DON GIOVANNI -Commendatore- HD 1080

[Jaydoggy531]

The one thing I don't quite get here is the Commendatore's costume. He certainly looks like a threatening being, but I'm not seeing anything to show he was an honorable man before (the same for the graveyard scene; nothing like a war general's statue).

[alechsander]

Which production is this one?

[jjh2456]

Listen to how the strings are going crazy in this scene. Incredible!!!!!!!

[miernotaSandi]

Mariusz Kwiecień performance is outstanding, but Kocan disappointed me a little.

[BINGFRYSRDUN]

I do not recall the Commendatore warbling so much T_T

[18culture]

En fait je trouve que c'est la plus belle scène d'opéra jamais écrite.

[PaiintDriP]

Sherlock Holmes 2 brought me here :p

[Laeliapurpurata]

This Don Giovanni is quite easy on the eye...

[dweiner2]

The Commendatore is actually Darth Sidious!

Don Giovanni must be Anakin Skywalker.

[JuanDVene]

@dweiner2 Anakin wasn't a womanizer (as far as I know)

[dweiner2]

@JuanDVene I know what you mean, but womanized padme mostly.

[davlor86]

One of the greatest operas ever written by such genius man, i love it!

[JuanDVene]

@davlor86 True he was genius, but he was like Don Giovanni

[frueiparis]

I just love that slightly homoerotic "non ho timor, verrò" moments in 3:53 - 4:06. Mariusz Kwiecien is a MARVELOUS Don, his chest beating at 2:27 just feels so in-character when he does it - would look ham de la ham in anyone else, I think. AND a wonderful last scream a well. Also, please stop hating Commendatore Stefan Kocan just because he's not Kurt Moll - he's very fine, fully able to play this role at such a young age.

[jjh2456]

See what happens when you are an arrogant butthole...

[Hipponikos]

@jjh2456 puritan, virgonian and subservient morality

[jamofjarr]

One of the most beautiful renditions of the Commendatore I've ever heard. Bravo!

[HellsSaints]

The Commentadore's vibrato is WAY too wide......half the time its bad enough that he's clashing with the accompaniment.

[hempgru4]

The guy who plays the Commendatore has weird eyes, and in general makes weird facial expressions. Not that it matters at the price of such good singing!

[davlor86]

@hempgru4 well, he is supposed to be dead ;P lol

[TheAlmirena]

Isn'it Luca Pisaroni singing Leporello ?

[verdiotello]

@TheAlmirena Yes!!!! =)

[jamofjarr]

@TheAlmirena Yep. and a wonderful Leporello at that.

[TheAlmirena]

@jamofjarr A fantastic Leporello !!! I had the pleasure to hear him live a few years ago in Paris with Peter Mattei singing Don Giovanni : it was astonishing !!!

[jamofjarr]

@TheAlmirena I actually saw him live at this very performance. Mattei is a fantastic Giovanni as well. I saw him this season at La Scala. Beautiful interpretation. Beautiful voice. It would have been great to see them together!!

[nico1019reymond]

Pour information

W. A. MOZART: DON GIOVANNI

Dirigé par James Levine

avec Mariusz Kwiecien, Marina Rebeka, Barbara Frittoli, Isabel Leonard, Matthew Polenzani, Ramon Vargas et John Relyea.

[LordHettrick]

@nico1019reymond The cast for the broadcast: Mariusz Kwiecen - Don Giovanni; Luca Pisaroni - Leporello; Stefan Kocan - Il Commendatore; Ramon Vargas - Don Ottavio; Joshua Bloom - Masetto; Marina Rebeka - Donna Anna; Barbara Frittoli - Donna Elvira; Mojca Erdmann - Zerlina.

[CandycaineAcidBath]

@LordHettrick thank you! and do yoy know when/where was this performed too?

[LordHettrick]

@CandycaineAcidBath Metropolitan Opera, October 29th, 2011. It was part of the Live in HD series.

[spyridon77]

Thank you very much for posting! Can you please add more details about singers, place, date?

[777wallaby777]

je me rapelle l'avoir vu en live pour la premiere fois en novembre, cette piece est géniale !!!!!

c'est là qu'on voit le talent de Mozart, et la mise en scène est époustouflante, ils ont fait du bon boulot au MET :)

[Gibson29]

Absolutely fantastic- I don't know my opera nearly as well as my romantic piano, but whoever is playing the part of Don Giovanni is fantastic. Anybody know his name?

