[.ca] Don Giovanni

Taut dramatic ensemble conducting and great actors:
You can always count on Josef Keilberth to keep the drama lively and to avoid dragging. He's never afraid to change the tempo, gradually or suddenly. Here he displays another mastery: keeping complex vocal ensembles together without interfering with anyone's individual personal drama. Keilberth was working with some tricky voices: George London, whose huge, outrageous, pneumatic-drill-voice could easily have overwhelmed the other singers (but doesn't); Hildegard Hillebrecht (Donna Anna), who has terrible difficulties with her support and nearly breaks during her arias, but who manfully struggles through; and Anneliese Rothenburger, who sometimes seems to be trying to sing as if Don G were a Strauss operetta. With all these top-heavy soloists the performance could have been a disaster, but Keilberth keeps the ensemble sections together, on pitch, and nicely balanced without making anyone sound tame. Even "protegga il giusto ciel" keeps the pitch without losing the feeling. Benno Kusche does Leporello with mud in his voice and natural stand-up-comic sarcastic humor. He was a regular at Bayreuth as Beckmesser, and he really knows how to engage the audience's sympathy while getting pushed around and beaten up. He's a laugh riot. This has one of the best second-act finales I've ever heard, with George London's irresistable force hurling itself against Gottlob Frick the immovable object. Sena Jurinac is relaxed tonight. Nicolai Gedda is very comfortable and he gets lots of applause. If you care enough about mozart that you're still reading, you should not miss this performance.