Added: 5 years ago
From: saitbey
Views: 398,814
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:

All Comments (243)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • Going to go see this at the Met in March. Can't be more stoked!

  • fast recovery, Levine, we miss your fantastic musicianship on stage, and a back-ache is such a misery. love and greetings, what a grand and vigorous rendition! what a spirit!

  • My all time favorite opera, and my all time favorite piece. :) Love this performance. So glad the audio is so amazing. <3

  • me parece LO PEOR que antes de cada video se introduzcan una publisidad

  • shame about the audio lag..

    

  • Danke, habe Link gesetzt

  • I don't know what I detest more of Levine: the fact that he gets paid millions of dollars to wave his arms; how he waves his arms; that he uses those arms to royally overide the composers intentions; that the arms attatched to that body can't even manage to stand up, especially today.

  • @SteveAndrewLangford: He gets paid so much money because, believe it or not, he is good at what he does. Musicians under his direction "live to see him smile." I will grant that what he conducts is sometimes vastly different from what the composer may have had in mind, but just because he interprets things in a unique way does not mean he is overriding the composer's intentions. Music is about interpretation. And I'd like to see you try to conduct standing up after a severe back injury at 68.

  • @TheCoolSoprano Ok, I was a bit harsh on him on the standing up part. But, I still dislike the things I mentioned. The only way you can "win" an argument is by not engaging in one. I truly admire Levine for being a conductor and giving light to music, however I just disagree and dislike several things about the man. Either way, I'm glad we showed people that frank, open disagreements don't need to lead to mean things. Cheers!

  • @SteveAndrewLangford

    Yea, a pity that the "reasons" you dislike him are completely moronic.

    1) Conductors work out the interpretation and rehearse it with the orchestra. Why even mention this common idiotic misonception if you know it to be untrue anyway?

    2) Overriding a composer's intentions (not sure how he does so here) in itself isn't bad in any way - it just makes it dishonest if you claim you don't.

    3) Not even going to.

    Stupid comment is stupid. Warrants no further examination doesn't.

  • I like how his mouth moves with the music as he conducts. :)

  • Anybody who enjoys this ouverture should listen to Liszt's transcription of this piece. It is in one word: epic.

  • My mother is a big opera fanatic, and I'm afraid I got a little caught up in it too...this was one of the first I got to see live, but it was always my favourite since I was a child. The story is fantastic, but not as brilliant as the music.

  • (I appreciate Wikipaedia's contributions in the descriptions on previous comment)

  • don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga (now called the Estates Theatre) on October 29, 1787

  • Levine diluisce un casino i tempi e quindi manca di quella necessaria capacita' di provocare il " coup de teatre".Se manca questo la musica dell'800 si riduce a niente, e diviene disgustoso fluire di modulazioni .Carattere ci vuole e grande ironia!

  • 阿 這耶樂團 是?! So beautiful! What is the orchestra?

  • repulsiv and disgusting person!

  • @diablotin75008 Who?

  • pearls before swine.

    

  • he apparantly composed this in 2 hours

  • I just found out that Mozart composed this in one night. Wow.

  • Ah i remember the days when the mere overture was the most I ever listened to of Don Giovanni... so glad I discovered how awesome the WHOLE opera is. It's the greatest work of music ever IMO

  • What a thrill it would be to see James Levine conduct.. If you get a chance go to PBS and see the American Masters portrait of him.

  • What a thrill it would be to see James Levine conduct..

  • I like many composers, but in all of them, I like SOME of their songs and i dont like SOME. Mozart is different. I love EVERY single mozart piece. I havent heard like 6 of his symphonies but I know I will love them because of his stylistic use of notes

  • It would have been funny if Pavarotti had hair like Levine here...

  • immortal overture of all time

  • it's a pitty sound and image are not synchronised. the audio goes with levine's gesture, but he always conducts a little bit ahead, so you can see the orchestra playing after you actually hear them. (as this overture is mostly a tempo and quick, it's not that evident, but look at levine conducting for example tristan's prelude; there it is much more obvious: he beats and a second after the orchestra plays)

  • Co za asy!

  • disheveled hair is necessary for any respectable conductor, as it is a tribute to beethoven

  • @devilxhlywood If you look at the portrait of Mozart done by his brother in law, his hair looks pretty big and disheveled too (when he wasn't wearing a wig).

