposed to be? Sesto Bruscantini is a fine foil for him as Leporello, savoring the text and singing with great style. Alfredo KrausΓÇÖ Don Ottavio is very classy indeed; his many fans will surely need this set. Gundula Janowitz is an odd choice for Donna Anna since passion is one of the few emotions her silvery, fluttery sound is incapable of, but she can be very impressive in a foreign sort of way. Sena JurinacΓÇÖs Donna Elvira is well characterized but she sounds a bit tired at times. (Maybe Janowitz wouldΓÇÖve been better cast as Elvira?) The Zerlina is pretty mediocre and the others are simply okay. Carlo Maria Giulini leads the somewhat wayward but always willing Rome forces in a good show but somehow it all fails to take fire. Stick with Giulini on EMI unless Janowitz, Kraus, and Ghiaurov are ΓÇ£mustsΓÇ¥ in your life.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni

Don Giovanni (K. 527; complete title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga (now called the Estates Theatre) on October 29, 1787.[1] Da Ponte's libretto was billed like many of its time as dramma giocoso, a term that denotes a mixing of serious and comic action. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an "opera buffa". Although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements.

A staple of the standard operatic repertoire, Don Giovanni is currently tenth on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.[2] It has also proved a fruitful subject for writers and philosophers.