Verdi: Don Carlos

The opera "Don Carlos" (1867) by Giuseppe Verdi(1813-1901) is the best historic opera that I have heard: It`s about the conflict between the King Philipp II of Spain (1527-1598) and his son, the Prince Don Carlos (1545-1568), who wanted to free the flamands from the spanish yoke. It`s incredible how the Great Inquisitor justifies the crime against Don Carlos, by saying that God had given His proper Son to save the world and that then the King Philipp II could sacrify his son, because he had broken the law through the betrayal.Plácido Domingo as Don Carlos is superb in this production. His arias "Je l`ai vue" and "O bien perdu, trésor sans prix" have a great beauty. His duetto with Isabelle de Valois (Katia Ricciarelli)in the fifth act: "Au revoir dans un monde" got almost me to weep. The love between Don Carlos and Isabelle was already impossible and the thought about that could have happened, but the destiny didn`t want is the gist of this masterwork.Katia Ricciarelli as the Princess Isabelle de Valois was outstanding, too. Her voice is tender. Her aria "Toi, qui sus le néant" in the fifth act is superb. Her powerful voice is charming.Lucia Valentini Terrani as the Princess of Eboli represents her role of a jealous woman very well. The "Chanson du voile" is a good proof of her talent.Ruggero Raimondi as Philipp II of Spain is great. When I heard his first intervention "Pour quoi seule, madame?", I feel my body to shake because of his powerful voice. I almost imagined that I was listening to the voice of a great King. By this way you could imagine that you are face to face with Philipp II of Spain. His aria "Elle ne m`aime pas" about the refuse that Isabelle de Valois had against him is very human. We can understand how the love can make suffer the great men, too.Leo Nucci as Don Rodrigo, Marquis de Posa has a great intervention, too. His aria "Ah, je meurs l`ame joyeuse" is very dramatic and the gist of his relationship with Don Carlos is the friendship that got Don Rodrigo to refuse his proper life to save Don Carlos.Nikolai Ghiaurov as the Great Inquisitor is outstanding. His aria "Dans ce beau pays" makes to shake your body. If you have the opportunity to acquire Don Carlo in DVD with Domingo, Freni, Ghiaurov and Furlanetto you can realize that Nikolai Ghiaurov in the role of Philipp II of Spain is wonderful and that he is a great actor, too.This opera is a sea of feelings: the love, the loyalty, the friendship, the death. I recommend to acquire the version of Don Carlos in DVD with Domingo, Freni, Ghiaurov and others to complete the idea of this great opera. I dare to say: the best opera that I have heard in my life!

Oh, what a cast! That's the first thought that would run through any opera lover's mind after they glance at the list and the recording date. Domingo, Ricchiarelli, Valentini-Terrani, Ghiaurov, Nucci, Raimondi - all caught (quite near their prime) in 1985. And conducted by the great Claudio Abbado. Complete 5-act version with “deleted scenes”! What could go wrong?All of the principals sang Don Carlo(s) together at some point, all performed and recorded extensively with Abbado, this should have been a slam-dunk #1 complete recording of one of the most beautiful Verdi operas.Except... I can't quite believe I'm typing this... the recording engineers. Typically, DGG has some of the best ones. Heck, look at any of the recordings from the '60's and chances are most of them would be as good as or better than its main rivals Decca and Phillips. Not this one. While the sound of orchestra is beautiful, spacious, and full, it's also huge. So huge in fact is that the singers seem to stand far, far behind it. There's no aural perception of the stage where the orchestra is "below" and the singers are on "forward-top". Instead, you find yourself constantly adjusting the volume, and I would speculate that only those familiar with the opera know when to turn it down (because there's a blast from orchestra coming) or up (because there's an aria coming). The only singer who was seemingly unaffected by the overpowering orchestra is the great Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov curiously cast in the role of the Grand Inquisitor. Probably because he sang Philip numerous times he was looking for a different challenge. But, as one critic pointed out back in those days, "when Ghiaurov sings the Earth shakes", so the other singers, Raimondi included, and particularly the high voices were at a terrible disadvantage.Another point against it - why stick so much of the music in the appendix? So we know that Verdi wrote the 5-act version for a premiere at the Paris Opera in 1867. The typical Italian-translated 1883 version is 4-act, no prologue. The modern, so-called "complete" editions typically combine the four revised acts of 1883 with the abridged Fontainebleau scene from 1867 and omit the ballet. This version, rather than just giving us the 1867 version, inexplicably stashes bits and pieces of the opera in the appendix, so again we get a hybrid. But hey, it's great they included it at all.Finally, Raimondi as Philip II... OK, I may be spoiled by Ghiaurov, Siepi, and Christoff, but his interpretation is just too weak for the role. Having Nikita Storojev at their disposal as the most robust sounding Monk I've ever heard, they could've easily used his talents here. Raimondi's nasal bass is an acquired taste to be sure, but this is the 2nd recording (the first one being Giullini's  Verdi: Don Carlos ) where I wished Philip's part was given to someone with greater vocal gravitas rather than him.Again, my beef isn't as much with any of the singers (and this set may be worth the admission price simply to hear the great Lucia Valentini-Terrani as Eboli) but with that awful sound engineering and its huge imbalance between the singers and the orchestra.So, for the top-five contenders (French and Italian both) of this masterpiece, I have these:1. Solti's celebrated 1965 recording:  Verdi: Don Carlo  with the best Phillip/Inquisitor duet ever and the overall most balanced cast2. Karajan's 4-Act, but achingly beautiful recording with the most dramatically involved principals and not a single weak link:  Don Carlo 3. Giulini's 1970 one I already mentioned with excellent Carlo and Rodrigo and slightly detached, though celestially sang Elisabetta  Verdi: Don Carlo (3CD) 4. A thoroughly enjoyable 60's Santini version with lesser-known singers apart from Christoff and Bastianini (worth finding just for them):  Verdi: Don Carlo by Verdi 5. This list would not be complete with my favorite live 1977 recording of the 5-Act version in good sound, incidentally with Abbado at the helm:  Verdi: Don Carlo (Complete Opera) / Carreras The set at hand, while interesting for Abbado’s intricate orchestral work, beautiful edition, a couple of gorgeous duets, and other merits mentioned above is, in my opinion, inferior to these five. It does crack the top 10 though, so depending on how much you love Don Carlo(s) you may want to snag it.

