Mozart: Don Giovanni -- Vienna/Furtwangler [DVD] [1955] [2001]

The "Don Giovanni" produced for the 1953 Salzburg Festival was an immense success. Thus, the producer Paul Czinner persuaded the Festival Direction, the cast and Furtwängler to take part to a movie production for television broadcasting (using the same stage and scenography: here we do not have an operatic movie, but a movie reproducing a virtual, not live, theatre performance), that started at the end of 1954 theatre season, a few months before Furtwängler's death.This DVD brings back to us that invaluable document, previously issued on videotape.Here we can actually get in touch with the achievement, at its best, of the idea of "recitar cantando".All the stars involved in this wonderful performance act perfectly and accordingly sing. Obviously they all are top singers, so that the "mistery" of the incredible and persistent success of the basic and general concept of "melodramma" (in all its forms) is clearly and simply unveiled.Acting while singing, in a environment moulded by music, is a more complete form of art than only acting or only singing. Paraphrasing Eugenio Montale, opera is the artistic form that more than any other aims at "the sublime", facing, impavid, the ridiculous. If music and lyrics are good enough, what allows to avoid the ridiculous and to achieve the sublime is involving acting along with masterful singing.Therefore, here we do not meet tenors with senseless prominent thumbs or sopranos with menacing forefingers or salty statues moving their mouths. Here we see living characters, whose natural and best way of expressing their ideas, feelings, moods is singing. And what acting and singing cannot express is completed by the musical context.Set design (scenography) is directly involved in the result. Characters have to move in an environment (not necessarily realistic) that allows their action to have a sense. The scenography (by Clemens Holzmeister) of this "Don Giovanni" is only apparently traditional; indeed, it is out of time and it hides its perfect blueprint in integrating what characters are acting and singing, discreetly providing them with support points when needed or perfect (that is, consistent with action, text and music timing) distance among objects when moving.In the particular case, the stage had been set in the Felsenreitschule (old riding school) "in that supernatural décor which seems to have emerged by history - the stone archways (highly appropriate for Don Giovanni!) were hewn out of the sheer rock of the Monchberg in 1662" (J.P. Brechenmacher, Booklet accompanying CDs of Rodolphe Productions edition, 1988).In this ideal environment, a superb direction (by Herbert Graf - stage - and Paul Czinner & Alfred Travers - movie and television -) completes the work, moving and affecting characters with an incredible and meaningful naturalness.In some cases, gestures are of astonishing beauty, as while accompanying Don Ottavio's "lo giuro" to Donna Anna.Cesare Siepi (1923-2010), as usual, sings exceptionally well and, with rare mastery, tackles the problem of acting a Don Giovanni very agile and, at once, lordly; generally, quick moving is not associated with a lordly posture, but, here, agility is necessary to give the sense of Don Giovanni's "hunting" instinct and pulse, decision, mental rapidity and flexibility, restlessness and intolerance for other people.In his final scene, Siepi is simply astonishing in rendering Don Giovanni's actual anguish and consternation and, at the same time, his proud reaction to them trying to take the situation under control until the last painful breath: the gamble has to be backed till the end of the game, not to debase and destroy everything he had been before. Worth seeing!Donna Elvira, in this proper interpretation, still and deeply loves Don Giovanni, and, in spite of appearance, she is not looking for revenge, but she hopes someway to manage to save him.Obviously she is a warm and sensual woman and she desires him back to her - also recovering her "honour": why not? -, but this is not the heart of the matter.She is sincerely worried about his destiny and, figuratively, she may be regarded as the incarnation of an angel envied to offer him the last opportunity of redemption (not by chance, she appears after Don Giovanni's worst misdeed), but, at the same time, to prove that Don Giovanni has been allowed to make use of his free will. When, at dinner, he sarcastically rejects her, evidence is reached and, consequently, the Stone Guest appears for the final judgement.A gorgeous Lisa Della Casa (b. 1919) was enrolled to play this difficult and troubled role, substituting Elizabeth Schwarzkopf (1915-2006), who, not convinced of the movie project, refused the part. Someway, this can be considered a good luck, in the sense that, in any case, we have the wonderful Schwarzkopf in Salzburg 