This cast of singers was probably considered ho-hum for its day. Looking back at it now we can only marvel at the high standard of talent assembled in one place at one time. Moser is a superb Anna, really tearing into "Or sai chi l'onore" and negotiating the coloratura of "Non mi dir" with enviable ease. Zylis-Gara makes the most of Elvira's every utterance. She fully justifies including "Mi tradi" with her beautiful, fluent singing. It is, in fact, one of the highlights of the performance. Mathis is Charm itself as Zerlina.The men are all very good too. Ghiuselev is a darker voiced Giovanni than we normally hear today. He and the fine Leporello, Heinz Holecek, work very well together though there are a few textual glitches in their scenes together. Ghiuselev goes down to hell very gracefully (he sings his final scream on the note Mozart provides.) Holecek was a favorite in Vienna for years and demonstrates why here. Wohlers is an excellent Ottavio, singing his two arias very well and asserting himself more than most Ottavios (he needs to opposite Moser). Moll is a frightening Commendatore and Sramek a first-rate Masetto. Leitner conducts with authority, including all of the standard edition of this opera. The sound is from an in-house source, but one where the voices are heard clearly over the orchestra. The applause is too quickly clipped off for my taste.Lovers of this opera or these singers will really enjoy this performance.

Vienna's State Opera used to be the capital of 'instant opera.' This Vienna Festival outing from 1977 has some of that ad hoc flavor, whether it's in the mismatch of Edda Moser's dramatic coloratura with Rüdiger Wohlers' sweet tenorino, or when the performance threatens to come unglued, as happens much of the time. Ferdinand Leitner's middle-of-the-road, Karl Bohm-like interpretation reinforces the Germanic character of the performance, as expatiated by Heinz Holecek (Leporello), Edith Mathis (Zerlina), Alfred Sramek (Masetto) and Moser, the latter offering some very odd vowel sounds to boot. Nicolai Ghiuselev is a decidedly Slavic seducer, a sort of Giovanni The Terrible, bigger on strength than suavity. Holecek is an expert comedian who does an uncanny Ghiuselev imitation when disguised as the Don. Kurt Moll is everything you could want in a Commendatore but if there's a standout performance it's Teresa Zylis-Gara's limpid Donna Elvira, sung with melting tone that is not compromised by her sense of dramatic purpose. When she's on the scene, the emotion stakes are always raised. The sound is good in-house mono and the disc breaks are wisely chosen.