It is almost a variorium edition of "Don Giovanni" that Charles Mackerras presents us with here, in that this new Telarc recording of the opera contains not only all the material Mozart composed for both the Prague and Vienna premieres - laid out in such a way that the listener can pretty much opt between them - but even the concert version of the Overture, tacked onto the third CD as something of a bonus.

That alone makes this set worth having. As for the performance, it has the advantage of a young, mostly fresh cast and Mackerras' tautly dramatic, historically informed view of the score.That means generally brisk tempos, especially in things like the opening scenes (with their striking sword effects) and the don's final descent to hell (lent added menace by the narrow-bore brass), as well as a crisp, 18th-century approach to articulation.

Vocally things are a bit more mixed. I don't much care for either Christine Brewer's Anna, shrillish and often strained in the coloratura, or Felicity Lott's uneven Elvira. But Nuccia Focile makes a charming Zerlina, her "Batti, batti" being at once characterful and beguiling.

Bo Skovhus' Giovanni is likewise youthfully impetuous - younger-sounding than Jerry Hadley's Ottavio, in fact - even if his mercurial Champange Aria lacks Sie-pi's suavity and Pinza's larger-than-life panache. And though he and his Leporello, Alessandro Corbelli, sometimes sound too much alike, the latter makes an amusing foil in the banquet scene, after a Catalog Aria in which Mackerras happily gives him time to resonate and color his words.

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(Interestingly, Umberto Chiummo doubles as Masetto and the Commendatore, as was done in Mozart's day.)

Nonetheless, thanks to Mackerras, this is a project that adds up to more than the sum of its parts. I particularly like the way the final sextet - omitted in some productions - here seems a natural pendant to the hellfire scene, with some of the punch carrying over.

My favorite "Don Giovanni" is still Giulini's, on EMI, followed by the pioneering Glyndebourne set conducted by Fritz Busch (if you don't mind the piano recitatives). Unfortunately neither of these offers a great Don Juan; for that I recommend the Pinza extracts or one of Siepi's Salzburg performances with Schwarzkopf, Gruemmer, Dermota and Furtwaengler.

However, none of those will teach you more about the opera itself than this Telarc recording. And I must say, it's a quick three hours.

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