  • @devilxhlywood

    hi hi

    my hairs were short...

  • Shhhh! It's Mozart.

  • James Levine is a great conductor when it comes to opera

  • I find it hard to believe this was written in just two hours. AMAZING!

  • Mozart! How I love his music! Such longing, such grace, such mastery of composition! Superior work by the master!

  • And since your worthless existence is singularis and in was refering to you in the present term, then there should NOT be an S in Deserve.

    Are the rest of your family equally stupid and retarded or is it merely you who qualify for medical and professional help?

    Go back to kindergarden and learn to express yourself like a child at least - that would be a marked improvement to your present condition where a hamster makes more sense and a cucumber have more personality and intelligence.

  • @Stoeltafelkleed "you retard."

    Rather large words from a infantile idiot who uses a computergame as an argument for his moronic and infantile nonsense.

    Leaving that aside then you have never ever been able to mount a single coherent and rational argument for anything - except to cement the fact of the presense of your boundless stupidity and unfounded sense of your own worth.

    Drooling and snotnosed little brats like you are one the few arguments for euthanasia.

  • Comment removed

  • his "antics" actually add to the performance, making it an even better sight to see. his "antics" are unique to him, making this performance even more interesting

  • Ouverture?

  • @Stoeltafelkleed

    Not as stupid obviously as your infantile comments - a worthless individual like yourself do not deserve attention, let alone to answers to two statements which in essence were equally stupid and unintelligent - just like you in fact.

    Now run along and play with your feces until mommy puts you to bed ...halfwit

  • @Stoeltafelkleed

    Sigh ... I thought you had done the world a favour and ended your life during the holidays...

    But nevermind: Why dont you go find someone of your own mental level - say a hamster - and attempt a conversation there?

    In the meantime dont disturb this video with your childish ramblings.

    And if you are looking for a homsexual partner, then why dont you ask the mongool you keep filming?

    moron... I have stepped in fecal matter that have more intelligence than you.

  • Do people watch these videos just to judge the conductor?.? I don't even watch the video,.. I just listen to Mozart's amazing legacy of divine music. I love Mozart!!!!!!

  • anybody knows where i can download this opera with james levine? pleeease!!!!

  • Oh my god! It's NEWMAN! All joking aside, I've been orchestrating this using EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Platinum Pro XP with my conductor's score as a guide, and it is one of the most impressive overtures I've ever heard, even using a digital orchestra.

  • Oh my god! It's NEWMAN!

  • this guys pwns all!1!

    

  • what passion! What depth! I love Mozart.

  • I cant imagine the work these people had to do to bring this piece of music to such perfection....hats off to you. I love it.

  • I'd rather see a energetic conductor than a boring one when playing this piece. Go learn music, people.

  • Totally super. Full of energy and joy.

  • levine does this piece justice...bravo

  • Opera, K 527 Act 2

  • MOZART......muss ein sensibler Mensch mehr dazu sagen?? Jeder der MUSIK mag weiß was ich meine...oder nicht?

  • Eerily haunting music yet it brings tears to my eyes at it's beauty

  • Levine--good, Mozart for writing this---AWESOME

  • I remember playing this in high school (cello part)... quite a fun piece, how it starts off serious then has a more lighthearted second movement and ending. It's rather against human nature to dislike such a great classical work.

  • levine is such a great conductor for mozart! his intepretation is sort of lighter than other conductors but that is excatly why i like his style! personally i think he brought out the darkness in a mozart way, not playing mozart to express darkness.

  • This overture always makes the hair on the back of my neck standup. It's an incredible setup for the play. Unbelievably amazing setup.

  • James Levine is Great!

  • bravo! sehr gut.

  • James Levine is phenomenal...

  • Conducting this evening's performance: George Costanza! LOL

  • the intro is very similar to the magic flute

  • i love the conductors' hair

  • I agree. This opera was definitely one of mozart's finest written pieces. Lovely.

