Don Giovanni (Salzburg Marionette Theatre) (1995)

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A word of explanation for the unfamiliar: the Salzburg Marionette Theater, located in Salzburg, Austria, performs conventional works of musical theater and opera, but - per its name - eschews traditional onstage actors and actresses and has minutely-detailed marionette puppets, controlled by offstage puppeteers with strings, act and dance the principal roles. The voices are performed by offstage cast members, and sung atop the puppetry. As presented and narrated by two-time Oscar winner Peter Ustinov, around nine years before his death, this particular production from 1995 presents an all-marionette version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 1787 opera Don Giovanni, a seriocomic work about the notorious titular scoundrel, who experiences uncertain defeat after a lifetime of romantic and sexual conquests. Cesare Siepi voices the title role, Birgit Nilsson voices Donna Anna, Leontyne Price voices Donna Elvira, and Cesare Valletti voices Don Ottavio. Erich Leinsdorf conducts the Weiner Philharmoniker, which accompanies the production. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi