Verdi Don Carlo #36

The Opera

Verdi's Don Carlos had its premier in Paris in 1867, and was originally in French.  It comes in various versions, but is almost always performed in Italian.  There was a period of about 50 years when no one performed Don Carlo at all, but now it is considered one of Verdi's greatest operas.

The Story

Act I

Scene 1. The Forest of Fontainebleau, France in winter

The scene begins with a chorus of complaining peasants.  Sometimes the whole scene is cut.  The plot has to do with Spain and Flanders, so complaining French peasants never come up again.  Perhaps they are included to show how they love Elisabetta. Carlo and Elisabetta meet and fall in love.  The scene ends with the announcement that Elisabetta will marry Philip II, king of Spain, and not Carlo, as part of a peace treaty between Spain and France.  She takes it better than he does. 

Act II

Scene 2: The monastery of Saint-Just in Spain

Sometimes the opera starts here.  Don Carlo meets with his friend Posa, sung by Thomas Hampson.  Carlo wants to talk about Elisabetta, and Posa wants to talk about conditions in Flanders where the Catholic Philip II is persecuting the Lutherans of Flanders.  They sing the gorgeous friends duet.

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Scene 3: A garden near Saint-Just

Elisabetta is with her ladies in waiting.  Eboli, sung by Ekaterina Semenchuk, is introduced with a song.  Posa and Eboli help to arrange for Carlo to be alone with Elisabetta, and a rather torrid love scene ensues.  They are rolling around on the floor and Elisabetta says, "so you want to kill your father and marry your mother."  This cools him off, and he leaves.  The king enters and is furious because the queen has been left alone.  He sends one of her women back to France.

Act III

Scene 4: Evening in the Queen's garden in Madrid
The celebration of the anniversary of the ascension of Philip II to the throne of Spain has begun.  We hear celebratory music and see costumes and decorations that resemble carnival, including masks.  The queen and Eboli appear, the queen complains that she is tired and wants to go pray, and asks Eboli to take her place at the celebration.  She removes her outer garments, including a head piece, and Eboli puts them on.  Elisabetta leaves.

Eboli writes a note for Carlo, and he enters thinking Eboli is Elisabetta.  This is much clearer if we have just seen them exchange clothing.  Carlo is passionate until he realizes it is actually Eboli.  Eboli is not happy with this, as she is in love with Carlo.  Posa enters, Eboli threatens to rat on Carlo, and Posa tries to stab her.  Carlo prevents this, but Eboli is still angry.  There is an extended trio with a lot of intensity.

Scene 5: In front of the Cathedral of Valladolid

This is called the "Auto-da-fé" or "act of faith" scene and features the burning of heretics condemned by the Inquisition. The events go:  heretics are dragged in; Flemish ambassadors appear and plead their case to the king with Posa and Carlo arguing on their side (shown above); the king refuses their plea and has them arrested and taken away; Carlo gets angry, pulls his sword and threatens the king; no one will confront Carlo until Posa steps forward and orders Carlo to give him his sword; Carlo obeys and the king immediately makes Posa a Duke and has Carlo arrested.  Finally the king and queen take their places and the heretics are burned.

Act IV

 

Scene 6: Dawn in King Philip's study in Madrid 

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Elisabetta enters and the king confronts her about the portrait.  She faints.  This is the female version of when in doubt punt.  If things aren't going well, faint.  Eboli and Posa are also in this scene.  When Elisabetta wakens, Eboli admits that it was she who gave the jewelry box to the king.  Everyone else leaves, and Eboli sings her big aria "O don fatale."  She vows to try to save Carlo.

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Scene 7: A prison

Posa visits Carlo in jail where a shadowy figure kills him.  I don't seem to have ever known what was going on here except that Posa dies.  The question is who killed Posa?  We see two men, both in dark robes, one with a soldier's helmet and one with a hood.  The one in the helmet shoots Posa.  Did the king give in to the Grand Inquisitor or did the Grand Inquisitor take care of matters on his own? 

Hampson struggles with the heavier parts of this scene but excels at the sweeter parts.  He dies in close-up, very nicely.  Carlo cries.  Philip comes in bragging that he has killed him.  Carlo curses him.  Such emotion.  Kaufmann is magnificent in his anger; his intensity is the secret of his fame.

Act V

Scene 8: The moonlit monastery of Yuste

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This opera is a patchwork, a many times reworked patchwork.  We put in some stuff.  We take some of it out.  We put in some more.  Etc.  We love the music, so we don't mind so much that the story is so disorganized.  In contrast La Forza del Destino is much easier to follow but is implausible.

 

Complete Film