  • @MrSym21 maybe i don't know ALL the everwritten operas by all authors, but for the ones i know (about one hundred total) this one is far above all others.... Mozart was always the most greatest composer, but in all his other operas he is kinda too "childish" and joking.... in this one he gets way more dramatic and his only "lack" (if we can call his joking style of composition a lack) overcame. It sounds like his Requiem in some parts. :-) love mozart

  • @Vegetth87 i agree with you in the fact that his other operas were "childish" in the fact that don giovanni explored generally darker ideals with a dramatic score to complement it, however i would not say that mozart was the finest ever composer. he was technically perfect and gave a lighthearted and cheeky sense to many of his pieces but i personally prefer romantic composers such as liszt, Schubert and even beethoven for the emotions they are able to withdraw during the listening experience.

  • @MrSym21 actually i meant the most genious one.... which doesn't mean that he was the finest or that you have to like him more than all the others. For example Bach has a lot of pieces more beautiful than Mozart's, more Dramatic..... i mean usually music is a slow growing and evolving thing..... except when you meet these guys that they wake up one morning and say "Ok, from today on we play like this!" and change completely the style of music..... i'm not sure i'm able to explain what i want

  • @Vegetth87 no, i actually completely understand what you mean now. it is a difficult concept to understand how a composer decides to change the way music is constructed. but yes he was a genius in the sense that he did just that. :) and i do love mozart too :D

  • this is the best opera of mozart!

  • @soso3117 and therefore in the world

  • For a sec, the conductor looked drunk to me. But he's actually one of the best I've heard.

    Love the music, don't judge a book by its cover.

  • What I meant by "what's the truth?" is: Did Mozart leave the overture incomplete and the last part I heard with a "complete overture" was done by someone else (this was done in a piano fantasy by Mozart) or did Mozart "complete" the overture? But then why here was it left hanging? I've heard that done before with this piece.

  • I think you may be confused about what complete in this case actually means. In an opera setting, the overture goes directly into the first scene without any break. The concert version is cut short to save time.

  • It ends in the concert version right before it goes to minor at the end of this recording.

  • What happened at the end? It got cut off. I've heard it said that the overture was purposely left incomplete by Mozart but I've heard the complete overture. Which is the truth?

  • BEAUTIFUL!! so lovely to hear!

    someone knows when this vid was recorded?

  • beautiful!!

  • oula

  • Absolutely amazing!. A Breathtaking performance. The orchestra produces such a superb sound! And Levine´s conduction is wonderful, confirming that he is one of the top conductors worldwide.

  • I much prefer this to von Karajan conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker

  • same, although i tihnk it's the wiener phil's fault and not karajan himself.

  • 2:20 in slow motion shows Levine at his best. That's pure strenght, rage and energy. The longest second ever.

  • Do conductors go to special barbers to get those eccentric hair cuts ?

  • I think they do

  • Do they also go to special opticians to get those fullscreen frames?

  • Oh I didnt see that ... But off course you are right ...

    Nice analogy that :-)

  • I bet Nutcraker's "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy" chimes when they enter the shop.

  • His hair got that way from too much sex.

  • @gladio4ever Imagine the barber´s hair cuts!

  • @jcmexita

    Yes perhaps he cuts it with the same sweeping and powerfull motions of a master conducter - with a straightrazor in each hand.

  • Comment removed

  • Comment removed

  • @gladio4ever

    HAHAHA I could see that happening!

  • @Enex420

    Indeed ... and picture if you will the scene at home, when he is trying to show his wife how to hang the painting on the wall...

    :-D

  • @gladio4ever

    I think it comes from not going to the barber

  • @mowmowisgod

    Is that The Barber of Seville you are refering to?

    X D

  • @gladio4ever Yes, they go to The Barber of Seville. :)

  • @gladio4ever

    People go to barbers to get eccentric hair cuts.

  • @gladio4ever He wears his hair that way because he is an even more prolific serial adulter than the legendary Don Giovanni himself. Grow some hair and learn to conduct!

  • @jdbrown371

    "He wears his hair that way because he is an even more prolific serial adulter than the legendary Don Giovanni himself. Grow some hair and learn to conduct!"

    So you claim that the eccentricity of the hairdo combined with a job as a conducter, makes women more excited than chocolate, champagne, money and cherries ...

    That combined with the fact that you get to enjoy music all day, is a solid argument for changing careers. Sign me up !

  • @gladio4ever Conductors get funky-looking hair because of the pain in the ass they have to go through to get the orchestra to sound good. It really does make them pull their hair out...

