Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527, Opera arranged for Wind Ensemble by Josef Triebensee

Breezy tempos, transparent textures, all-star singing, and strong attention to detail. It isn’t giving too much away to say that there is a significant stabbing in the first five minutes of Don Giovanni, and Nézet-Séguin creates an extraordinary “bleeding” effect on a chord where other conductors simply drop a loud exclamation point. Where other conductors who make his sorts of un-Romantic choices sacrifice drama and excitement, his speedy, unsentimental approach just ratchets up the intensity in the opera’s famous closing scene. A complete modern Mozart opera performance.