1953 on CD, while Della Casa's figure, in my opinion, better suites to the Donna Elvira of our imagination.Donna Anna here dresses again her true noble personality. In too many recent versions she is depicted as a sort of cleaned out tramp, who actually and sexually desires Don Giovanni (or somebody else more sensual, fascinating or handsome of Don Ottavio), while pretending to love her suitor.We do not have any elements to induce that Donna Anna feels attraction for Don Giovanni, but, in any case, this could be absolutely natural. Virtue does not consist in not feeling sensuality (that would be frigidity), but in dominating it aiming at higher values, a worthy motherhood for instance.Neither the fact that not immediately she tells Ottavio what actually happened in that tragic night proves some false attitude, nor the fact that she defers the marriage can be ironically interpreted. Her beloved father has just been suddenly killed while defending her! Besides, she does betray Don Giovanni as her aggressor.Elisabeth Grümmer (1911-1986) sings and plays this role astonishingly well. From an acting point of view, in my opinion, she is the most gifted and naturally posed of the cast.Anton Dermota (1910-1989) sings and plays very well what is wrongly considered the most thankless role of the drama (Don Ottavio). In my opinion, he is better in singing, with a flawless, smooth and well balanced vocal emission, but it is also true that he has to act mainly facing (and being compared with) Grümmer's superb expressiveness.In any case, Don Ottavio here is not erroneously depicted as cowardly and shallow, but as a future tender husband, good father and exemplar citizen.What is wrong with this tender young couple? Why so many interpretations tends to deny their virtues? Why so often all spotlights are pointed on the fascinating Don Giovanni (or on his myth)?Pay attention, there is a subtle pitfall! The expression "Dramma giocoso" here is used with the same intention Dante used the term "Commedia". "Dramma giocoso" is well suited to "Le Nozze di Figaro" or "Così Fan Tutte", where nothing of irreparable happens; on the contrary, in "Don Giovanni" supernatural forces are directly involved in the plot, two men tragically die, one of them is damned for eternity, Elvira renounces the world and goes to a definitive retreat.Mozart loves sincerely this couple as much sincerely he thinks that Ottavio e Anna are a model of good feelings and virtues, of reciprocal respect, joined to tenderness, of use of shared laws against individual abuse and arrogance.This is the same Mozart of Tamino and Pamina (the metaphysical perfect couple) and of "La Clemenza di Tito".Mozart and Da Ponte make Don Giovanni fascinating, because evil is (apparently) fascinating. They depict Anna and Ottavio a bit "boring", because virtue is (apparently) a bit boring. They also propose a second class choice, less "boring" but less noble, Masetto and Zerlina (or Papageno and Papagena).But, to the apparent leading role, Don Giovanni, they do not give a single real aria ... because he has nothing to express! He is completely empty.On the contrary, Anna and Ottavio are given magnificent and noble arias and duets!Erna Berger, born in 1900 (d. 1990), in 1954 is a really too aged Zerlina for the stage, but her vocal timbre is still youthful and fresh. Besides, she is slightly build and her acting and singing are lively and vivacious, therefore reducing the problem.In conclusion, her experience and supreme artistry avoid affecting too much in video what would be considered a top level performance on an audio recording.We are overwhelmed by socio-historical interpretations concerning "Le Nozze di Figaro".In "Don Giovanni", Masetto goes far beyond Figaro's "Se vuol ballare ..." (or Cherubino's unaware insubordination); Masetto wants to teach a lesson to a nobleman directly threatening him (is he ready to kill him?).But Figaro is a servant (or a factotum), while Masetto (if not a bourgeois) is not the last fellow of the village and he has an established social position (people is ready to follow him; he will marry "the beauty" of the village).Masetto's behaviour is not completely credible in Don Giovanni's times, but in Mozart-Da Ponte's times (1787)... .A young Walter Berry (1929-2000) is perfect suited to the role and he well expresses, vocally and acting, pride, spontaneity and self-confidence. Masetto and Zerlina are not "romantic" lovers: pleasure is important for both of them, but honour intended as reputation and standing (in Masetto) and social climbing (in Zerlina) are more important than love.Differently from Ottavio and Anna, Masetto and Zerlina are at risk. Masetto is rightly fooled and punished when attempting to use evil means against evil; Zerlina is saved by Elvira, not by herself, when evil tempts her in her Ego's weaknesses (in that context, without Elvira intervention, her