Mozart's Don Giovanni (1955) watch online HD

When we think of Don Juan on film, Errol Flynn is the actor that comes to mind. Few people know that there is a better film Don than he.

Although usually - though not exclusively - a baritone part, the film makers chose the Italian bass Cesare Siepi for the part of the Don. The opera singer Sir Geraint Evans once said in a TV interview that "the Don must have dignity." He then singled out Siepi.

And we can see what Sir Geraint means. Siepi is the one man who looks better than Errol Flynn in doublet and hose. He moves gracefully, looks distinguished, has an excellent physique, is good-looking, acts wonderfully well and is blessed with that magnificent self-trained voice. If Errol Flynn WAS Robin Hood, then Cesare Siepi WAS Don Juan, even though, of course, in his personal life, Siepi was modest, highly principled and, according to Sir Geraint Evans, maybe a little shy.

As a film it is a bold attempt to link film and opera, the highest form of art known to man. This works, and through cinema we can rerun the performances again and again. The fact that the music is by Mozart makes this film all the better. The director makes the action look as though we are in our own private box at the opera house, rather than make it look like a Hollywood musical, and that adds to the film's magic.

One side effect of this film is that you then start to trawl the record shops looking for records by Siepi and other members of the cast.

The mere fact that there is a film version of Mozart's Don Giovanni will be of interest to music lovers everywhere. The fact that it is a well-made, well-performed film makes it so much better.

Though I prefer the Krips recording of Don Giovanni, I consider this one of the greatest renderings of the opera. Furtwangler's pace seems slow after recent recordings by Gardiner and other contemporary musicologist conductors, but the old German's sound remains incandescent, not quite as brilliant as his 1954 recording but close enough.

Maybe, Lisa della Casa seems a tad too feminine for the strong-willed Donna Elvira, but she is second only to Schwarzkopf in the role. She had a splendid voice, though I agree that she does seem a tad weak at the beginning. She was the most beautiful of opera divas of her time. She is simply beautiful on film.

Cesare Siepi made the role his personal property. Some recent singers such as Thomas Allen understand the miserable state of the character better than Siepi, but no one enjoyed playing him as much as did Siepi. Erna Berger may have been a tad into her fifties and her voice does seem small for this vital character. On key or off, Otto Edlemann's portrayal never feels exaggerated; he balances Siepi perfectly, though recent performers grasp the mirroring between the two characters better than those in this performance do. Anton Dermota had a splendid voice. No one can criticize Walter Berry.

Both performances are among the best recordings I have heard. I first saw this film when I was 12-years-old. I never lost the sense of enchantment and intrigue watching it gave me.

This 1955 production of Don Giovanni was done shortly before the death of Wilhelm Furtwängler who is considered to be one of the two greatest conductors of the 20th century, the other being Arturo Toscanini. Despite Toscanini's objections to Furtwängler's politics (F. had a famously ambivalent relationship to the Nazis.) he did consider him to be the greatest conductor of all, not considering himself.

Furtwängler's approach to Mozart here is rather Romantic in a pre-musicological style so we can not expect the faster tempos, at least from most German conductors, that have since become mandatory. Cesare Siepi was the premier Don Giovanni of his generation (he was still living at this writing but died July 2011.) not only for his singing but his acting as well.

Paul Czinner produced and directed this film and various other films often starring his wife Elizabeth Bergner. He also did another notable operatic film of Rosenkavalier starring a chilly Elizabeth Schwartzkopf and various ballet films including Romeo and Juliet with Nureyev and Fonteyn.

The cast is generally exemplary and Elizabeth Grümmer is a fine Donna Anna. Dezsõ Ernster, a good singer as the Commendatore was also quite frightening later on as the stone guest, Erna Berger who was 54 at the time is a rather aged Zerlina but the camera has the sense to keep well back in order to disguise the fact. And her voice seems smallish and rather ordinary.

Lisa della Casa (Donna Elvira) seemed a bit weak in her two Handel-style arias but was better later on. Otto Edelmann was rather out-of-tune at the opening but he too improved as the opera went on. Anton Dermota and Walter Berry as Ottavio and Masetto were excellent.

The impact of the various scenes seemed variable (when it was good, it was unbeatable such as the quartet for the four maskers, Anna, Elvira and company, which was about as clear as any version.). I'm not sure I liked the single stage set that was used but it didn't detract from the goings-on.