[RoshenRRujj]

dunya bele musiqilere qulaq asmalidir e !!

[F4nGiRL]

3:53

...signor Pisaroni.

you've just made me teary-eyed.

[MrThrond]

Chilling.

[jacquesurlus]

TERRIFIANT!!

Interprétation parfaite, monumental commendatore, Giovanni héroique et défiant son destin.

Fantastique production!!

Direction orchestrale moderne digne du génie de Mozart.

BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO!!!

Qui sont les interprètes, cette version est-elle disponible en DVD?

[MrMooseman485]

Saw this live in HD, the Commendatore totally drools at 1:41

[Dementor95]

saw this from Greece... magical!

[carnivorousslushee23]

Personally, I think that Kurt Moll's Commendatore is much better than this fellow. I love the part, but this guy puts too much vibrato into his voice, and he doesn't have as much 'oomph' as Moll.  Good video, though.

[thesir27]

interesting, they changed the Commendatore's makeup from ghost/skeleton to more statue looking... you can see the original look in the video of opening night curtain call

[sirmercutio99]

It's supposed to be scary. I always like the touch that some productions do when you get to 5:13- the room turns red or with flames and demons come up and drag the Don to hell but I know it's not necessary.

[rossifigaro]

wow!!!! would certainly like to see more postings of this production - any chance?? realize it was roundly panned by the critics, but from what i am seeing here it looks quite brilliant. was just viewing the clips from today's la scala performance - the met's version seems ever so much more engaging.

[7777777HALLO7777777]

Mariusz Kwiecien is just fabulous!!!! we love him! greetings from Poland! <3

[musicmuse56]

@7777777HALLO7777777 I love him too!!!

[sacred41]

This production was great! Mariusz Kwiecien & Luca Pisaroni were phenominal! And I think I may have developed a slight crush on Mariusz... :)

[Sieglinde84]

Enter Darth Sidious... :D

[Leonora48]

This is an amazing performance. I saw Kwiecien perform the role in 2007 and he set a very high bar, but in this production he managed to outdo himself. I can't imagine anyone else as Don Giovanni. Thank you so much for posting this!

[DS316316]

Why is the Commendatore portrayed as angry and evil?

He's the Ghost in White, coming to give DG one last opportunity to repent, not Count Dracula.

[jamofjarr]

@DS316316 Are you a moron? Firstly because Don Giovanni is the most immoral person in the world and secondly BECAUSE DON GIOVANNI MURDERED HIM AND TRIED TO RAPE HIS DAUGHTER. Have you even seen Don Giovanni? Wouldn't you be a little upset if some stabbed you right after trying to rape your daughter? IDIOT.

[DS316316]

@jamofjarr

Sorry to hear you're so upset with my pointing out that the lyrics and libretto indicate that the Commendatore is there not to seek vengeance, but to give him one last opportunity to repent.

Have a look at how he's portrayed by Kurt Moll in the earlier Met production, the Gardiner production, and the Furtwangler version, all on Youtube.

Or, just listen to the words he's saying.

[jamofjarr]

@DS316316 I am aware of every word he's saying. That doesn't change the fact that Don Giovanni murdered him. Plus,what do you want? Every production to be the same? Where is the art in that..oh wait! there is none. And obviously caring about Don Giovanni doesn't change his mind(Elvira and Leporello try to get him to change his mind .. never works) Perhaps the threat of hell will. It makes sense if you stop trying to put it in your little box of reason..

[jamofjarr]

@DS316316 and you could DEFINITELY argue he is there for revenge he just gives him one last chance to repent before giving him what he deserves. Otherwise why would Mozart have made it IL COMMENDATORE and not some other unidentified spirit? I find this much more expressive, much more dramatic, and frankly much more logical.

[DS316316]

@jamofjarr

I guess that I would expect that there be some agreement between the words a character is saying and the expression on his face.

Acting usually works that way.

However, you've given some good arguments why he should be singing different words, like "Don Giovanni, I have come to kill you! Die! Die!"

Only problem is that those are not the words he's saying.

[jamofjarr]

@DS316316 I always found the Commendatores words pretty menacing... I don't know why you interpret them as a basket of sunshine. If you've ever actually looked at the score I wouldn't say the music there actual supports your theory in any way either. But I can see your one of those dense people who accept only one interpretation of something.

