Don Carlos

Thrilling, historical performance
This performance, taped for TV in 1967, has many of the most famous singers in the German orbit of the time, mostly in prime form, in roles that suit them, a great conductor in his prime, and is a well thought out production.

Don Carlos is given in German, in the four act version with the usual cuts of that era, and some extra cuts (the royal procession in the first scene is gone, the middle of the garden scene is gone, cuts are made in all the ensembles in the auto da fe scene, there is a snip -- not the biggest I've heard -- in the final Carlos/Elisabetta duet -- and finally the very end is rewritten by unknown hands -- the Grand Inquisitor grasps Carlos, Elisabetta faints (so no Friar, identification of the Friar as Charles V, and no final B flat.)

However, the 'cabinet' scene, act three scene one, in the four act version, one of the greatest Verdi stretches is more complete than it usually was in those days, even though the orchestral introduction is...

Reposted from Superconductor: "Come for the Opera, Stay for the Pizza!"
This two-DVD set, filmed in 2005 at the Vienna State Opera, is the first visual record of a performance of the complete original version of Verdi's Don Carlos. Sung in French by a mostly idiomatic cast and led by the talented French conductor Bertrand de Billy, this is fascinating to watch if you're an aficionado of the frequently performed 1883 revision of the opera, or a lover of Verdi in general. But the clever production is sometimes undercut by a middling cast.

Ramón Vargas holds his own, singing lyrically through the title role. He sings "Je le vieux" when lying prone, (very Homer Simpson) but hits the notes. As Elisabeth, Iano Tamar lacks bloom at the very top of her range, but improves for her touching Act V showpiece. Bo Skovhus is yet another skilled lieder singer tackling Rodrigue. He overacts, but sounds good in his three duets with Mr. Vargas.

The best singing here is Nadja Michael as Princess Eboli. She has a powerful mezzo instrument and...

Schiller in the Original Language
After reading two reviews of this DVD I feel somewhat like a philistine in that my reactions are less than enthusiastic--I refer to Innaurato's review in Amazon and David Shengold's review in Opera News. Although probably not the case currently, certainly even in the sixties the vernacular would have prevailed and the idea that a German play by one of the giants of Germman literature sung in any other language would be unthinkable. But my negative reaction to the performance is not based on the language, but on the savagely cut edition that was used. My introduction to Don Carlo was a four act version on EMI with Gobbi--I never heard an earlier edition released on Cetra. Fortunately Solti and Giulini's recordings let us know that there was much more to DC than we had been granted. The first five act DC was released on DGG but its life in the catalogue was short lived. In the nineties a "French" version, absolutely complete, was released by DGG, conducted by Abbado. All of the artists...

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