The Opera Tattler

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Don Carlos

Way back in November 2003 I attended a couple performances of Don Carlos at San Francisco Opera. They did a five act French version, which is unusual. The two leads, Marina Mescheriakova as Elisabeth and Mark Duffin as Don Carlos, were not particularly impressive. The former was shrill and stiff, the latter was too quiet. Bo Skovhus (Rodrigue) was solid as always, though his movements were somewhat arachnid-like. Violeta Urmana (Princess Eboli) was excellent, her voice was strong and fiery. Her acting was also very good.

The sets and costumes were pretty but not particularly exciting. I found the auto-da-fe to be overly stylized, instead of burning the victims alive, they have them attached to wires and they float away.

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2 responses to “Don Carlos”

  1. William Melvin Avatar
    William Melvin

    Although sung in French, the edition used WAS the later “Italian” version. Verdi conceived Don Carlos in Italian when he started writing it in 1866, and with the exception of two passages written for the 1872 Neapolitan premiere (passages which are not performed at all today and which he revised anyway), all his revisions through the 1880s were set to French texts.
    The Italian “versions” are really translations, which enabled the opera to gain a foothold in the Italian-language circuit (not just Italy but also Spain, Portugal, South America, and London).
    The performance edition used was basically the 5-act “Modena” version of 1886 (including the Fontainebleau scene in act I). The magnificent ensemble about Posa’s assassination, which Verdi later recycled as the Lacrymosa of the Requiem, was also reinstated (“Mon fils, reprenez votre épée… Qui me rendra ce mort?”). This passage was cut even before the opera premiered, so on all counts referring to this edition as being that of 1867 is incorrect.
    Of course, in order for the opera to gain a foothold in the Italian-language circuit (not just Italy but also Spain, Portugal, and London)

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  2. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Very well. Thank you for the correction.

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