Don Giovanni - Deh vieni alla finestra

[AfroPoli]

The Bocellization of opera has struck again.

[damian19880422]

The best baritone voice i've ever heard

[Armidaangeli]

Was für eine wundervolle Interpretation der Kanzonette. Habe sie selten so schön, berührend, schmeichelnd und sanft gehört.

[sidelis]

Baritono leggerissimo, quansi tenore...

[giopemat]

Privo di ogni grazia mentitrice e seducente. Vocalmente a livelli scolastici. Intonazione precaria e mezza voce da principiante.

[daniluzzu]

@giopemat ? indicare dove questa presunta "intonazione precaria" emergerebbe dunque....livelli scolastici?...mezza voce da principiante?....Non so se lei e' un musicista, ma sparare a zero in questo modo e' solitamente indice di qualche frustrazione personale o di mero snobbismo intellettuale. Soprattutto in considerazione di alcune deliziose nuance dinamiche e micro-abbellimenti che il signor Mattei fa in quest'aria che tradiscono una profonda conoscenza dello stile ed un gusto parecchio fine.

[themadactress92]

@daniluzzu concordo pienamente su mr mattei =)

[ScoDeu]

Beautiful.

[al10506025]

Great voice!

[TheNattieK]

Fantastic guy! Voce e dolce più del miele. Ruggero Raimondi has been my favorite for the years, but Mattei proves that Don Giovanni is alive as ever. Thanks for posting!

[SuperDarchangel]

Technically average, but great musical abilities !

Nobody in life beats Cesare Siepi !

[Bjoerrelli]

@SuperDarchangel Siepi was a basso-cantate and Mattei is a high lyric baritone, that´s what has happened to this role since the early 2000th century. The role is cast for a voice that can sing this little canzonetta with ease. I think Mattei´s voice is very well suited for Mozart because of his silky smooth timbre, but I prefer him as the count in figaro or other roles where his high voice is best suited. I have heard Mattei´s voice in person and thought it was very beautyful.

[kaledutu]

nice voice.

[tank4805]

Very interesting tone from the singer, he uses a much more musical tone vs. opera tone. Not much vibrato, I also heard ornamentation, on a motzart piece. I don't agree with him but I admire his creativity in style

[frknGeraniaceae]

Is this productions soundtrack available on CD to?

[frknGeraniaceae]

Wich year is this recorded? I love how he does the second vers. Very personal interpretation.

[urzulaz]

Great singer, but how to believe that he is a Don Giovanni? He is just an opposite, a positive and gentle guy, no vice in appearance and voice. It does not work for me, can't believe this Don Giovanni will seduce and leave a woman, he will marry her and have ten kids, lol!

[greatwarcate]

@urzulaz I understand what you mean, it is sometimes almost like he seems too sweet and nice to be Don Giovanni. But I actually love the way Peter Mattei plays Don Giovanni. It is like his character lives for each moment, and in that moment he actually DOES love the woman he seduces. It is all part of the fun for him to really feel and experience each emotion....until of course he gets bored and finds someone else to seduce instead! He's not a 'bad' man, he just treats life like a sport to play!

[urzulaz]

@greatwarcate But Don Giovanni actually is not a good man. He is a killer and raper and do not have any love for women he seduce. Sport, yes, but no love. He is not a nice kind of person. It is about power and arrogance and his seductions are calculated and successes catalogued. I think Keenleyside is the most veritable Don Giovanni these days. Looked at Ervin Schrott, but he is also too soft. That said, I like Peter Mattei's singing, beautiful voice!

[greatwarcate]

@urzulaz You are of course right in many ways. I suppose what I am trying to say is that for us as an audience, we need to understand WHY all these women fall in love with Giovanni. If a singer acts the part as pure evil, we will think these women are crazy for being seduced by him. It is important for Giovanni to be so convincing at APPEARING to be loving and gentle that he almost believes his own lies at the time. I like him to be so convincing that I could almost fall in love with him myself!

