October 29, 2005
It is not only in modern times that four and a half hours of opera was deemed too long. Verdi’s masterpiece was cut even for its first performance in 1867 in order to allow the audience to catch the last transport home. Some of the removed music remained lost until 1970, when musicologists rediscovered the extracts in the Paris Opéra archives. Verdi himself cut, patched and rewrote all but a few scenes several times over the rest of his life for different performances in various countries. The WNO has lovingly constructed a fine collage of an opera, taking the choicest bits from several versions and placing them carefully to bring out the rich design of the story and the music.
It’s a dramatic and dark tale in which the loves, passions and deaths of a few people flicker in the foreground against the storms of political upheaval and religious extremism. Don Carlos, the Infante of Spain, sees his beloved betrothed, Elisabeth, princess of France, stolen by his father, Philippe II of Spain. The desolate Carlos is inspired by his friend Rodrigue to go and support the rebellion in Flanders. However, to Carlos’s dismay, Rodrigue’s bold and honest manner makes him a favourite of Philippe, who is a paranoid, powerful and tragic leader, movingly played by the physically and vocally massive Andrea Silvestrelli. The Spanish Inquisition, meanwhile, holds the country in terror – the charred beams, flames and crosses of the set keep this very much in mind. The story is a vigorous and relevant attack on religious extremism (Daniel Sumegi gives a chilling performance as the blind, relentless Grand Inquisitor who in the end holds ultimate power over even the King), and simultaneously a celebration of true religious belief. The ghost of Charles V, Carlos’s grandfather, stalks gravely through the scenes of disaster, his faith in God’s mercy echoed by the virtuous Elisabeth. To complicate matters further, Eboli, the King’s mistress, who also loves Carlos, plots to ruin Elisabeth. Philippe, whom everyone obeys but who has no command of himself, ends by destroying everything he loves in turn: his wife, his son and “the one friend God sent me”.
This is an artistic triumph on all levels: first, musically: the orchestra and the singers give performances as fine and flawless as one could wish for, even given the high standards one is led to expect from an opera company with the WNO’s reputation. Added to this is some excellent acting (the King’s great despairing aria “Elle ne m’aime pas!” even winning a loud “Bravo” from the hardbitten North Oxford audience) and extremely sensitive and well-judged direction. Grave moments, moments of comedy, climactic scenes of grand passion: everything is used with skill and restraint to bring out the best in everything else by contrast, making a truly harmonious whole. John Caird, the director, says that the opera is remarkable for the fact that “Every time the music changes it seems to come from [Verdi’s] characters, not from him. Every time it seems as if something in the character’s mind has conjured up the music from the orchestra”. By echoing that primary focus on the characters and the story in every aspect of the production – the set, the musical direction, even the use of colour in the costumes - the WNO have created a truly magnificent and haunting work of art. Catch it (future venues below) while you can.
Birmingham Hippodrome Sat 5 Nov
Bristol Hippodrome Sat 19 Nov
Southampton The Mayflower Sat 3 Dec
Liverpool Empire Sat 10 Dec
Welsh National Opera Website
It’s a dramatic and dark tale in which the loves, passions and deaths of a few people flicker in the foreground against the storms of political upheaval and religious extremism. Don Carlos, the Infante of Spain, sees his beloved betrothed, Elisabeth, princess of France, stolen by his father, Philippe II of Spain. The desolate Carlos is inspired by his friend Rodrigue to go and support the rebellion in Flanders. However, to Carlos’s dismay, Rodrigue’s bold and honest manner makes him a favourite of Philippe, who is a paranoid, powerful and tragic leader, movingly played by the physically and vocally massive Andrea Silvestrelli. The Spanish Inquisition, meanwhile, holds the country in terror – the charred beams, flames and crosses of the set keep this very much in mind. The story is a vigorous and relevant attack on religious extremism (Daniel Sumegi gives a chilling performance as the blind, relentless Grand Inquisitor who in the end holds ultimate power over even the King), and simultaneously a celebration of true religious belief. The ghost of Charles V, Carlos’s grandfather, stalks gravely through the scenes of disaster, his faith in God’s mercy echoed by the virtuous Elisabeth. To complicate matters further, Eboli, the King’s mistress, who also loves Carlos, plots to ruin Elisabeth. Philippe, whom everyone obeys but who has no command of himself, ends by destroying everything he loves in turn: his wife, his son and “the one friend God sent me”.
This is an artistic triumph on all levels: first, musically: the orchestra and the singers give performances as fine and flawless as one could wish for, even given the high standards one is led to expect from an opera company with the WNO’s reputation. Added to this is some excellent acting (the King’s great despairing aria “Elle ne m’aime pas!” even winning a loud “Bravo” from the hardbitten North Oxford audience) and extremely sensitive and well-judged direction. Grave moments, moments of comedy, climactic scenes of grand passion: everything is used with skill and restraint to bring out the best in everything else by contrast, making a truly harmonious whole. John Caird, the director, says that the opera is remarkable for the fact that “Every time the music changes it seems to come from [Verdi’s] characters, not from him. Every time it seems as if something in the character’s mind has conjured up the music from the orchestra”. By echoing that primary focus on the characters and the story in every aspect of the production – the set, the musical direction, even the use of colour in the costumes - the WNO have created a truly magnificent and haunting work of art. Catch it (future venues below) while you can.
Birmingham Hippodrome Sat 5 Nov
Bristol Hippodrome Sat 19 Nov
Southampton The Mayflower Sat 3 Dec
Liverpool Empire Sat 10 Dec
Welsh National Opera Website