As with the recent Zauberflote (see above), I feel just a little doubt as to whether, outside Germany, this performance will be seen as possessing the Dokumente status asserted by the title of the series in which it is issued. Ferenc Fricsay was certainly an enormously talented conductor, quite an individualist in his way in his own non-adherence to current ideas: the manner is about as un-Viennese as you can get, but nor is it as earnestly Germanic—the textures are too light and lucid for that—nor, certainly, Italianate. It is a poised, nicely balanced exposition of the music, at carefully measured tempos, but neither grand nor dramatically exciting. If my description is a shade negatively couched, that perhaps speaks for itself.
What of the cast? Well, there is the youthful Fischer-Dieskau as Giovanni, and of course it is exquisitely sung, finely detailed in its interpretation of the words, but not to my mind having the breadth, the strength of theatrical impulse, one might hope for. As a character, Giovanni comes over less as amorous or insinuating or recklessly hedonistic than as hectoring, a bit of a bully in his pursuit. Ernst Haefliger is a competent but pallid Ottavio, Karl Kohn a lively if not strongly characterized Leporello, good with his words (though the lack of even a single native Italian speaker in the cast is felt throughout). A grandly noble if not specially fiery Anna comes from Sena Jurinac; Maria Stader contributes a cautious Elvira, her arias taken at steady tempos, with some nice touches of phrasing (notably in ''Ah! chi mi dice mai'') but no great nervous intensity and less than complete security at times. Irmgard Seefried's Zerlina is beautifully sung, in a style decidedly refined for a peasant girl. The result seems to me a performance that is of a generally dependable quality but not strongly characterized or specially imaginatively realized by anyone concerned, though admirers of Jurinac will find things to praise. The recording has an unusual clarity, with the orchestra well audible even when plenty is happening vocally.'