Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra Of Europe – Mozart: Don Giovanni (1998) [Reissue 2004] [SACD / Deutsche Grammophon – 00289 474 9962 GSA3]
![Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra Of Europe - Mozart: Don Giovanni (1998) [Reissue 2004]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2025/09/20/jsD9BKs.jpg "Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra Of Europe - Mozart: Don Giovanni (1998) [Reissue 2004]")
Title: Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra Of Europe – Mozart: Don Giovanni (1998) [Reissue 2004]
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC
Arguably the greatest opera ever written, the Mozart/Da Ponte depiction of the last twenty-four hours of the legendary libertine is performed here in the standard version combining the two versions Mozart prepared. Abbado offers modern instruments with certain nods to period performance practice–many appoggiaturas, comparatively fleet tempos, and some modest ornamentation.
This new Don Giovanni with Claudio Abbado conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe is Abbado’s second recording of a Mozart opera for Deutsche Grammophon. It was made in Ferrara in conjunction with performances of the opera early in 1997 with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. The cast features Bryn Terfel in one of his most famous stage roles as Leporello, singing alongside the young British baritone Simon Keenlyside as Don Giovanni. Terfel made his role debut as Leporello in the Patrice Chereau production of the opera in Salzburg. The Welsh singer’s performances of Leporello, together with Figaro, have been repeated highlights of the Salzburg Festival since then. No single adjective can encapsulate the power of Terfel’s stage presence in these roles. In addition to perfect singing and impeccable Italian in the recitatives, he brings the role of Leporello an ambiguous and sometimes menacing energy which threatens to subvert the traditional presuppositions of the master-servant relation. The cast is stronger on the male side but there are no weak links. The three baritones are especially strong. Keenlyside offers a sexy, dangerous Don. Terfel, completing his traversal of the three baritone roles, is a saturnine, bitter Leporello while D’Arcangelo is a Masetto to be reckoned with. Heilmann offers a sweet-toned Ottavio who nevertheless cannot manage the famous run without a breath. Salminen is a cavernous Commendatore. The women reverse the usual casting of Anna and Elvira, with Anna possessing the lighter voice. Isokowski is a powerful Elvira, a woman to be taken very seriously. Once the ear adjusts to the lack of steel, Reminfio is a fine Anna, like Callas and Moser phrasing the reprise of “Non mi dir” in a single span. Pace is a conventional Zerlina countering the recent trend to cast her as a mezzo.