Added: 4 years ago
From: bratske
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  • Yes, Sir John Eliot Gardiner

  • I'd like to be in that audience!:) Scary - and so beatiful...

  • In my humble opinion, it is interesting to see the Commendatore entering the theater in the middle of the audience. But I think Gardiner choose a tempo too much fast. I'm not against the authentic tempi, they may be much more interesting, but I think this scene at this speed looses the dramma and terror that Mozart and Da Ponte call for. Gardiner's fans, sorry.

  • Im just 11, but that guy is AWESOME! :DDD SUPER STRONG VOICE

  • Beautifull version! We do not need old clothes, this speaks for itself all the way. Michaels Jackson should have seen this RIP

  • The main thing I like about this performance is the acting, when it comes to Don Giovanni himself. I love how he is portrayed, the expressions the singer uses. The jumping on the table was good, but the kicking of the food was a little much. Made him seem a bit diva-ish. Still, excellent performance.

  • Also, if anyone finds the full version of this opera on video, please send a PM, post a link, or even the mising parts on youtube.

  • For me this is the perfect interpretation of the Commendatore scene. I absolutely love the tempo, the singers (leporello could've been more scared) and the orchestra. I've read a couple of comments, and people seem to dislike the orchestra because it becomes to loud at the end. I find that briliant, combined with the tempo, because it intensifies the agony of Don Giovanni, his words becoming gibberish, like he's choking with fear.

  • Too fast.

  • Comment removed

  • il più grande commendatore della storia!!!

  • This is the only modern version of Don Giovanni I really really like, it's scary just as Mozart ment it to be. The fact that the Comandor is comming out from the public and some of the public is involved in the scene is an amazing idea and gives more power to the scene. Gardiner and the orchestra are perfect, I like this part played in this tempo, when it's slow then the music looses much of it's strenght. Great performance, big thx for posting. Btw is it possible to buy a DVD somwhere?

  • does this seem a bit fast to anyone?

  • @Icerues Yes - very. Have to say I love it when the notes linger, allow the tension to build and the listener to really savour the beauty. This just loses the atmosphere and power because of the speed (although clearly not everyone agrees).

  • ooooo scary!

  • What a joy seeing this again after 17 years: I was there at the Concertgebouw at this amazing production -loved every minute of it! What a treat -thanks ever so much!

  • DG. looks like a douche... they got that part right....

  • Please, Mr. Silvestrelli: sing Claggart. <3

    (Unlikely... no baritone could ever K.O. this giant.)

  • What a great scene...

  • Too fast, sounds rushed. Amazing singers, though.

  • What the hell, nederlandse ondertiteling? Ge hebt toch ni toevallig de hele opera?

  • Very good performances. Nice interpretation musically and good tempo. I would like to see this in a fully scaled theater thou.

  • wow wow, i wish i'd been at the concert. how surprising to audience this would have been.

  • Rarely hideous staging. But very fine singing and conducting. Ildebrando D'Arcangelo is stupendously menacing Commendatore, something very few basses manage, alas.

  • @Spiritakis it's Andrea Silvestrelli. D'Arcangelo sings Leporello here.

  • @nnmakowska

    Of course! What a stupid mistake to make. Thanks for the correction.

  • Finally, someone gets the tempo right!!

  • the disguises are so lame.

  • @waripolo15 This is a concert version, not a staging.

  • Wooooooow, perfekte Inszenierung. Der Schluss rockt enorn: Ausgelöscht, weggetragen, ende. Yeah!!!!!

  • d'arcangelo is expressive like a radish.

  • The best Leporello, and the best Commendatore ever!

  • The commentadore makes me proud to be a bass.

  • This is the first time I can honestly say I understand written Dutch. I know exactly what the printed words are expressing!

  • nice directing! i wish i could see a production like this

  • Ottimi Leporello e Commendatore, sul Don ho forti dubbi.....

  • Beautiful piece of art, too bad the quality isn't splendid...

  • Absolutely fantastic.

  • Is there any filmed opera with Silvestrelli beside this and a Rigoletto? I long for a Götter, Zauberflöte or Rosenkavalier...