destiny would have been of dishonour, social rejecting and unworthiness for marriage and motherhood).The Berry-Berger's couple renders perfectly this kind of conventional and "terrestrial" relationship.Otto Edelmann (1917-2003), with his rubber mask, is an exceptionally expressive and vivid Leporello.He perfectly renders the mercenary character of the cynical servant and his ambiguity. Leporello's instability between his bad acting and his consciousness of ethical limits ("Ma Donn'Anna cosa ha voluto?") derives from his laziness and indolence, but he justifies them as a proper reaction to what he considers the inequity of his destiny (in what his master is better than him to deserve his privileges?) and not as the actual cause of his status.Therefore, Leporello remains isolated on the border of the social fabric (we do not know if he is actually married or not).Edelmann acts and sings very well, with the sole problem of an imperfect Italian pronunciation, or, better, the presence in it of typical German inflections.Dezsö Ernster (1898-1981), in 1954, already boasted a long and prestigious international career. In my opinion, here he and his voice look a bit tired. Singing is not profound and frightful enough to make you tremble or to give you, by itself, gooseflesh (in 1953 live version on CD, the "Commendatore" was a more threatening Raffaele Arié).The problem seems to consists in a slight lack of breath to hold music slow pace.It is a pity, because everything else in the most characterizing scenes of this opera is perfect and involving.But it is obvious that the main star here is Wilhelm Furtwängler (perfectly supported by Wiener Philharmoniker and Vienna State Opera Chorus).The first shots of the movie show him conducting the overture.As soon as he takes place on the podium, you perceive that something unforgettable is going to happen. You feel that a sort of sacred rite is starting and you have the luck to have gained the entrance to it.Furtwängler's general conception of music and conducting is clearly and quite completely expressed in his book "Concerning Music"; for people who agree with him, like I do, there is nothing to add here, if not the observation that this perforamance shows us the full and mature achievement of what abstractly discussed in the book.The most evident peculiarity of his interpretation of "Don Giovanni" is the calm pacing of his conducting. But relatively moderato tempos do not mean neither improper slowness, nor lack of tension. On the contrary, tension here is constantly at its zenith. Your attention is always completely absorbed.A relatively slower pace is what is needed to music, words and gestures to articulate in depth and in detail the complexity of (contrasting) moods and to allow you to become aware of what is actually and dynamically happening in characters' psyches and souls.Exposition and understanding have to contemporarily occur "hic et nunc"; on the contrary, the celebration of the rite is meaningless and what is a life giving performance would become a mere narration.Mismatched pre-conceived Freudian interpretations are out of place here. Neither every man secretly desire to be like Don Giovanni, nor every woman fall in love with him.Furtwängler's attentive work manages to embroider, in front of your very eyes, a neat and coherent arras, avoiding to sew up unjustified preconceptions in an incongruent patchwork. Therefore, everything is collocated in its own right place.Here orchestra and singers breath together, and their common breathing is the same one naturally flowing out from score and lyrics.Movie technicalities are obviously aged. Picture format is 4:3, colours are not particularly brilliant and sound is mono. There is some little problems of synchronization between voices and mouth movements. Sometimes cameras have problems with the depth of focus.In my opinion, nothing of all that is able to affect a full enjoyment of such a masterful interpretation.On the other side, we have to consider that, from a technical point of view, this movie, at that time, being not shot using a cinematographic set, was regarded as a great and successful achievement.J.P. Brechenmacher (above mentioned) pointed out that the 1953 edition was better than 1954 one, the latter being possibly affected by a sort of tiredness and drop of tension. I have no element to discuss the matter. The July 27, 1953, public performance is issued on CD and it is a live recording, while here we have a movie reproducing a particular kind of studio performance.Conductor, orchestra, chorus and singers had to move in a strange context, working hard, often by night, for many hours; maybe some moment of tiredness here and there actually occurred, as, maybe, in the case of Ernster.Anyway, an unsurpassed masterpiece (five stars plus) had been achieved and this edition places it again within everybody's reach.