[urzulaz]

@greatwarcate Don Giovanni is a pure evil and acts as one, but not when he seduces women - as you said he must appear to be loving and gentle, otherwise women would not want to do anything with him. So he does, when he sweet talks women. But these women are in the story and they do not see what we see as onlookers - how he plans seductions, sexually attacks the woman who does not want him and kills her father. The singer has to paint a full picture of the character. Peter M. doesn't really.

[BethDiane]

@greatwarcate Just because he seduces a lot of women doesn't mean that Don Giovanni is not capable of feeling love. Read Casanova's memoirs sometime for a real-life example. To hear him tell it, he loved many of the women he succeeded in bedding--and he also seems to have had a hand in composing the libretto for this opera.

[greatwarcate]

@BethDiane I completely agree with you. I think you've misread who authored the comments below. I've long been convinced of Giovanni's capacity to feel love. Yes, it may be a passionate, fleeting love, which is extinguished as soon as he has received sexual relief. But it is love. That's why I find Mattei's performance particularly convincing. I have read many books & essays on Libertinism, and I have read the semi-factual novel about Casanova and his alleged influence on Da Ponte's libretto.

[jhvorotin]

Where's all the expression of the text? Where's the passion and the seductive power? Come on...Don Giovanni, a romantic?...give me a break. Boring singing too!

[MeloDer]

woooow!! thanks for the upload. loved it!

[OperaBaritoneJoe]

It's so pure and his signature vibrato makes it all the better.

[Chilair1]

I would CERTAINLY have to come to the window.

[LondonLite02]

I saw him sing Don Giovanni last year in NY, and you could absolutely hear a pin drop during his "Deh vieni." Everyone in the house (and certainly me!) was hanging on his every note. Absolutely my favorite singer, bar none.

[Belcantoexpert]

His timbre Is dark as coffée!! Ive hear him live

[jeanmolin55]

Voce splendida e magnifica interpretazione!

Bravo Peter Mattei; BRAVO!

[Christopher8000]

Mr. Mattei does a very fine job on this piece. Many thanks for posting it

[greatwarcate]

I was searching for the best Deh vieni, and I think my search is finally over. This is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.

I wondered if Mattei was just good at Giovanni in particular, but I have since listened to some of his other works, and I think he has the closest thing to a perfect voice I have ever heard. I am in love!

[herodopost]

Peter Mattei!

Du sjunger så att musikkoden från lång tid tillbaka kan förstås av 2000-talets lyssnare - också. Jag hörde dej i julas sjunga i Hedvig Elionora-kyrkan i Stockholm. Du sjöng J S Bach. Tolkningen var kraftfull och fullständigt lysande. Många tack från många tysta lyssnare. Det känns gott att på detta sätt kunna hylla Dej.

Herodopost

Tack för din sång

[Leporello001]

There would never be any other greater Deh vieni like this one, even coming from me lol!!

[dinacarina88]

what a sexy voice

[raigekimaru]

he sings this like a true player, not whiny and sappy like most bari's.

[Belcantoexpert]

Matte-the voice of god

Soft, smode and a brilliant pianissimo with this dark timbre creats wonder works in every opera he joins! Wich hecould sing more in his home country tho...

[foropera]

@Belcantoexpert : You find this voice dark??? It is clear as honey.

[escamillion]

@Belcantoexpert "dark timbre"? i think its very light and soft timbre. Fast vibrato. Nothing dark in his voice

[miseriamia]

@escamillion totally agree.. very fast vibrato and terrible technique..

[escamillion]

@miseriamia well, i didn't say the technique is bad! It is just white and light. I have seen worse

[sor1952]

horrendous. Take the vibrato out and he cannot even sing in tune. Swooping, swerving, ugh. Vomit.

[willmeyer2150]

@sor1952 you are stupid

[carocrispi]

what a voice, God, thank you!!