  • @gladio4ever No, they just don't cut it.

  • @gladio4ever Yes, they go to the Barber of Seville.

  • @gladio4ever Yes.

    Daniel Léo Simpson

    Composer

    San Francisco

  • @danielleosimpson

    Ahh ... Finally - a conoisseur: I thought so !

    Do you have to be a composer/director to go there or are they open to normal people as well?

  • i will go with my class to see it at the opera this wenesday ! i'm so excited !!!

  • Do Enjoy!!!!!!!

  • I played this opera under Maestro Levine this past summer, and have never before been so inspired.

  • Wow, you are so fortunate. You must be a very good musician to play under an energetic conductor like Levine. You can really tell that he appreciates the music. Even after all these years he has such a wonderful time conducting. I have never seen a conductor as happy and full of life as Levine.

  • In my opinion,this is too fast!Sorry,but The speed that most conductors take Mozart at doesnt do him justice!!A little bit slower and you'd have more drama and more power!Espicially on the first 2 minutes of this great overture. BTW, Mozart himself HATED "Speed for speeds sake".If you have a tape player or a mini disc with a pitch control,do this experiment--Take a mozrt piece,say the last mvt of the "Jupiter Symphony",or this overture,and Slow it down a half step.You'll be amazed.

  • Remarkable! A masterpiece of musical conducting. Mr. Levine is a genius at interpreting operatic music, and has a gift for making the orchestra he conducts sound majestic.

  • The genius is MOZART. Levine is just a normal director, interpreting Mozart's music with a hint of modern music. To my eyes, he appears somewhat full of himself, with the childish funny expressions revealing (a lot of) self-indulgence, not really nice to see. Mozart the super-genius didn't need to go through such stuff.

  • It is a wonderful thing to see. I am sick in tired of all these conductors with harsh expressions as if they have a stick up their ass. Mozart was a very energetic and happy person with a wonderful sense of humor. I believe Mozart would have smiled and had a fun time conducting just like Levine. Levine is feeling the music that is all. Music evokes emotion.

  • wonderful I love this opera

  • This totally own's Giulini's tepid 1961 version.

  • bloody hell, just let the guy enjoy his moment, who cares if he got funny antics?

    You people probably know shit about music to formulate a proper criticism and pick on stupid things instead.

  • @caribolas What makes you an expert eh!? Hot shot!

  • @caribolas agreed, my friend. Art is viewed in many forms, and expressed just the same

  • Comment removed

  • Comment removed

  • Comment removed

  • Man, I wish the video was syncing better. Its such a wonderful performance. Levine is the one to go to for Opera.

  • Well, if you want better sync, either watch the performance on Met Player or buy the video; I'm pretty sure that this performance is available in either or both formats! By the way: Levine's 1974 broadcast of this opera IS on Met Player. I HIGHLY recommend listening to that performance, too; you will be highly pleased!!!

  • Thanks for the advice!

  • Bravos

  • Comment removed

  • OUTSTANDING performance!!! At the time or this telecast, Levine had been conducting DON GIOVANNI hither, thither, and yon for almost 25 years (first at the Cincinnati Zoo Opera in the late sixties; first time at the Met in 1974). He really does well with Mozart in general, and the Met orchestra does wonderful things when he conducts ANYTHING with them. Anybody know the make and model of the flutes used by the flute players? Maybe just the one used by the principal flute?

  • Yes, outstanding, however Levine could give less vent to his facial expressions and the like, too much is too much, and it looks like being self-centred. What about if we all did it, or if the musicians in the orchestra did it in turn?

  • if we all did it, then it'd be the best damn overture anyone would hear.

  • It's not the best version of this overture either, it is somewhat bombastic, to please the audience, and to have an easy applause.

    Nor it is a matter of formality. Mozart was a most informal, creative, spontaneous person. However giving vent with complacency to whatever individual instinct, believing that this makes one "special" or "artistic", is a different matter. A creative person follows the flow of creative ideas and feelings, not of basic whims, making this conductor somewhat ugly.