Following the recent passing of the Swiss soprano Lisa Della Casa respectful tributes appeared in the obituary columns of British newspapers but both newspapers and television in German speaking Europe treated the death as something of an event despite the fact that the lady retired from active performing as long ago as 1974. Consistently admired as a great interpreter of both Mozart and Richard Strauss the singer is still regarded as the Arabella of her generation. Fortunately there are several CDs on the market but this is not the case with DVDs. Here, I believe, that her role as Donna Elvira in the 1953 (filmed 1954) production of Don Giovanni from Vienna, under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwangler, is her only performance currently available on DVD. Here opera lovers are very fortunate for it is only because the eternal prima donna Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, the production's original Donna Elvira, declined to participate in the film version that Lisa Della Casa took on the role for the film version. Wilhelm Furtwangler - not normally a friend of technical progress- was initially dubious about the merits of the enterprise but finally agreed to participate' He was to die only a few months after the film's completion.The decision to submit the production to film was a wise one for the opera world now has a film version of a production of incomparable historical value. Performed in the opera house with the original staging the production can only be regarded as a great success. With only the very occasional failing both sound and picture quality are very acceptable. Both costumes and staging are best described as traditional and complement the action. Over fifty years old the acting styles of the opera's soloists could now be regarded as rather old fashioned but the film was made at a time when opera performers were singers first and actors second. That said, in addition to first class singing by soloists who are not now household names, the acting in nearly every case is very acceptable.There are two outstanding performances. Firstly the film is a great homage to the seriously beautiful Lisa Della Casa, who possessed of both a controlled legato and finely spun vocal line, triumphs as Donna Elvira and secondly the good looking Cesare Siepi in the title role who makes an atheletic and very engaging don. It can be argued that as Zerlina the vertically challenged Erna Berger (then over fifty) was simply far too old to play the part of a young country girl. Her singing is however very fine and she is well partnered by Walter Berry, although some thirty years her junior, as Masetto. I found the pairing of Elisabeth Grummer as Donna Anna and Anton Dermota as Don Ottavio less satisfying. Such is unfortunate for Dermota has a fine tenor voice but his character has been described as the most wooden of the Mozart/Da Ponte tenor creations. As Leporello Otto Edelmann creates a likeable comedic character. Finally in the last act Deszo Ernster is most impressive as Il Commendatore. It is the production's achievement that the statue's entry and the Don's descent into hell are examples of masterly stagecraft and far more impressive than many of the over-excited misplaced firework displays that are a hallmark of many recent productions.The DVD market positively bulges with recordings of Don Giovanni productions but this particular offering is a marvellous plus to any collection.Trottman

Following the 1954 Salzburg Festival performances, it was decided to take the production, stage sets and all, into the television studio. The 'big name' cast, headed by Cesare Siepi's gentlemanly Don, all sing their roles well, clearly a well-oiled ensemble, recording their interpretations for posterity. There is however one substitution - Lisa Della Casa replaces Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Donna Elvira. This is also an opportunity to see legendary conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler at work - though you only get to actually see him during the overture, and then most of the shots are of the back of his head. Applause at his entrance, and the captions, incorrectly suggest the film is of a live performance. Furtwangler's reading is good, at times revelatory, other times ponderous. Such an interpretation is probably not for those new to the opera.Picture (colour) and sound (mono) are good for the year, though not up to modern standards. There are optional subtitles on the DVD, including original language Italian. The booklet includes a synopsis and notes about the production. This is highly recommended for connoisseurs of Don Giovanni and fans of Wilhelm Furtwangler. Just an afterthought, fortunately Cesare Siepi has the waistline and legs for Don Giovanni's tights, and I absolutely love that feathered headgear!