The overture’s opening moments as performed here give an ideal picture of what the opera has to offer: after the massive opening chords the gut-strung violins, played utterly without vibrato, give off an absolutely hellish chill…It’s eerie and disconcerting, as uneasy as dry ice is puzzling. The remainder of the overture is played at a good clip and with spirit–the “giocosa” part of the afore-played “dramma”–but with the lower strings always prominent and the timpani thwacking away fiercely.

The version presented is the Vienna, with an appendix consisting of recitatives and Leporello’s “Ah, pieta, signori miei” and Ottavio’s “Il mio tesoro”. The voices please. Beginning somewhere in the middle, Alexandrina Pendatchanska’s Elvira is both brilliant and dark; she’s the ideal manic-depressive. Her coloratura is accurate and bright and her chest voice is dusky and troubled. The Donna Anna of Olga Pasichnyk is brilliantly sung…

Kenneth Tarver as Ottavio exhibits a tightly focused tenor, fearless of any heights, fluent in fast music and endless of breath…Jacobs gives him appoggiaturas and embellishments and grants him plenty of rubato–perhaps a sign of strength. Lorenzo Regazzo’s Leporello, very dark-hued, has the timing of a born cut-up and he refuses to mug; his diction is impeccable and the voice is young and firm. Sunhae Im’s Zerlina…is no shrinking violet and she’s chock-filled with a peasant’s earthiness. Nikolay Borchev’s Masetto is impressive, which isn’t easy. The Commendatore is Alessandro Guerzoni, and he’s quite a presence

…Johannes Weisser’s Don Giovanni…has a handsome voice–a light baritone…filled with detail. There’s almost nothing it can’t seem to do, from whisper to yell; he articulates the text, he spins a lovely legato line…I believe that Jacobs is going for a particularly chilling type of irony and is succeeding brilliantly. And it’s funny, too.

That having been said…this set is a knockout. Even if you want your Don grittier, Jacobs and his cast present a glorious, well-characterized, energetic, spontaneous-seeming performance, vocally and instrumentally. You will hear things you’ve never heard before…

At this point, my recommendation for a complete recording favors this new Jacobs…The sound on this new recording is grand more....

Review By WETA,July 2012

René Jacobs is a conductor who examines scores closely, and with scholarship and intelligence, comes up with novel performances that are often controversial. This Don Giovanni fits that mold well. He has magnificent singers, who bring out their characters with great vigor and musicality, particularly Alexandrina Pendatchanska as Elvira. Her madness, just barely below the surface, is terrifyingly vivid at times; her vocal brilliance makes it all the more frightening.

The instrumentalists are at their peak, and the continuo…is highly interactive. © 2012 WETA Read complete review