    Not to mention what i say for every bass I like, but he'd be the best: please... someone make him sing Claggart! (Ok... no baritone could ever realistically 'kill' such a giant but still.) He'd be super scary with this voice.

  • @Sieglinde84

    He would be a terrific Claggart. Rodney Gilfrey made the role of Billy Budd completely his own. It would be great to see them together.

    Till then, I'm happy watching this... frequently.

  • Espectacular!

  • Vocally and musically impressive, but a bit different as far as blocking is concerned.

  • This is nonsense. Wtf is The Commendatore doing back there? The tempo is wrong, and the fact that they want to make the public participate is just pathetic... Mr Gardiner the star is MOZART not you... have some respect, the fact that you wear a black shirt and black pants won't make you a avant-garde intellectual.

    Worst performance on Youtube.

  • @minasgekos

    "Mr. Silvestrelli has recorded Don Giovanni (Commendatore) conducted by John Eliot Gardiner for DGG, a production awarded with the Grammy Award in 1995."

    His biography page from his website.

  • Wich dutch opera house is this ?

  • @DavevanToor This is not really an opera house, it's the famous Concertgebouw, the 'home hall' of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Famous for it's acoustics, not for the possibility of staging opera's. The attempt of Gardiner was fascinating, by the way!

  • Does anyone at all happen to know where one can get ahold of this production on VHS/DVD? I've looked everywhere and can't find it, though I understand it's sometimes shown on TV in Holland. Any tips would be great!

  • @akacentimetre Try Rod Gilfry's fansite, the admin has it. She sent it to me too. A real rarity.

  • this is amaaaazing

    but it might have sucked for the audience to turn their heads around

    but AMAAAZING

  • @sybedijkstra

    That sounds plausible; knowing the professionnal that JEG is, he probably wouldn't allow for flagrant disbalance.

  • to fast tempo, but commendatore impressive...

  • @sybedijkstra

    Do you know whether this production included the final scene, or did they end the opera here?

    The last scene is often omitted but I think it's necessary and very much fun.

  • Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Hubba Hubba. Rodney Gilfry is as gorgeous as his voice.

  • Voor Bejank & Theo ....echte Opera......en een geniale ...helaas zonder dikke dame ......

  • @sybedijkstra

    cd's suck...just saying

  • I like this version. The commendore has some pipes on him!

  • What an amazing opera... amazing. Has any opera come close in the last 225 years?

  • @PTCello I think that Wagner's Ring cycle might be better, but that is just my opinion.

  • @technojoel

    The Ring is great music, but consider the libretto.. perhaps 30% of the libretto is a character relating what has happened previously, none of which is necessary, and all of which interrupts the flow of the story.

    Don Giovanni is great music, but also very powerful theatre and drama... The ring can't compare, though would love to play the Cycle again. We get to play Tristan in two seasons, though. can't wait

  • Same, 2007....Totally different tempo, acting and direction. Still great

  • PERFECT!!!

  • this was way too fast......the words lose their meaning at this speed.

  • no, no, no! that's too fast! the tempo should be slower!... a very good interpretation (I love the voice of the commendatore, very powerfull) but everything should be slower... I can't even feel the sounds...

  • no, no, no! that's too fast! the tempo should be slower!... a very good interpretation (I love the voice of the commendatore, very powerfull) but everything should be slower... I can't even feel the sounds...

  • no, no, no! that's too fast! the tempo should be slower!... a very good interpretation (I love the voice of the commendatore, very powerfull) but everything should be slower... I can't even feel the sounds...

  • no, no, no! that's too fast! the tempo should be slower!... a very good interpretation (I love the voice of the commendatore, very powerfull) but everything should be slower... I can't even feel the sounds...

  • no, no, no!! That's too fast... the tempo should be slower... a very good Commendatore interpretation, nice and powerfull voice but everything should sound slower, I don't have enough time to feel the sound...

  • no, no, no!! That's too fast... the tempo should be slower... a very good Commendatore interpretation, nice and powerfull voice but everything should sound slower, I don't have enough time to feel the sound...

