Monday, August 27, 2007

Jacobs does Don part I


Finally, at long last! Concrete release dates and promos are being rolled out!
Harmonia Mundi will release René Jacobs' Don Giovanni in Europe on Sept 27 , US of A gets it on October 9, both as a SuperAudio CD (Amazon does specify it is an import and a hybrid disc) and a regular version. I will likely get the hybrid, not that I have any illusions about being able to play the SupC part just yet, but, just in case...
There are two audio samples available at HM site: the overture (sounds appropriately ominous) and Deh vieni alla finestra (sounds like nothing special...)
The cast is largely the same as in the Innsbruck production. Minus Lacroix costumes... please to release DVD at some point in the future, please! I am much looking forward to Pendatchanska; have not heard enough from the other singers to have an opinion.
The Don is young and completely unknown to me, but he does have a beautiful light baritone voice that is a must for me, for this role. I hate proper bassos singing Don... Judging by the Deh vieni sample, Johannes Weisser is not in the league of Peter Mattei, the best Don in this Galaxy (the Universe is too big and full of empty holes to count) but let's hear the whole thing first.
Someone kindly posted badly synchronized, but very interesting videos of the recording sessions on YouTube:

YouTube - René Jacobs - Don Giovanni Recording Sessions: Part 1

YouTube - René Jacobs - Don Giovanni Recording Sessions: Part 2

YouTube - René Jacobs - Don Giovanni Recording Sessions: Part 3

True to his form, Jacobs promises radical, wild and crazy things... for example, a very SLOW Fin ch'han dal vino ("there is a trill in this aria.. have you ever heard it?") . The cover follows the style of his Nozze and Cosi, and the box will look very nice on the shelf. Oh, and there's the music too, with outstanding sound production, I'm sure, enough to raise any neighborhood statues back to life...
-so why am I so blasé about this Don? Have I not been waiting with baited breath for years? Well yes, but in the meantime, Daniel Harding's recordings, the CD- available in iTunes - and the Brook's production on DVD came my way and nothing's been the same way since...

4 comments:

Jason said...

Sigh. Yet another set to go on the shopping list. I'm pretty out of it and didn't realize that a Jacobs Giovanni was on its way...

Akimon Azuki said...

Hey, it's Don Giovanni, and it's Jacobs. We had years to prepare for this one. Grocery lists can trimmed. Even the Economist (who does not believe in global warming) agrees that eating less extends life...
Seriously, like we have a choice but to get this one...

Anonymous said...

There will be a LONG BOX EDITION of Don Giovanni with a DVD from the recording session in Berlin.
This Edition will be released only in France. Rene Jacobs is really great I am waiting to by the big set of his Don!

Akimon Azuki said...

Thanks! I was wondering why the prices for German and French editions are CONSIDERABLY higher... it does say "Hybrid SACD, Box-Set" in the content description. We may have to order it from Europe then. ... just this little question of timing - will it actually arrive here earlier than the US relase?- and a large sum of money being required, especially that I have just paid for the multitude of opera tickets for the upcoming season. Once again, we can eat less and live on music. No?