[matthieusarah]

I don't like it at all. It's "forced" and lacks sensuality and simplicity. Don G. sings a god damn serenade not a Scorpion song Keenlyside is the ultimate don giovanni

[Belcore14]

Non mi piace

[ScottAuc]

amazing. Peter Mattei is truly amazing!

[movieluvr69]

Peter Mattei is absolutly amazing!

[Javaking9000]

Ooooh, I love the variations on the repeated melodic phrases, mmmmmmmm soo good.

[HighNotesRenaissance]

I totally agree with you. And Peter Mattei is so wonderful...

[gamgee87]

I saw that, too. SO BEAUTIFUL!

[raigekimaru]

Sam Ramey and Peter Mattei are the only people I've heard who don't butcher this piece (all the other recordings I've heard where pathetic)

[schmup53]

Please God, make someone put Peter Mattei on blu-ray disc so I can buy it.

[Feuille1512]

Mais je ne comprends pas. Je rappelle que c'est un air de mandoline et que Mozart l'a voulu comme tel (révolutionnaire à l'époque. Cet air, cet opéra a fait scandale, il ne faut pas l'oublier. Je crois, tout au contraire que l'on a aplati l'ensemble pour que çà passe mieux. Mais c'est culotté, c'est sexuel et c'est tendre). Vous croyez qu'ici, c'est faussé alors que c'est votre réception qui l'est. Don Giovanni, si je puis dire, c'est une bombe, si je puis dire.

[Feuille1512]

Renversant. D'une beauté renversante !

Et le peu que l'on puisse dire est que son chant est érotique.

Une merveille d'interprétation ! Chapeau, véritablement. Une claque, ou plutôt une caresse.

[schmup53]

He is such a good actor -- maybe in Mozart he sacrifices a bit to bring life to the part though a lot of people would argue the music alone is enough.

I highly recommend the Billy Budd highlights video -- what an amazing actor -- the Britten suits his acting incredibly well.

[Leporello001]

This is wonderful

[schmup53]

His voice is HUGE! He kind of looks like Tim Robbins.

[ziapengyfence]

HES FABULOUS! I saw him yesterday live. SO fabulous!

[PeterPan060]

Awesome!!! I am so jealous! :P

[ziapengyfence]

It was AMAZING!

[jr1463]

He has a beautiful voice. Although, it is a bit out of style for the piece. He changed things, and any singer who dares touch Mozart, to me, is not good.

I like the sensuality though. Very VERY sensual singing.

I

[FULFfiction]

i agree with you, although his modifications are not the worst. this modern setting of the opera fits to his "interpretation" with the little trills... or the other way around.

[BethDiane]

Yes, those ornaments are more Monteverdi than Mozart. But very nice, for all that.

[giandoroma]

ma canta malissimo! il chante très mal, he sings very badly - avrà le migliori intenzioni del mondo ma canta MALE

[marribor]

perche male? canta con una voce simple e naturale, e una versione piu interesante . questa e un'aria dificile, e cantarla con una voce aperta e leggiere non e cosa facil.(sorry for my italian)

[jr1463]

capito,

Ho capito ..

ma per me, è un po 'di stile di Mozart. Non mi piace gli abellimentii ha aggiunto.

E 'una bella voce, e l'interpretazione, ma

di stile.

So quanto sia difficile per cantare questa aria. E 'difficile, ma deve essere fatto con il rispetto per il compositore .... Penso che questo è stato dimenticato.

[schmup53]

That's what I mean by "sacrificing" --giving up Mozart style for relaxed, modern-looking acting. Though the aria is so beautiful it almost doesn't matter.

[Belcore14]

Il suo italiano non è bene, anche... Pensi così anche?

[blichilde]

Giandoroma,hai ragione

[dinacarina88]

so gorgeus

[rexeterna]

ugh. it's "morir," not "morrir."

[timaenot]

This singer has a very beautiful timbre (even if way too high for Don Giovanni, but that would not bother me), but he does not seem to have any idea about correct pacing.