  • direzione pessima. Gilfry è ridicolo, si salva d'arcangelo

  • Comment removed

  • o_O

    wow

  • Did RG has a problem with his microphone at the end of the scene?

  • I'm afraid the orchestra was way and way too loud!

  • I had a chill run up my spine the moment I heard the commendatore blast his way onto the scene.

  • FAVOLOSOOOOOO!!!!!!! mai visto qualcosa di piu' bello!!!!!!! belle voci e bella interpretazione!!!!!!

  • The commendadore : what a voice!

    but ,I 'sorry ,it's a little bit too fast .definitely.

    The brass sound like Bruckner!!!Like that!

    too fast...!

  • the commendatore in this vid is one of the best I've heard..and I love how they bring the opera up-close to the audience. very cool

  • OMG this scene scares me to death! 8(

    I'm not sure if I could sit along that aisle...

    Btw, the bassist is not only strong in voice - he managed to carry Don Giovanni in his shoulders as nothing was happening. :P

  • And Gilfry isn't a small man either! SIlvestrelli must be super strong.

  • @Sieglinde84 he carries him like a sack a of potatoes

  • @Sieglinde84

    In our current production of Marriage of Figaro at Chicago Lyric he holds Kyle K in an embarce for almost 20 seconds 2 feet off the ground.

  • putting him into the crowd. Brilliant, so that the whole world may take part in condeming him.

  • Gran escena, tal vez no es el mejor Don Giovanni de la historia, sin embargo, Gilfry logra hacer realmente un muy interesante Don Giovanni y realiza una magnifica interpretación. Ildebrando siempre un excelente Leporello y Silvestrelli sin duda no se queda atrás haciendo a un Commendatore potente e impresionante. Buena la dirección de Gardiner. Es realmente interesante este video. Gracias por subirlo.

  • The Commendatore has an amazingly powerful voice in this performance. Captivates from this opening vocal

  • plus it sounds so much better when it is fast. otherwise it sounds like the singers are sleeping. this version makes it more dramatic.

  • What are you talking about? Listen to other versions. Is Furtwangler an idiot?

  • I wish you damn Europeans would stop imitating the worst aspects of Americans: i.e., kicking food off a table to display some sort of emotional expression. I expect it from romanians, muslims, Maastricht european unionists, or other primitive types but I just can't imagine any cultivated Europeans (or Americans, for that matter) engaging in such conduct.

  • Your hatred, your style and your being racist as well as xenophobic clearly show that you are really not from among those "cultivated" people that you admire. I pity you that you have not noticed how contradictory it is that you are saying. Poor you... Maybe with some intelligence... but that is surely not your cup of tea.

  • @anoncae : How very pseudo-Freudian of you. And how trite. Now all you have to do is improve your grammar.

  • With due respect, I wonder if you could indicate which grammatical structures you think are bad. The genitive subject of the English gerund? The "as well as" conjunct? The multiply subordinated prepositions? The focus cleft in the second clause? Or maybe the idiom at the end of the third one? Certainly, language skills can always be improved. I'm just asking because I've got a PhD in English Linguistics. :-)

  • Here are your corrected statements: "Your hatred, your style and your racism as well as your xenophobia clearly shows that you are really not from among those 'cultivated' people that you admire. I pity you that you have not noticed how many contradictions there are in your statements." It seems your PhD in English Linguistics has gotten in the way of writing clearly and concisely. As a former editor, I recommend Fowler's Modern English Usage. A little less pomposity is definitely in order. :-))

  • This scene makes me tremble.

  • I adore this version! too bad I can't hear the end correctly :( it's too low

  • LOL at 0:46, Don Giovanni actually SMILES and points at him, as if he means "hey! look at that! Isn't that HILARIOUS..."

  • why the hell is the coductor making it so fast

  • He's not making it so fast. You're used to hear some slow romantic versions. And probably you never took the chance to take a look at the manuscript where Mozart wrote it: Alla Breve - Andante... and for a musician in the 18th Century it was clear: Moving in 2. Not in 4. That's way you think it's fast! ;)

  • For me its also too fast, I´m singing Il Commendatore soon and its a pity here not to enjoy here because the glory of the long vocals isn´t feelable. And I´m sure that many conductors also look into the manuscript and for some unknown reasons nearly ALL of them take it more slowly and so we can appreciate the scence much more; its unrealistic that only Gardiner conducts the right way and all others are doing wrong-.-

  • Exactly. All the best directors went for a slower feel, so...

