Verdi's Don Carlo
Franco Zeffirelli (stage director), Riccardo Muti (conductor) – With Samuel Ramey (Philip II), Luciano Pavarotti (Don Carlo), Daniela Dessì (Elisabeth de Valois)...
Cast
Franco Zeffirelli — Stage director, set designer
Anna Anni — Costumes designer
Gianni Mantovanini — Lighting designer
Anna Galli — Sculptor
Samuel Ramey — Philippe II, King of Spain
Luciano Pavarotti — Don Carlo, Infante of Spain
Paolo Coni — Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa
Program notes
Enjoy Luciano Pavarotti at the height of his powers in Don Carlo at Milan's La Scala, presented in its four-act version, alongside Samuel Ramey and Daniela Dessi. Under the vigorous baton of maestro Riccardo Mutti, this exceptional cast takes you to 16th-century Spain, thanks to Franco Zeffirelli's sumptuous staging.
Composed for the Paris Opera, Don Carlos (also known as Don Carlo in its Italian versions) subjects its characters to amorous passions that overtake them, on a backdrop of political and religious forces that control their destiny. During a secret meeting, Don Carlos and Elizabeth de Valois discover a mutual affection, their union is to establish peace between France and Spain. In the end, Don Carlos's father, King Philippe II, marries the young woman. The libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Socle anchors these passions in the political context of the oppression of the Flemish by the religious Inquisition, in a dramatic and epic rewriting of history. Accused at the time of its release of being too “Wagnerian”, with the orchestra and its leitmotifs taking center stage, and criticized for its unusual harmonic innovations, Don Carlo stands out today as one of the Italian composer's most powerful and richest works, made timeless by its treatment of the themes of power and oppression.