When I first saw the film years ago in a movie theater, I was appalled at the absence of the final ensemble but I am pleased to see that it is included here.

A word about Lorenzo da Ponte the librettist: he not only wrote this one (The Don is partly based on his friend Casanova.) but also Figaro and Cosi fan Tutte and so has to be considered a major librettist in anyone's book. But he later came to New York where he was first professor of Italian at Columbia College (now University) and is buried on Long Island.

It is interesting to me that the endings of all his operas are rather ambiguous in that, though they all have "happy" endings of sorts, none are totally really "happy". Anna has requested that Ottavio give her a year to get over her sorrow and some say she may not have survived that year (Thomas Mann, I think, wrote a short story to that effect.). Elvira goes into a convent, Leporello hopes to find a better master. Only Masetto and Zerlina are quite happy. Count Almaviva in Figaro asks the Countess' forgiveness but will his eye stop roving? Unlikely! And will the two couples' relationships survive the Albanian masquerade in Cosi?

The opera itself is a masterpiece, with some of the best music Mozart ever wrote and the Commendatore scene is one of my favourite scenes of all time of any opera. Add to that a compelling story and characters and you have a brilliant opera. The 1955 Don Giovanni is excellent, even if I do prefer the Joseph Losey film and the 1987 production. The camera work is very, very good and enhances the beautifully constructed costumes and settings very nicely. The orchestra play with style, and while Wilhelm Furtwangler's conducting has a more romantic approach to what I am used to hearing when I watch or hear Don Giovanni it is still very skillful and has an outstanding sense of dramatic style and musicianship. The performances range from very good to outstanding, Erna Berger and Lisa Della Casa are for me the least convincing in their roles, Casa could have done with more spite and Berger while singing very well and the camera work does admirably in trying not to let her age show I do think is too old for Zerlina. Elisabeth Grummer is a beautifully sung and convincing Donna Anna though, Dezso Erster is a very intimidating Commendatore, Anton Demotta is a very good Ottavio and Walter Berry is a truly excellent Massetto. Otto Edelmann is rather flat to start with, but he does get much better and his acting as Leporello is good. Best of all is Cesare Siepi in the title role, his voice is magnificent, handsome with a dark and noble quality, and his acting from charming to devilish is outstanding. All in all, excellent, worth seeing for the music, the Commendatore scene and Siepi. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Paul Czinner and Alfred Travers directed this recording of one of the popular Da Ponte/Mozart opera's. Mind you: for 1955 it's quite good. Some good camera work and this in spite of the limited possibilities that filming this art form unfortunately has. So far for the good news.

Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler conducted this recording in august 1954, just three months before his death. He should not have done this recording as I find it simply not good. His tempi are só slow that all dramatics are sucked out of the characters; Wilhelm perhaps thought he was conducting Wagner: loud and slow does the trick. It amazes me that Furtwängler shows no dramatic feeling with the characters at all. Yes, I do know it's from 1954 and I keep that in my mind writing this. This musical interpretation I find very black/white and without passion! That's the keyword: Passion.

Whoever did the casting I don't know but to have Zerlina played by 54-year old Erna Berger should be sacked; great for a recording perhaps but not to watch on screen.

The acting unfortunately is as it was believed to be the way-to-do in the 1850's (indeed 100 years before this recording): big gestures and rolling eyes. Otto Edelmann's Leporello is played like an idiot -which he is not (but that same mistake is sometimes made by singers who portray Osmin: often he's a clown). Cesare Siepi has a good age for Giovanni (31) and his jump from the balcony (over 7 feet) is great to watch. But I find his Giovanni not convincing; when Siepi has finished singing he does not know what to do with himself. No acting skills or dramatic knowledge what soever... I found Elisabeth Grümmer (Anna) and Lisa della Casa (Elvira) so so la la. Nothing out of the ordinary. Grümmer stares at the ceiling all three hours as she hopes for Giovanni's love. Della Casa has a good voice but her tormented Elvira does not convince me at all. If I were Ottavio I would have dumped her. Anton Dermota's Ottavio is OK as is Walter Berry's Masetto. Pity that was chosen for the Prague version and not the Vienna one so I missed Ottavio's "Dalla sua pace". But that will always be a choice one has to make as director or conductor: which version do we use?

Of course the libretto by Da Ponte and music by Mozart are so brilliant that it's almost impossible to ruin the opera but this is a nice try.