[Skrofler]

Maybe correct is not that interesting? Interesting, to me, is more correct.

[blichilde]

is he a tenor??Give me Simon,please

[BethDiane]

I know that it's unlikely to ever happen, because he's probably way too busy with more standard operas, but I'd really love to hear him as Monteverdi's Orfeo! I never thought I'd say that about a Met opera star. . .

[BethDiane]

OMG, this is so amazing! It's a pity that the last few notes of the mandolin obligato are cut off, but this is an absolutely compelling performance. I'd be at the window--if not out the door!

[EvaEvaMusic]

I think this performance is divine. I love his expressiveness (voice and manner), the lilt in his delivery of each phrase, the sweetness of the timbre of his voice. I speak as a singer of opera, world, and popular music. I have always found "traditional" operatic performance to verge sometimes on being non-musical, and have great admiration for singers who choose to sing beautiful sounds, as opposed to just adhering to a tradition. When I sing "Der Holle Rache", even though a part of it is

[PeterPan060]

Amen!

[EvaEvaMusic]

the expression of a mother's rage, I still sing it to make each note beautiful, the passions that are needed to be expressed are already there in the music, there is no need to make it ugly.

[holidaysinsweden]

A man in perfect control of his voice, and with the sweetest, most beautiful timbre, that always has a most seductive shadow of danger in it, like you know this man is bad for you, but you just can't resist... Perfect for Don Giovanni!

[JackOperaMan]

Breath control is great, my only problem here is I can't HEAR it. If I can't HEAR it, then he's not using enough voice. For the most part he had a nice spin, but it was so barely there most of the time that it was hard for me to tell. I'm no expert, just my opinion.

[BethDiane]

I think the volume on the video itself might be a bit on the low side. But then again, there's a time-honored flirting technique: talk so softly that your object has to strain to hear you--and presumably move in closer physically in order to do so. And let's face it, Don Giovanni is the consummate flirt!

[bigmelt]

He actually has extremely good power - I've seen him at the Met (again playing the Don) and he was considerably louder than everyone else. Just turn up your volume.

[taragot23]

Who cares about all voice tricks / it is a simple and beautiful song were D. G. is verry romantic .This is all about here . Mozart idea is more important .

[CzarDodon]

I know that putting in some variation is fine, never said anything about that. But the voice in the second verse is not supported at all. He has no legato and the voice fades off almost completely here and there, the sound often has no focus, all typical signs of lack of support.... to me it's clear as daylight!

sorry :-(

[CzarDodon]

How can you call this good? the first half is ok, (though he starts in the nose and fails to keep the tone rounded and the intonation is suspect here and there). In the second verse he tries to sing in mezza voce but completely forgets to support the voice thus producing a sort of crooning sound which could be ok for effect on a note or two if done consciously! but the entire verse without proper support is just weak and destroys the musical line. This is not operatic singing!

[NeelaAlt]

Well, that's one opinion.

[CzarDodon]

It's not an opinion. Supporting the voice means singing with a regulated, constant, flow of air. It's a FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPAL in opera singing. listen and you will hear that the air just runs away in the second verse, thus there is no energy in the sound. By energy I don't mean loud, I mean a clean constant sound, no matter how soft. You won't catch any of the greats doing that.

[joonscribble]

Well, in response to your earlier comment, I think the "crooning quality" you mentioned was done intentionally by Mattei. To me, it felt that he did a fine job with supporting his sound in the second verse and chose to do softer ornamentation with it rather than do it straight forward as most others do. Substituting in an intended variation is not weakness of voice. It's a choice. One that other singers, such as Bryn Terfel, have done in other arias.

[Operasinger91]

@CzarDodon Yeah I agree with you completely, The only person I think that has done it and gotten away is Bryn Terfel...but he is much better than Peter Mattei. He's changing up the song way too much like hes Pavarotti or something!

