August 1998

Don Giovanni (1787) - Simon Keenlyside (Don Giovanni); Bryn Terfel (Leporello); Carmela Remigio (Donna Anna); Uwe Heilmann (Don Ottavio); Soile Isokoski (Donna Elvira); Patrizia Pace (Zerlina); Ildebrando d'Arcangelo (Masetto); Matti Salminen (Commendatore); Chorus of Ferrara Musica; Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado - Deutsche Grammophon 457 601-2 - three discs 164:43 DDD

It is impossible to detect from this recording why Claudio Abbado should have wanted to make it. The style of the interpretation is conventional and homogenized - the kind of semi-plush Mozart that everybody thought was appropriate until authentic performance became the rage. Abbado could have cared about the work and done something personal to its performance without subscribing to the authenticity agenda. But in fact he has done nothing noticeable.

So does the young cast justify the exercise? Or the Chamber Orchestra of Europe? One would not buy this opera recording for the orchestra. As for Bryn Terfel, for instance, he is obviously better suited to the role of Leporello than he was to the title role. But Abbado's recording does not engage with the subtle problems of dramatic interpretation. The question of what Leporello really thinks he's doing with Elvira during the Madamina aria is not addressed - certainly not in any way coherent with the trend of characterization elsewhere. When one listens to Terfel one enjoys the healthiness of his singing and the technical assurance. But those pleasures are really not enough.

And Simon Keenlyside's Don Giovanni simply does not belong beside Terfel. It's impossible to imagine them breathing the same air. Keenlyside is rather anaemic by comparison, polite, careful about text and phrasing in a way that seems somewhat out of character, however welcome in principle - but this is not a flesh and blood Don, fully characterized. Keenlyside has done the role often enough on stage. His singing is elegant and his timbre often attractive and golden-hued. But this is a performance which is about manners and a certain stylish uprightness: tasteful rather than theatrical. One day Keenlyside will record the work and it will be worth possessing. But not yet.

Uwe Heilmann's Ottavio has a lovely voice and passes in and out of falsetto effortlessly. I am less impressed by Carmela Remigio as Anna. The singers I enjoy most here are Soile Isokoski's ravishing Elvira, sweet, poignant, full of energy and vitality, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo's dark-toned smart Masetto, and Patrizia Pace's rather better-than-nice little Zerlina. The whole exercise is a waste of time - a Giovanni devoid of sex or excitement. What's the point?

- Tom Sutcliffe