Don Giovanni

A 1966 videotaped record of stage director Walter Felsenstein's Komische Oper Berlin production of Mozart's Don Giovanni under the baton of Zdenek Kosler, this black and white filmed mounting of the classic opera (which premiered in 1787) about legendary womanizer Don Juan is a mixed bag. In close-ups, the acting often seems exaggerated to a pantomime-cartoonish level, with the performers emoting for the last row in the theater—particularly distracting in the case of Klara Barlow's Donna Anna, whose excessive growling and finger clenching occasionally veer into unintentional comedy. Interestingly, however, the somewhat grainy videography seems to enhance the inherent strangeness of the tale, lending an otherworldly quality that is especially appropriate in the conclusion, when the titular rake realizes (too late) that he will be spending eternity in a very warm climate. Felsenstein's direction is solid overall, while the interaction between György Melis' wonderfully unlikable Don Giovanni and Rudolf Asmus' perpetually beleaguered Leporello is peerless. Presented in crisp PCM stereo, DVD extras include two rare special features: Felsenstein in rehearsal on this production and news footage of the legendary director receiving the keys to the then-new Komische Oper Berlin auditorium in 1966. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)