Verdi: Don Carlo

The Salzburg Festival is one of the priciest in Europe, competing with Bayreuth for top dollar. This should guarantee that casts, production and orchestra all are of top quality. Nothing should be routine and careless. To a certain extent this should be visible not only as regards the singers, but the production as well. With Pappano in the pit and the Vienna Philharmonic as the orchestra musical values are usually high.But the choice to mount Don Carlo means that many editorial decisions have to be made. What language? What music to include and what to omit? The opera that Verdi set was a French text. He had nothing to do with the Italian edition. This seems superficial but anyone with a knowledge of both languages knows that resetting any opera into a language not originally set is toying with a problem that is not easily quelled. Of course there is the problem of finding first rate singers who can sing the French edition with distinction. There is one DVD that sings what Verdi wrote, the Chatelet set which is now nearly twenty years old. For the most part it is a performance to treasure. Waltraute Meier was the weakest link. Surely this is not a role that has been active in her repertoire; but once over the Veil Song she is able to redeem herself. Alagna' s French credentials are well established; Van Dam's as well. Hampson is one of the few who cares enough to respect the requirements of this tradition and his French is very good. Mattila, too, is sensitive enough to deliver the text intelligently even though it is obvious that French was not her first language. Pappano had a tenure at the house in Brussels and is aware of the requirements of this opera. The orchestra may not be the Vienna Philharmonic but overall the performance comes across as a "festival" performance in a way that the new one doesnt.The best reason for acquiring this DVD is Jonas Kaufmann. He brings his usual intellignce and musicianship to everything that he does. Clips on YouTube of the ROH revival in which he replaced Villazon are harbingers of the pleasures that he brings to this production. Harteros is blessed with a gorgeous voice, a lush spinto only lacking in Italiianta; she can hardly be blamed for that having Greek and German ancestry. One only need to go to Scotto's performance to see what is missing and while I love the lady I have to admit that her entrance into Italian spinto roles raises more than a few qualifications, ones that need not apply to Harteros. Her muscianship and artistry match the tenor's--a marriange devoutly to be wished. The Eboli. Ekaterina Semenchuk, probably the best on the DVD performances. Most are able to manage the Don fatale but come to grief in the Veil song which required the kind of singing that seemingly isn't taught either in convservatorys or privately. It's a difficult role and the mezzo know that her second aria is always going to garner more applause that the coloratura required in the earlier aira.Hampson is competing with himself in this set and the younger Hampson trumps this later performance. The voice is now quire dry and the liquid legato singing that was offered in the Chatelet is here replaced by many deivices that mask the flaws of the current state of his singing. Hampson is frequently criticized as not being a Verdi singer. The same charge was leveled at Fischer-Dieskau and their repertoires did overlap. Alas there are no Verdi baritones such as the ones cited in Todd Kaye's review. Georgian and Serbian entries simply fill in the gap. At his best (the Chatelet) I never felt shortchanged; disappointment reigned in this current performance. Keenlyside who sang in the ROH performances is also a lyric baritone, albeit younger; his Macbeth from ROH is superb although it is his intelligence and artistry that carrry the day. The Intendent at Salzburg should have looked elsehwere.I wonder how often Matti Salminen has sung Phillip--not often I would imagine. This artist who is nearing 70 has left a recorded legacy of distinction but he remains a strange choice for this role. Unfortunately I found him dull and the voice dry. And while he didn't embarass himself he didn't provide that authority, vocal and dramatic that is inherent in the role. Indeed, he seemed bored at timies.I have never seen a Peter Stein production and after this I don't care if I ever see another one. Minimalism is not something I object to but I found this production even weaker than the ROH production which looked cheap and utterly unevocative of the era and the location. This is French Grand Opera but unlike the majority of the genre it is a great opera, possibly Verdi't greatest. Obviously we will never see productions that the Opera offered when Meyerbeer reigned, but surely something more opulent could have been provided. And it would appear that Stein hasn't the faintest idea of what to do which a chorus as they are frequently lined up as for a sing-a-long.Every set has its strengths and weaknesses--could it be otherwise in an opera requirinig at least five great singers--and ones who can act as well. With the Philharmoniker and Pappano in the pit and those singers I have singled out there is much that can be enjoyed here--even if it is in the wrong language!