why this is best Don Carlos version on the market....Claudio Abbado

Giulini here is less brilliant than in earlier efforts, but these days someone like him is missed. Domingo was young and elegant at that time, his voice showing already the good (color and warmth) and the bad (short range and generic approach) we all know now. Caballe' super technically if a bit impersonal, but the sound is beyond comparison. Milnes great voice and no trace of the mannerism that affected him later. Raimondi was too young in age and too light vocally to sustain the King role. Vastly overrated those days, he avoided wisely Verdi to concentrate more on basso baritono or basso cantante roles later in his career. Verrett captured here at her best is a great Eboli. Foiani holds the garrison in the Inquisitor role but nothing historic.

これは素晴らしい!! ヴェルディの他の作品と一線を画していてる。厚みのある音楽、物語の展開とも異彩を放っていて聴き終えた後、何ともいえない充実感がある。物語はシラーの戯曲をベースにヴェルディがいろいろと付け加え悲劇としてドラマ仕立てている。１６世紀前半「太陽の沈まぬ国」スペイン帝国王フェリペⅡ世、その子ドン・カルロの史実を相当翻案したもの。このドン・カルロという人物、ハプスプルグ家で繰り返された近親婚により、不幸な人生であったらしく、それをシラーが悲劇としてドラマに組み立てた。フェリペⅡ世は有名な王様だし、父親は神聖ローマ帝国皇帝カルロ５世だから、若い頃学んだ世界史を思い出し、当事のイングランドも含めた欧州中世史を振り返りながら聴くと、オペラに対してより一層の興味が沸く。さてこのディスク、仏語で録音されていて、最初驚きましたが、ウィキペディアやネットのかきこによりますとこのオペラは六つの版があって、これはリコルディ社５幕版（もともと伊語）を仏語で演奏したものらしい。そもそも当初仏語で作曲されたものなのでアバドさんのこだわりがあったのかもしれません。オケはスカラ座管で歌手もイタリア人主体、演奏は仏語でなんとも面白い。演奏は当然申し分なく歌手のうならせる出来。ほかにも録音が割りと多く、それぞれ異なる版を使用しているようだから、それぞれ楽しめそう。

Pourquoi me faire répéter 20 fois que je suis toujours très satisfaite de vos services ? Encore 4 mots manquants pour vous dire la même chose. S'il vous plaît, simplifiez vos exigences. On est content ou on ne l'est pas. Je suis satisfait, satisfait, j'ai 300 mails à voir et j'ai envie de dormir ce soir. Proserpine.

