MOZART: Don Giovanni

Brewer, Lott, Focile; Skovhus, Corbelli, Hadley, Chiummo; Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Mackerras. Libretto and translation. Telarc 80420 (3)

This is a frustrating recording. It is dramatically vivid and musical, thanks to the careful direction of Charles Mackerras, and contains beautifully realized ornamentation, sparkling recitatives accompanied by regulation fortepiano and splendid, visceral orchestral playing. It also includes both the Prague and Vienna versions of the scenes from the unveiling of the disguised Leporello through the churchyard interview with the statue. The problem lies not with the fine, sensitive articulation of Mozart's lines but with much of the actual singing.

Bo Skovhus' Don, projecting virile lyricism, is at his best in a velvety "Lá ci darem" with the lovely Zerlina of Nuccia Focile and even avoids the usual baritone trap of pushing for size in the final scene. Umberto Chiummo shows considerable promise as Masetto (and the Commendatore). Christine Brewer's Donna Anna is shrill, pinched in tone and often questionable in pitch, though she does offer a respectable "Non mi dir." If Felicity Lott (Elvira) and Alessandro Corbelli (Leporello) aren't at their best, theirs are creditable performances; Corbelli is able to project some palpable comedy. Though Jerry Hadley (Ottavio) executes admirable fioriture in an embellished "Dalla sua pace," his unctuous, throaty production is an increasingly irritating mannerism.

- BARRYMORE LAURENCE SCHERER