  • the commendatore looks rather innocent

  • Why wouldn't he? Don Giovanni killed him.

  • Music powerful, singers fantastic...temp, far too fast, they were having to spit out their words.

  • Orrible.

  • @robertanico Non mi pare. Almeno D'Arcangelo lo salverei.

  • Potrei anche darti ragione, ma non basta D'arcangelo a salvare una situazione disastrosa, allestimento da prozac, voci inudibili, orchestra che sovrasta e troppo veloce, recitazione hollywoodiana, un sacco di formaggio (compresa l'allettante figura di Don Giovanni) per nascondere che il sugo non è buono.

  • amazing bass!

  • Such powerful music!

  • That bass sent shivers down my spine! So powerful!

  • Ingenious work!

  • I must admit, that was almost too brilliant.

  • Finally, someone gets the tempo right!!

  • Comment removed

  • @Blazingstoke in my humble opinion, the tempo needs to be slower to better express the feelings of the three characters in this scene. Leporello doesn't seem frightened enough, and Don Giovanni needs more self-control, in all his pride and arrogance, and he should snap only at the end, when he realizes it's over for him.

  • This is amazing on so many levels for me, Lord that BASS!!!

  • Absoulty fantastic. The Commandatore is incredible. I want to be a bass!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @ZsaZsadoll

    I'm a bass and i want to be a tenor... LOL

  • this is so amazing, interaction with audience brilliant idea

  • History is really being revisioned ( I hope with no bad intentions) . Interaction with audience was so common in the 60´s...Even Mozart did try it, in his times. So, nothing new, gunmenow boy.

  • YES!

  • in one word. amazing :)

  • very interesting way to do a concert style performance. i liked it.

  • Where's the fire?

  • Still wonderful. I've heard many great Commendatores, but Silvestrelli is just incredible. And how strong! I mean, Gilfry is a giant too. And he carries him like the man would be a child...

  • An absolutely terrifying performance. And I like it this fast!

  • My god, best Commandatore EVER!!!!

  • Ez egyszerűen gyönyörű. A művészet tökéletessége, a hangzás, az érzés és egyfajta megmagyarázhatatlan misztikum tökéletes egyensúlya. És az is nagyon jó, hogy a közönség között játszódik, a zenekar sincs külön - minden szerves egységet képez.

  • Too fast , and there where few obvious mistakes , also I don't like this Leporello ....

  • ITALIAN MASTERGOODS! FORZA ITALIA!

  • A.Silvestrelli is an italian, yes.

    and for some reason when i listen to this i want to cry....

  • è bellissimo e scenografico però preferirei sentire gli archi un pò di più

  • you can tell the guy who played the commanders ghost is italian because he speaks/sings out of the side of his mouth (and obviously he is speaking italian lol)

  • well, he's also speaking italian because that's the language the opera is written in...

  • no shit sherlock

  • Comment removed

  • presto

  • This is the only version which comes close to mozarts real tempos!

    I don't remember which opera, but there is a letter Mozart wrote just when he came home after the performance and he gives the time he started writing the letter. So somebody calculated in which time the opera had been played! And it was so fast, that Gardiner is the only one who really reaches that tempo with his performances!

    All in all the recording of Gardiner ist the best which exists at the moment!

  • I love they involved the audience, it's so intimate.

  • tyhs version is very presto

  • this scene is terrifying- especially when I saw it in prague in the baroque opera house it was written for. When the trombones kicked in- terrifying!

  • They're amazing singers, but it seems a little fast to me... But honestly, one of the only set of singers that have really done it for me.

  • i like gardiners great trombones - they are awesome!! ... it's him, only him and mozart!

  • that was epic!

  • George Bernard Shaw said it best over 100 years ago:

    "There is nothing better in Art than Mozarts best."

    My gosh, will this scene ever grow old? It is magnificent.