As only one of three French-language recordings of this I am aware of, there isn't really a lot of competition. Don Carlos was written in French by Verdi, and as such this is the original document, not the Italian translation, with the vocal line compromised to fit in extra syllables here, or taken a few out there. Abbado's cast is a rock-solid group of Verdi veterans, from Domingo in the title role to Nicolai Ghiaurov in the small role of the Inquisitor. Domingo is in as fine a voice here as he was on the Italian set under Giulini, and he is joined by Katia Ricciarelli as Elisabeth showing that she is capable of more than just wilting-violet stuff we normally get from the role. The fire and vehemence from the concluding section of the Act II duet, and the "Justice, Sire!" quartet in particular.Leo Nucci as Rodrigue is pleasant but a bit light-voiced. Someone stronger like Cappuccilli would have been more preferable, but then the French like their baritones light anyway (Escamillo, for example) so I suppose the voice suits the role. His death aria is a bit limp though, in my view, sung with only a hint of emotion. Lucia Valentini Terrani as Eboli is wonderful, bringing a lot of power and also pathos to the role. Her veil song "Au palais des fees" is stunning, and she copes expertly with the highpoint "O don fatal et detestee".But the basses! Ruggero Raimondi and Nicolai Ghiaurov utterly steal the show with their scene at the beginning of Act Four. The unabashed and awe-inspiring power generated from these two is superb! You can see that by having the lighter Raimondi as Philippe and Ghiaurov's rock-solid profundo as the Inquisiteur you get a more hair-raising experience than when Karajan conducted the four-act Italian version with the roles reversed. Raimondi brings a nobility to the King's role, which Ghiaurov smacks down to have him begging for peace to return between them. Stirring stuff!I didn't really have a problem with the Fritalian - Domingo usually sounds plausible anyway, and Ghiaurov is also very good. Ricciarelli and Nucci pose the biggest embarassment in my view, and even then it's hardly something that gets in the way. Their diction is often muddled so you can't make out what they're saying even with the libretto in front of you. I tend to just ignore it and listen to them as instruments.As a previous review said, the recording also includes a set of appendices. This is what made the set, at £55, value for money for me. Spread across four discs means a better listening experience altogether, not having to split up act three for example, and leaving a generous amount of time left after the final act to include some of the original music. By original, of course, I mean the music Verdi intended to use before the rehearsals began and he realised what a monster he'd created! We have the extended opening to act one, a wood-cutters' chorus with Elisabeth making an appearance and including the hunters offstage; the ballet and it's preceeding scene showing Elisabeth and Eboli exchanging clothes, which helps to explain some of the later confusion in act three (i); a section of the duet for Elisabeth and Eboli in act four, just before Eboli's aria; and the original finales to acts four and five. Hearing this music makes you sad that the opera doesn't include it in the now-standard Modena (1886) version. Such a grand opening, such a dramatic act four finale, and the trial for Carlos in the act five finale is really gripping stuff. I believe Abbado actually gave a performance in the 70s of a hotch-potch version with some of this music restored, which sounds a magnificent idea and I would be intrigued to see more productions attempt this!A final note about the recording, it comes with an excellently-written booklet from Andrew Porter, longtime Verdi scholar and the man who discovered some of the appendices included on the recording. Well worth the money, as it'll give you quite literally hours of entertainment.

Ne faisons pas la fine bouche : si cette distribution des plus grands noms de la Scala d’alors était venue à Paris, nous aurions fait la queue dès 4 heures du matin aux guichets de Garnier ! Alors, certes, le français laisse parfois à désirer e,t de ce point de vue là, les versions anciennes de Bruck et de Matheson, ou celle, plus récente, de Pappano, sont meilleures, mais quand des artistes de ce calibre (chef, chœur et orchestre, solistes), enregistrés en studio par DGG, nous redonnent une pièce de notre patrimoine, on doit s’en réjouir et ne pas critiquer de façon condescendante : aucun français alors n’en n’aurait fait autant.Pris séparément, je peux effectivement citer chaque fois un interprète que je préfère à ce que j’entends là et la direction d’Abbado me parait tantôt brouillonne, tantôt lourdingue, ce n’est pas un de ses meilleurs Verdi. Mais globalement, je mets 4 étoiles. A réserver toutefois aux inconditionnels de ce chef d’œuvre. Ils pourront notamment comprendre ses différentes versions, en français et en italien, grâce aux bonus et à un tableau explicatif très utile.L’opulence d’autrefois : commentaire et livret intégral en allemand, anglais, français, italien. Nombreuses photos.

Excellent product, excellent service