Verdi, Giuseppe / Don Carlo (Metropolitan Opera, Kurt Adler Conducts)
| Album: | Don Carlo (Metropolitan Opera, Kurt Adler Conducts) | Collection: | Classical | |
| Artist: | Verdi, Giuseppe | Added: | May 2017 | |
| Label: | Sony Classical | |||
A-File Activity
| Add Date: | 2017-05-10 | Pull Date: | 2017-07-12 | Charts: | Classical/Experimental |
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Album Review
Larry Koran
Reviewed 2017-05-04
Reviewed 2017-05-04
Verdi’s (1813-1901) Don Carlo (premiered in 1867) is made up of spectacular set pieces. Despite its length, 4+ hours, every scene has something heartbreaking, awe-inspiring or terrifying. The music is grand, expressing the full range of human emotions from love to fury, from joy to despair. Excellent reviews describe highlights you might enjoy broadcasting: The NPR review of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden performance:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121345264.
Telegraph (London) review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/10050169/The-opera-novice-Verdis-Don-Carlo.html . The program booklet also provides a plot summary.
The story takes place in the mid-1500s, at the time of the Spanish Inquisition, and it's loosely based on historical characters and events. The title character is the son of Spain's King Phillip II, who was sometimes described as insane. The drama has a complicated plot, weaving together personal, political and theological conflicts, and wraps them all up in an ending that can easily leave opera-goers wondering what the heck just happened. The work explores almost every moral dilemma imaginable.
As Act One opens, Don Carlo has returned home after a visit to France. He had briefly been engaged to a French woman, Elisabeth. The marriage was arranged to cement a peace agreement between the two countries — but Carlo and Elisabeth actually fall in love. Then Carlo's father Phillip decided it would be better if he married Elisabeth himself.
The opera's famously perplexing conclusion: The libretto says the mysterious monk from Act One appears — now dressed as the dead Charles V. It says that this time, he actually is Charles V. Then, this supposedly dead king takes Carlo into a cloister, as everyone watches in amazement. The unfortunate Carlo has faced nearly every inner conflict imaginable — between love and loyalty; between duty and honor; between friendship and family; between faith and personal ideals. Unlike the other characters, Carlo never resigns himself to reality. As the opera ends, the music lets us know that one way or another, Carlo is leaving this world altogether.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121345264.
Telegraph (London) review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/10050169/The-opera-novice-Verdis-Don-Carlo.html . The program booklet also provides a plot summary.
The story takes place in the mid-1500s, at the time of the Spanish Inquisition, and it's loosely based on historical characters and events. The title character is the son of Spain's King Phillip II, who was sometimes described as insane. The drama has a complicated plot, weaving together personal, political and theological conflicts, and wraps them all up in an ending that can easily leave opera-goers wondering what the heck just happened. The work explores almost every moral dilemma imaginable.
As Act One opens, Don Carlo has returned home after a visit to France. He had briefly been engaged to a French woman, Elisabeth. The marriage was arranged to cement a peace agreement between the two countries — but Carlo and Elisabeth actually fall in love. Then Carlo's father Phillip decided it would be better if he married Elisabeth himself.
The opera's famously perplexing conclusion: The libretto says the mysterious monk from Act One appears — now dressed as the dead Charles V. It says that this time, he actually is Charles V. Then, this supposedly dead king takes Carlo into a cloister, as everyone watches in amazement. The unfortunate Carlo has faced nearly every inner conflict imaginable — between love and loyalty; between duty and honor; between friendship and family; between faith and personal ideals. Unlike the other characters, Carlo never resigns himself to reality. As the opera ends, the music lets us know that one way or another, Carlo is leaving this world altogether.
Track Listing