  • Im right

  • Oh my God, one on the most charming versions I've ever seen.

    Congratulations to the director, it was really excellent

  • what are they actually say/singing? presumably this is Italian...

  • fcuking epic

  • GRAN OPERA

  • GRAN OPERA

  • Kurt Moll is best

  • I agree completly.

  • it goes without saying--but ill say it- that

    this don is a superb singer and a darn good actor and the commendatore is adequate. the reverse with zefferelli's.

    this don and that commendatore would be a spiritual musical duel of giants--a

    sort of dream team cosmic wrestling match. of course this unconventional greek chorus staging would prevail.

    well a fine mind can just appreciate

    both performances and imagine the

    ultimate hybrid . rodney giffey's don

    vs the late kurt moll's comm'tore.

  • OMG Kurt Moll is my ALL TIME FAVORITE Commendatore! I want to meet him someday :)

    and yes, I agree that Rodney Gilfry is an EXCELLENT Don ! :D

  • in short this gets awards for best directions and best leading actor--don giovanni--the other gets best soundtrack

    and best supporting actor-comendatore.

    this is the most visually creative. the other

    is most appealing to the listener. 'amadeus' of course is pop culture but gets creditfor cluing in the mass auduence to the

    nuances of psychology in this scene.

  • this and the zefferelli with kurt moll as commendatore are the best. this is more don giovanni as antihero centered. he is really a total enfant terrible and finally literally carried off by big daddy superego.

    the audience involvement in locking hands ala greek chorus and all the interactive staging instead of a conventional stage vs a passive audience is so compelling. don's

    defiance is vivacious vs the commendatore's saturnine inevitability.

    zefferellis don is wooden its all commendatore.

  • WOW...what speed...

  • i like that llok don giovanni gets when he sees the commendatore

  • In the original version, the spirit of the Commendatore came back to earth in the form of a statue of himself.

  • Die Posaune klingen doch super! Sehr interessante Inszenierung.

  • Commented earlier... but must do so again after watching it so many times.

    THIS is the tempo this was meant to be in. I much prefer this to slower tempos. It just heightens the intense drama.

  • this is sapposed to be a dark opera why is the ghost looking like an angel

  • Why shouldn't he? After all, it's not the Commendatore who is wicked, in the first place. He comes from above. He died protecting his child. He has come neither to avenge himself nor to "execute" Don Giovanni, but to give him the final warning.

  • like how the meteorologist gave bush early warnings about katrina's effects

  • Not exactly, this scene is about a spirit of a man coming to warn against him going to Hell for his evil actions. And when Don Giovanni refused to do so, all he did was say "You blew it, face the consequences of your actions" - which was Don Giovanni going to Hell.

  • yes but when follish mozart relized that his father was just rying to protect him that ia why the ghost is based on Leopold he died the year mozart wrote thsi then he went down hill crazy

  • Comment removed

  • "like an angel" ? : P

    The commendatore is now a "talking-statue" ("uomo di sasso",remember?),maybe made of white marble...The scene take place in my country and there are tons of white marble here,I can tell you,haha

  • your wrong thsi opera was labeld bye mozart himself as a an opera buffa

  • Leporello calls him expressly "l`uom in bianco" - the man in white.

  • wat an amazing bass, wow!

  • have never heard any interpretation with brass swells like the series starting at 3:00. amazing sound

  • The basso was better. The Don Giovanni sounded a little strained.

  • "Strained"?haha...Gilfry is perfect here,as usual...D.Giovanni is extremely arrogant and self-confident , but now, for the first time in his life, he's really frightened ...Try walking in his shoes...

  • sends shivers down my spine

  • Tears are coming down my face, this is beautiful and terrifying to watch!!!

  • sensational...never seen anything like it...spine chilling Mozart power!!

  • This is the only opera i would watch plus this is my favorite part in the entire opera. The music is genius and beautiful. Mozart was a very talented composer to make this scene in the opera.

  • E.T.A. Hofmann- "Oper aller Opern"

    Everybody who knows this opera awaits this final inferno of voices-a real dramatic grip in this version- Hesse describes the facination in his Steppenwolf nicely.