[wh1048]

Are you serious....perhaps you think this is bad and unsupported because of you would never be able to produce such a beautiful version of this aria. Listen to Terfel and Hampson sing it - it's beautiful and done in the same "crooning" way. He does not run out of breath or lose focus in the tone, he's singing this way on purpose.

[wh1048]

. This aria has always needed this touch to seduce the young woman. And there is no way you could ever sing those sounds if it was unsupported. Sure Ramey is great Giovanni, but him singing deh vieni would scare most people its like a bull in a china closet. Opera doesn't always have to be big and huge with a big damn voice and a big damn vibrato. Mattei's version of this is simply stunning and every single note is sung with beautiful intent.

[CzarDodon]

From my response above: "I don't mean loud, I mean a clean constant sound, no matter how soft." This is weak singing (fine for other types of music) it,s a contamination of style. Ramey is too heavy in this piece, but the solution is not weedy voice production. It should be sung mezza voce: velvet sound, soft but round, smoothly projected (achieved by supporting the voice i.e. complete control of the flow of air). Intent is fine, but it's the result that counts.

[CzarDodon]

"perhaps you think this is bad and unsupported because of you would never be able to produce such a beautiful version of this aria" - are YOU serious, is that supposed to be an argument, whether I can sing or not has nothing to do with this.... and he does run out of breath, he cannot respect the basic shape of the musical line. It's obvious that you don't know what supporting the voice means.

[wh1048]

it is a valid argument,- those who cannot sing have no idea what it takes to produce this type of controlled sound.This type of sound is supported with fantastic breath pressure, notice the smooth and buttery vibrato.Where does he run out of breath at the end of phrase's?he's only supposed to hold the note for one quarter beat. Look at your score, follow along with what Mozart wrote, he sings it to a T. A weak sound could not be heard,can you hear him?sounds like support and ring to me.

[CzarDodon]

Let's start from the nasal first line, there's some grit then on "O mio tesoro" where the voice is backward, on "il pianto mio" he has already spent his breath and has to push the last nots out (middle register, he can get away with it). "Se nieghi a me di dar" is flat and backward "qualche ristoro" is in the nose and hooted like a priest singing gregorian chant. "Davanti agli occhi...." from "morir" he puts an ugly accent and cannot finish, the last not is not there at all.

[CzarDodon]

The second part begins crooning like a pop singer,(real mezza voce stays in the mask)there's no orchestra to sing over so it can be heard, but where's the legato? there is a real ugly slide on "Più del", again "in mezzo al core" he has spent his breath. "non esser gioia mia" "mia" is really ugly and constricted, "con me crudele" we are back in church, the last line again fades away into nothing. I hear no "smooth and buttery vibrato", there's often NO vibrato which is just as bad as too much.

[arisargiris]

beatiful voice , but for sure not the best version of the aria. please listen Cesare Siepi, George London or Thomas Allen.Also Samuel Ramey!

Is NOT to compare!!!

That doesnt make mr. Mattei Not a wonderfull artist! But... for Giovanni....?

[gamgee87]

I don't like this staging, but Peter Mattei must be the best Don Giovanni ever! I entirely agree that this is the most incredible Deh Vieni that I've ever heard. His voice is so beautiful!

[joonscribble]

Yeah, the staging wasn't all that impressive, but Mattei's voice more than made up for it. Hopefully I'll be able to put up additional clips soon.

[gamgee87]

Is that the staging available on DVD? The one with Daniel Harding conducting?

[joonscribble]

Yes, it is. I've seen it on Amazon.

[liyzette]

I was wondering what you think of the staging and stage directing of the production... I was so intrigued to see it when I found out it's done by Peter Brook I immediately bought it, but somehow I was disappointed ... and I am by no means a traditional stagings fan...

[joonscribble]

I didn't find the staging to be that effective. The minimalistic look was nice, but the use of the colored poles and the random wind machine that kicked in at odd moments seemed to hamper the singers a little.

[ioleilaltra]

Wind machine? I thought it was real wind, wasn't it an outdoor staging?