Richard Todd asked: >Speaking of Don Giovannis that haven't been mentioned, and seldom are these >days, I used to love the Sieppi recording conducted by Leinsdorf. I guess >it was pre-stereo by a year or two. I haven't heard it for thirty years. >I wonder if it was as good as I remember. I have this performance on RCA LPs, and it's very much a "Living Stereo" package, although it dates from June, 1959. Siepi and Corena repeat the roles they recorded for Decca/London, joined by Leontyne Price, Birgit Nilsson, and Cesare Valetti in an Eric Smith production for Decca licensed to RCA. The all-too-precious liner notes have Mozart raving about the stereo staging and the recording sessions in letters to an imaginary pen-pal. I haven't seen a CD version, but since the Nilsson/Vickers Walkure from RCA has turned up as a midprice Decca reissue, a re-release may be possible. That said, the big names and voices don't quite mesh, to my ears. As much as I admire Nilsson in Wagner and Strauss, she is a larger than life Donna Anna, while Price turns Donna Elvira into a Verdian victim. The Vienna Philharmonic sounds dry, scrappy, and out of sorts under Leinsdorf. In my opinion, the Mackerras and Sir Colin Davis versions remain superior. Dick Claeys [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]