Friday, October 18, 2013

Gratuitous Friday – David Bižić is Leporello

This video is a low-quality bootleg but more than we'd have otherwise. And it's a good one to have. I've posted bits of this before, which you can find by clicking on the David Bižić link below or looking for Peter Mattei on RnR. The full cast list is below the clip; they are stage-directed by Michael Haneke at the Opera Bastille. 

The whole performance (or nearly whole, anyway) is contained in this YOO_TOOB playlist. It’s quite worth listening through the muffled sound and watching the dimly lit stage to hear Peter Mattei, Véronique Gens, and David Bižić do their Mozart thing. The rest of the cast is pretty good too. Happy Friday! 


Filmed live on April 19, 2012 at Opera Bastille, Paris. 

Peter Mattei - Don Giovanni 
Paata Burchuladze - Il Commendatore 
Patricia Petibon - Donna Anna 
Saimir Pirgu - Don Ottavio 
Véronique Gens - Donna Elvira 
David Bizic - Leporello 
Nahuel Di Pierro - Masetto 
Gaëlle Arquez - Zerlina 

Marius Stieghorst - Conductor
Michael Haneke - Stage Director
Christoph Kanter - Sets
Annette Beaufaÿs - Costumes
André Diot - Lighting
Alessandro Di Stefano - Maestro del coro

5 comments:

  1. There are so many good Don Giovannis out there, bootleg and otherwise! I STILL haven't listened to that one with Persson as Elvira, although it's downloaded and waiting for me.

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    1. That's a good one. Of course MP is awesome! (when is she not?) I want to like Markus Werba better than I do, but he is by no means terrible. Robert Gleadow and Daniel Behle are outstanding as Leporello and Ottavio. I find the black and white staging effective. Of course you have to watch from the very beginning to figure out why Leporello seems to be going through a really difficult withdrawal.(the first few clips I saw left me totally baffled)

      This one, again, is totally worth it for Mattei and Bizic; Pettibon is not bad. And every time I see/hear Veronique Gens, I like her better and better.

      Speaking of Mattei, the La Scala version (I think it's Robert Carsen -- chairs and stuff) is quite good, with Netrebko (surprisingly, to me) as Anna. I am not a huge fan of Bryn Terfel's Leporello, but they didn't ask me when they were casting the production...

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    2. I'm really looking forward to Gleadow's Guglielmo in February. Also wondering who will be cast in Tcherniakov's Don G which we will likely have next season.

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    3. I first encountered Gens ages ago, I think it was either a Mozart arias CD or as the Countess in Figaro, I can't remember. She's also got a Handel cantatas recording from ages and ages ago that's really good - intensity and really pretty, but no scenery-chewing, all of which qualities appear to be consistently characteristic of her.

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    4. I think I'd like to see the Tchernaikov Don G live, though on video I found the lengthy scene changes annoying.. actually I found the characterization of Don G annoying too. I'd love to see/hear Gleadow live!!

      My first exposure to Gens was in the M22 Doris Dorrie La finta giardiniera.

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