Don Giovanni

Filmed live at the 2008 Salzburg Festival, this daring contribution to the recent spate of high-concept European productions finds director Claus Guth casting a gloomy shadow over Mozart's 1787 seriocomic opera about the legendary but doomed titular lothario, situating all of the action within a dark forest. In the opening duel, Don Giovanni suffers a mortal gunshot wound, after which we witness the final hours of his life. No joie de vivre here; instead, this modern-dress version presents the Don and his accomplice Leporello as dope-shooting thugs, while the rest of the characters are equally scruffy. That said, the cast is youthful and well-matched, with Christopher Maltman in the title role, Erwin Schrott as Leporello, and Annette Dasch as Donna Anna, all of whom provide edgy, full-voiced performances and credible acting, backed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the able baton of Bertrand De Billy. A controversial mounting of the classic work, with some critics calling it a disgraceful disaster and others hailing it as a masterpiece, Don Giovanni is presented in Dolby Digital 5.0, DTS 5.0, and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray. Recommended, overall. (J. Reed)