This Don Giovanni, recorded in 1959, always has been a mixed bag. Erich Leinsdorf keeps things moving but lacks either poetry or a clear point of view; but in a highlights disc these deficiencies seem less upsetting than on the complete set. Cesare Siepi is a sexy, smooth Don, Fernando Corena a delightful (if not very deep) Leporello, and Cesare Valletti is an absolutely perfect Ottavio (the set’s high points, in fact, are his two arias). Leontyne Price’s Elvira is handsomely sung but is neither the harridan nor sympathetic character she can be, and Birgit Nilsson is a powerful if sometimes graceless Anna. The other cast members are good enough. We get 70 minutes of the opera here–probably a good buy for beginners–but this is hardly the Don Giovanni of choice.