“Don Carlo” (Verdi) is the opera that no one can imagine, as each performance seems unique; it is very difficult to find a staging of the complete work. There are almost as many “Don Carlo” as there are stagings of it. There are even changes between the version of the première in Paris, in 1867, and those performed two days later. There are also the “editions” of 1872, signed in Naples, and those of 1884 (made for Vienna) and 1886 (Modena). This last one excludes the ballet. Nowadays, there is generally a distinction between the French version of 1867 and the Italian one of 1884, with libretto by Zanardini and De Lauzieres.This major title of the Verdian production lives within a tapestry of contradictions: the plot gathers historical characters, but they are all at the service of an idea that is not interested in the real story; at the time of the première the composer was accused of being influenced by Meyerbeer and Wagner, but the score is an example of the most profound and complex Verdi, and although it demands a great show, its soul is to be found in the more intimate scenes. To all of the aforesaid, we have to add that, despite the love conflict, it is a political opera that shows a hard-hearted king (Filippo II di Spagna) who is finally willing to speak of freedom and to open up his heart to a rebel (Rodrigo de Posa), and challenging the interference of the Catholic Church in State decisions.There still remains love, here betrayed, as well as desire: Elisabetta di Valois marries Filippo although she is in love with his son, Carlo; Filippo loves and suffers on account of a woman who he knows is in love with his son; Carlo loves his “madre” (mother), as he calls Elisabetta, and makes the love conflict he has with his father compete with the differences he has with him in terms of government; the Princess of Éboli loves Carlo and that is why she ends up by denouncing Elisabetta. The best term to describe the relationship between Carlo and Rodrigo is “bromance”; their unbeatable friendship is demonstrated with Posa’s immolation. He and Carlo wish a freedom they have never lived; they seem to love each other in that desire for freedom.There are various aspects that allow us to say that this is a “Don Carlo” of reference. Staged in Salzburg in 2013, it is the version in five acts of the Italian translation, without the ballet but with the scene in the third act in which Isabel and Éboli exchange dresses, which is not to be found in most of the record editions. Peter Stein —theatre director who founded the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, a cutting-edge company of the German theatre— opts for a staging with traditional elements based on a careful work of the actors, oozing with questions about the nature of the conflicting private relationships, but which also takes a stand on the variegated political and religious conflicts addressed by the libretto. It supports their work with a functional and naked staging, with delicate allusions to the Spain of the 16th century; lights that render suggestive twilight pictures, especially for the solitude of Carlo and for his duets with Isabel and Rodrigo; a luxurious wardrobe with Diego Velázquez as reference, and a sextet of singers who know that having a voice is not enough.From the pit, Maestro Antonio Pappano conducts with passion and manages to capture the shadows inhabiting this difficult score, achieving sonorous climaxes in the crescendo of the love duet between Carlo and Isabel in the first act, in the ambiguous passion that consumes Rodrigo, and in the huge concertante of the Auto da Fe. The Infante of tenor Jonas Kaufmann is a dispossessed and melancholy prince, a vulnerable and sickly hero rendered light and shadows through a dark and burnished voice that disturbs with its tenderness and beauty, and dazzles with its masterly use of the messa di voce. Anja Harteros sings an Elisabetta di Valois who is pure nobility in the attitude and rigor in the phrasing, features that are also to be found in Thomas Hampson (Rodrigo de Posa), whose vocal enamel is not the same of recent years, but is a sensitive and musical artist like few others. Ekaterina Semenchuk —natural successor of the Obraztsova and Borodina lineage— imposes her Éboli through a voluptuous and intense singing, while two unparalleled veterans, basses Matti Salminen (a master of declaimed singing) and Eric Halfvarson (terrifying), render the confrontation between Filippo II and the Grand Inquisitor into a lesson in theatrical tension.Juan Antonio Muñoz H.

This is a review of Don Carlo with Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Herterios and Thomas Hampson from the 2013 Salzburg Festival. I thought this was marvellous, superb singing, first class acting – however, I must qualify this by saying that I have no musical education and so my enthusiastic appreciation of this version of Don Carlo should not carry as much weight perhaps as a review by someone who knows their oats. Pace John Cleese, I may not know much about opera but I know what I like. And I liked this for sure. The opera has added poignancy for me because I have lived in Spain for forty years and in fact can see El Escorial thirty kilometres away across the plain from where I live. For readers who may not be familiar with the plot, the opera tells the story of how the heir to the Spanish throne is enamoured of his stepmother, giving rise to the Spanish expression muta padre, which may be loosely translated as how unlike the home life of our own dear queen.

What a performance! Brilliantly sung and well staged - for a change. This production makes crystal clear the complex plot. My only caveat is with the ending of the opera itself and that’s Verdi’s problem not this production. Still, until the bizarre Deus ex machina it’s very impressive indeed. Music drama at its finest with a production that surely should please almost everyone! But of course it won’t. I watched it on video projection and the presentation couldn’t have been better. It allowed us both the full spectacle of the giant stage and appropriate closeups without the irritating visual tricks so typical of the Met productions and thankfully minus the appalling beteen the acts interview the American audiences seem to love. Highly recommended for opera fans!

I've only managed to watch up to the end of the auto-da-fe scene but what a performance. The cast are all in excellent voice and the bonus is having Pappano as conductor with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The production is unfussy but well thought out and the costumes are a joy. I was impressed by the retention of the usual music cuts in the score. This do doubt was down to Pappano. Thomas Hampson has not been one of my favourite baritones but he excels in this performance. Matti Salminen gives a good rendition of Phillip, although I still have to watch his big scene in Act IV.Of all the Don Carlo's (5 act Italian versions) on DVD, this one has to be at the top of the list on all accounts.The BluRay sound is perfect and the picture quality pin sharp on the UHD TV.Would highly recommend this to all Verdi enthusiasts.

This is a stunning performance from the Salzburg Festival. It features a massive stage and sumptuous production that is superb: it's much better than the one that has been on in Covent Garden. I'm no expert but the performances seem excellent to me. Jonas Kaufmann is flavour of the month and it's easy to see why. Unlike most over-weight tenors he is trim, handsome and has a terrific voice. The opera itself is utterly wonderful.

Yonas Kaufmann is my pin up boy of the moment. He sings his heart out and is the number one of the moment. A truly lovely concert, well done. He is on tour at the moment, from last November, all around, delighting all and picking up work as he goes. I have him on my iPad and iPod and his book on my Kindle. If you like opera, buy it.