Following the death of Sir Charles Mackerras, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra dedicated
the Opening Concerts of its 2010/11 Season – concert performances of Mozart’s Don Sir Charles and the SCO were internationally renowned for their
performances and recordings of Mozart’s music, including CD releases of seven Mozart
operas and the recent multi-award winning disc of the composer’s last four symphonies. Don
Giovanni was of particular significance to Sir Charles: in 1991 he conducted a new
production of the opera at the re-opening of the Estates Theatre in Prague, scene of the
work’s premiere, to mark the bi-centenary of Mozart’s death. Mozart Don Giovanni at Glasgow Florian Boesch (Don Giovanni), Maximilian Schmitt (Don Ottavio), Kate Royal (Donna Elvira), Susan Gritton (Donna Anna), Malin Christensson (Zerlina), Vito Priante (Leporello), David Soar (Masetto), Rafal Siwek, (Commendatore), The Scottish Chamber Orchestra's concert performances of Don Giovanni were dedicated as a memorial tribute to their late Conductor Laureate Sir Charles Mackerras, with whom the orchestra had been recording for Linn right up until his death. It was conducted by the SCO's Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati, the extension of whose contract had just been announced. Ticciati greatly impressed in the Don, and was served by a magnificent starry cast, and by the superb acoustic of the City Halls, unrivalled in Great Britain. A word about the arrangements; the modestly priced programme was supplemented by a full bi-lingual libretto in good-sized clear print, and the lights were left on at just the right levels for following it whilst enjoying the interractions of the protagonsts on stage. It was great to be freed to concentrate on the music, for once, without the superimposition of the latest aspiring opera director's "concept"... This was a Don Giovanni to relish; it might well have been the basis of a new recording, but for the fact that Sir Charles had recorded it with the SCO in 1995; those acclaimed discs were on sale [Telarc 80726; now 3 discs for price of 1] and I have been able to confirm high expectations of it. No libretto is included with this boxed set, which has notes in miniscule print; perhaps the SCO might supply copies of theirs produced for this month's tribute performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh? Hearing the SCO under Ticciati and the BBCSSO under Donald Runnicles at City Halls left us in no doubt that Scotland has world class orchestras, their Glasgow concerts as fine as anything to be heard in London. Peter Grahame Woolf See also The Guardian - - Florian Boesch's Giovanni was as defined a characterisation as any fully staged performance - - Don Giovanni ENO Iain Paterson, Katherine Broderick, Sarah Redgwick, Brindley Sherratt, Robert Murray, Sarah Tynan [group picture R] Coliseum, London 6 November 2010 Let FT's report stand for the majority negative reviews of this latest staging of the Don: - - Call the undertakers, pronto. Here is another one for the Don Giovanni graveyard***** We were bemused and often irritated from the outset (the Overture demanded shut-eyes...) and debated leaving halfway, but stayed the course and enjoyed some of the antics on view in this dramma molto giocoso; but they were tilted too far towards musical theatre, which may appeal to new audiences. The group pcture is of the survivors who came up through the same trapdoor that took the don down to hell... However, we found much to agree with in Melanie Eskenazi's piece for OMH, more sympathetic thanmost, especially about Sarah Redgwick's debut, with "stage confidence, forthright phrasing and ringing tone" which gave consistent pleasure. No wonder Anne Evans had been reluctant to give way to her understudy on doctor's orders! Redgwick's Elvira took the palm - she was far the best of the ladies - and that last minute first-night chance heralds a brilliant career. At the end of the black comedy, she held in her hand the symbol of remaining belief in the possibility of love, a heart-shaped balloon that ascended after everyone else's had been crushed; corny maybe, but for us it struck a chord. Kirill Karabits' "elegant, classical account of the score" sounded fine to us from the Dress Circle (and far better than the recent heavy Idomeneo), but we guessed there'd be complaints from the stalls... " - - tidy and efficient - - a tendency towards fast tempi - - the string sound was simply too small" [MusicalCriticism]. It was not so for us, and neither "sluggish" [What'sOnStage] nor too fast... But at the heart of Rufus Norris's production remains the unresolved operatic conflict primo la parola/dopo la musica or vice versa, both succumbing to the ever-present risk of visual overload with unintegrated staging whims which tended to overwhelm both of them. Alexa and Peter Grahame Woolf
ENO's next will be The Dog's Heart, 20 November, with encouraging advance images
Mackerras Memorial Concert Planned by Sir Charles [R] - who had worked closely with Trinity and was expecting to conduct it himself - this event was taken over by Sian Edwards, who led a rousing performance of Janacek's Sinfonietta. Its ten trumpets raised the roof to great effect, perhaps even to be heard by the concert's dedicatee in the beyond... But there was no attempt to reflect Mackerras's pioneering work on Mozart, when he had been at the forefront of the period instrument movement. The Mozart Mass in C minor was given by massed choir singing their heads off with full orchestra, reminiscent of the bad old days when Messiah used to be performed with casts of hundreds... Intolerable, soon after hearing a great account of the work wth appropriate period style forces at High Mass in the vast Jesuit Church in Lucerne... PGW
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