I’m not usually a fan of cinematic adaptations of opera. They often resort to the lazy convenience of the photography and forget to include the heart and soul of the subject. Those elements are especially important with this dark and self-destructive tale of the womanising “Giovanni” (Ruggero Raimondi). Right from the start when he kills the father (John Macurdy) of one of his many lovers, though, Joseph Losey manages to interweave the sumptuous details of Venetian settings with intricate costumes and he manages to successfully ensure that the libretto is clearly and energetically heard as this ghostly tale of human frailty unfolds. To be honest, when you have Mozart at his most creative played out in the hands of Raimondi; Edda Moser as the daughter of the murdered man; Macurdy and the powerful soprano of Kiri Te Kanawa then it’s hard to imagine how he could have gone wrong - and he doesn’t. It’s a lavish enterprise. You don’t really need to know the story beforehand (though it does help) as I find it one of the more straightforward plots to follow. That said, it isn’t a simple story and the characters offer plenty for us to get our teeth into and to wrap our ears around as we watch a real drama emerge from the torch-lit granite and marble, with powerful arias and duets delivered with emotion and oomph. If you can see it in one go on a big screen, then that does most justice to this stylishly crafted and orchestrated interpretation of a man’s flirtation with love, lust and the fires of hell. Rousing stuff well worth your time, even if you’re not an opera buff.