  • by the sounds of it mozart is a classical version of mile davis lol

  • You're right; BUT remember that, except in the case of TV tapings, Levine's back is mostly to the audience, so they can't see and be distracted by the facial expressions. To me, one of the most fascinating things about the Toscanini telecasts is indeed the facial expressions; also the economy of gesture and the total mental and physical involvement at every second. Levine, while not Toscanini, exhibits these characteristics of any OUTSTANDING conductor, too.

  • On this matter Toscanini had class while while Levine is somewhat vulgar. A person should have self-criticism when physical involvement passes the threshold becoming kitsch. Levine doesn't have it. That's the difference, that's all to it.

  • Toscanini looked like he had class on the podium, but he was a tyrant. I applaud Levine for his expression and creative gestures. Toscanini never breaks a sweat on the podium. All things considered, however, they are two of my favorites.

  • I'm sorry you feel this way about Levine. A conductor's job is not simply to conduct the concert, but to prepare and educate during rehearsals. The Met is one of the most reputable opera companies in the world, and it is because James Levine knows what he is doing, and is able to effectively communicate with his orchestra. Mozart was a narcissist and quite a child at times and his inelegant operas and other compositions were some of his best.

  • The Met is one of the most reputable opera companies... in the USA. A world-acclaimed conductor should be just a tad more graceful / elegant and somewhat less full of himself.

    Mozart was not a narcissist in the least (or is your source such crap as the film "Amadeus"?). Within a personality with many facets, as you would expect from the most genial, complete composer known to date, he was at times playfully flamboyant. He was though a man with high values and deep-seated sound principles.

  • I would like to point out that your opinion of Levine is simply an opinion. His way definitely works for his company. There isn't really one school of conducting that is better than the other. As long as the conductor's ideas come across with clarity, he is a good conductor. And I do agree: it is sad that some of the best conductors are full of themselves, but they are still some the best.

  • excelentní

  • Il miglior ouverture di tutti i tempi....per me...

  • A great interpretation!

    Thank you!

  • This is the most amazing overture ever. Mozart is a fantastic. It conveys all the emotions of the opera. And Levine is astounding.

  • Gran actuación!

  • i love how conductors are so into it . amazing

  • that guys facial expressions are AWESOME

  • This is one of my favorite overtures.

    I don't know how Levine does it, but he sure does get great results from the opera orchestra. The whole /morale/ of an orchestra seems to be really good whenever Levine is at the helm.

  • Govern your tongue, please=P

    I love both periodic and modern performances, especially when great differences occurs.

    Personally, I'm a periodic performer. But honestly, I'm not gay, dear fellow, hehe.

    I love Levine, and I wish he one day could conduct a periodic ensembl, just for the excitement. The fact is perhaps a pain for you, but in Mozart's time, the baroque style was still the modern way to play and perform. It ended in the late 1800s and early 1900s. If i didn't persuade... I love Mars=)

  • mr. amade, ok, wrath is not a good choice, but this moron should be persuaded of his nothingness!

  • I see your point very well, And don't believe I didn't have wrath when I read his comment :P

    Hehe, in fact; I was infuriated beyond measure.

    But instead of creating a gigantic fight I chose not to^^ If he sends an other comment of same disgusting caliber, let us burn him to ashes on the fire, Deal?

  • I completely agree. And I'll sacrifice his rotten bones in front of the door of vivaldi's house in venice. So the Erinni of the baroque will be satisfied. OR do you prefer another place?

  • well... No, that's OK for me^^

  • so tell me a great periodic performance. I will buy it.

    Will it have all the drama, pain, happiness, suffering, deepness, richness? If yes,u r really so clever as you pretend to be.

    So U have lived in the late 1800s I guess. Nice

  • I see your point with these elements, I feel them too. And I will assure you that any periodic performance of this won't make such a character as some modern performance. But as a periodic musician, also as a student taking doctor grade in music history, I as many others seek to hear it as near as the original performance was played back in 1787.

  • you are honest. I understand your point.

    You are maybe the first periodic musician I listen to.

    Wish you all the best for your Doctor Degree!

  • hahaha, I'm also a modernist... perhaps that's the magic thing?;P

  • yes, you're right. in fact, in mozart you find vivaldi, haendel, bach, pergolesi, jommelli, gluck, traetta, salieri, piccinni, sacchini... a genius of collection. ooops! these I remembered are your baroque idiots, aren't they?

    ah, you are ill-mannered.