Mozart: Don Giovanni. (Opera and Oratorio).

MOZART: Don Giovanni

[] Pieczonka, Schorg, Raimondi; Skovhus, Kerl, Girolami, Daniel, Monarcha; Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Hungarian Radio Chorus, Haldsz. Text. Naxos 8.660060-82 (3)

In the decade since the Mozart bicentennial, at least a dozen new Don Giovannis have come out, along with any number of historical reissues and pirate recordings. They take their place on the shelves alongside classic versions by Krips, Giulini and Davis, among others. In this crowded field, what can this distinctly unstarry new issue tell us?

Plenty, it turns out. Michael Halasz leads a vigorous, propulsive performance that throws fresh light on the opera. He uses the Prague version, ungarnished, with "Dalla sua pace" and "Mi tradi" relegated to an appendix. It makes for an unusually concise rendition. From the modern-instrument Esterhazy Sinfonia he draws crisp, lean textures, informed by original-instrument practice. His reading tends to be fast, but it's never hectic. Tempo modifications within numbers are always logical -- one hears each tempo clearly as a modification of the previous one. Throughout, one hears the music's "beating heart," the sure, steady pulse that drives the drama forward and reveals its human core.

Halasz's approach gives special coherence to the Act I introduzione, the great Act II sextet and the two finales. And it emphasizes the "giocoso" element of this drama, often lost in more ponderous versions. "La ci darem," devoid of sentimentality, actually becomes a comic number: the brisk pace underlines the Don's urgency -- he's truly trying to hustle Zerlina into the sack.

The young cast may not offer definitive portrayals, but they seem energized by Halasz's leadership: this studio recording has the spontaneity of a live performance. Many of the older recordings offer powerhouse casting in the female roles; the relative lack of glitz here serves to focus attention on Giovanni and Leporello. Bo Skovhus, the one "name" singer here (he has recorded the role once before, under Mackerras -- Telarc CD 80420), is hardly an elegant Don -- the serenade ...