[DS316316]

@jamofjarr

Of course they're menacing.

He's scary because he's a ghost.

To an 18th century, superstitious audience that's really, really terrifying.

He's there to scare the Don into repenting.

There is a difference, though, between being intimidating and being evil.

He's not supposed to be evil.

Looking evil and acting evil is not consistent with being the vehicle to save someone's soul.

[jamofjarr]

@DS316316 Intimidating and evil are not the same thing... I don't really find anything about this video that screams "EVIL". And either way, if you can't see that that's a matter of perspective and interpretation then you must be extremely narrow minded. The only person in this entire opera who ever gave off the impression of EVIL is Don Giovanni himself. Dark and intimidating are not synonymous with evil.

[DS316316]

@jamofjarr

OK, so we agree.

The Commendatore is supposed to be intimidating, not evil.

This is why the facial expressions here are all wrong and do not fit the words.

Glad to hear we agree.

BTW, I don't know how old you are, but it's usually not a good idea to insult people, nor is it a good idea to generalize about what type of person someone "must" be.

I'm signing off now.

End of Discussion.

[jamofjarr]

@DS316316 Its usually not a good idea to insult an exceptionally brilliant performance because you are incapable of accepting any kind of perfectly logical artistic interpretations that differ from what you've seen. And I'm just saying that you reason like a 5 year old so its probably a good thing you removed yourself from this discussion before I actually start insulting you...unless you actually are 5 in which case I would just be really impressed.

[P1B1U1H1]

@DS316316 When dead, you tend to forget the usual niceties, e.g., shaving, showering, a spot of coffee, the morning paper, etc. Most people look less than good without those items.

[DS316316]

@P1B1U1H1

I was commenting on the faces he was making, which - notwithstanding the opinion of the fellow who posted this -- are not consistent with the words he was singing (Repent! Repent!). The singing itself was fine (I saw this live).

[P1B1U1H1]

@DS316316 The performance is amazing. Would be interesting to see other parts of it.

[DS316316]

@P1B1U1H1 Would you like to describe the concept behind his characterization?

[P1B1U1H1]

@DS316316 The black cape is necklaced in bones; the face is blue with dark lower eyelids: this is a dead man just awakened. Rape did not occur because Donna Elvira at the onset wants the Don for her own; murder did not occur because the Commendatore challenged the Don to the duel. The writing on the man's grave was penned by the daughter, anxious of repute. The soul should emerge as a living, white marble statue, desiring to provide DG one chance before damnation; it does not so act here.

[DS316316]

@P1B1U1H1 And why is he singing "Repent," yet contorting his face like he wants the Don to die?

[P1B1U1H1]

@DS316316 Narrowed eyes may stem from frustration at pertinacious addiction to violence & lust. "O Statua Gentilissima" proves Il Commendatore a statue; such were always white sans excess bird dung, the presence of which could be suggested by dandruff in future performances.

[DS316316]

@P1B1U1H1 And why is it that he wears the same expression on his face throughout?

I would think that his countenance should be one way for "Pentiti!" and another when saying, "You're time has come!"

I thought that characters are supposed to develop, just as the lyric does.

[P1B1U1H1]

@DS316316 Unless you are a statue, the mere bending of the head of which generated overwhelming fear from Leporello & disbelief from Don Giovanni. Quite reasonable is a statue with an unchanging expression; marble was the precursor to botox. Any looked deemed vengeful could be interpreted as the expression of Donna Elvira's desire, in part inspired by a lack of a second visit by Don Giovanni!

[DS316316]

@P1B1U1H1 And the reason why the lyric changes?

[P1B1U1H1]

@DS316316 Feelings & thoughts within may alter sans change in an expression set in stone.

[P1B1U1H1]

@DS316316 How would Donna Anna in the epilogue recognize Leporello's "man of stone" as the ghost she saw were it not so that the ghost was statue? For a production with subtitles to be acceptable, the ghost must be perceived as a statue. This production's ghost does not look like a statue; no statue has dark eyelids.

[P1B1U1H1]

@DS316316 Your question fascinates. Don Giovanni (DG) invites Il Commendatore (IC) to an earthly meal. Il Commendatore's being an immoble statue renders the order for a second plate insulting. The order is countermanded with information that earthly food is not eaten by those who enjoy celestial meals, to one of which an invitation is made. Properly, the rejection of nutrition that saves the soul should be the entry into Hell, a willing entry predestined by character.