TheLittleSongbird
I love Verdi, I love Don Carlo(s), but I disliked this production. I don't mind operas being taken into modern settings, but this production takes things too far and some of the ideas and staging verge on ridiculous.I will give some credit where it is due, I loved it that it was the complete French version, and the story and music are unquestionably brilliant. And the singing was mostly good. Ramon Vargas is an idealistic and beautifully sung Don Carlo, Simon Lang is vocally imposing as the Grand Inquisitor and shows good acting skills but for me he wasn't as intimidating as I would've liked and Iano Tamar is a poignant Elisabetta with good musicality and with the best French diction of the cast. Best of all is Nadja Michael's Eboli especially in the Veil Song, a rich mezzo voice and sharp flamenco ornamentations if not quite as strong occasionally in the chest voice and her acting is excellent. O Don Fatale was sung beautifully, but didn't completely bowl me over.Others aren't as good. Bo Skovhus does sing musically and intelligently if not quite as noble or as virile a Posa as I would've liked. Alistair Miles is underwhelming as King Phillip, vocally he's strong, but he lacks charisma apart from a very moving Ella Giammai M'ammo(or Elle Ne m'Aime pas), and for some reason Phillip seemed very weak in characterisation here and too close to Carlo, and this weakened the big scene between him and the Grand Inquisitor.The orchestra are superb playing with power and deft poignancy, and the big chorus numbers have scope and life particularly in the Veil Song. On the other hand, apart from the Fontainbleu act, Phillip's lament and the scene between Rodrigo and Phillip, the conducting feels rather leaden.The costumes are not only not pleasing on the eyes but don't seem very fitting even in a modern setting, apart from Eboli's black dress(which suited Michael by the way). Phillip especially looks as though he had just finished doing Mephistopheles or something or other, while Posa's Posa's Pizza costume took me out of this setting and also managed to perplex me on what country the opera was supposed to be set in. The sets are uninspiring with box walls and multiple doors, for me rather over-simplistic and unattractive.The video directing, picture quality and sound are actually not too bad. Diction varies, Miles and Tamar have the best French diction, and Vargas is mostly fine apart from the odd occasion when he slips into Italian as does Michael. Skovhus manages to in the auto-da-Fe scene to proceed the word Votre with a word that is decidedly indecipherable.What spoilt this production was the staging. Not all of it is bad, the Fontainbleau scene, auto-da-Fe scene, Tu Che Le Vanita, O Don Fatale, Veil Song, the Crowd scenes, Ella Giammai M'ammo and the scene between Phillip and Rodrigo are good. A number of scenes don't work. One is in their first scene together, Carlo and Elisabetta play pick-up-sticks which was rather reminiscent of young children. Another is the rather bizarre idea of having Rodrigo and Carlo crawling around on all fours in their duet together. Also, the unfunny and unnecessary commentary and the whole Eboli's dream sequence replacing the ballet, which was more pantomimic than comic(the latter I imagine was the intention), and Posa's death is spoilt by ridiculous gestures such as him falling on Carlos at the end that came across as unintentionally funny rather than poignant. I was especially disappointed in the big Grand Inquisitor scene, when done well(like with Ghiaurov and Talvela, Ghiaurov and Furlanetto, Christoff and Neri, Siepi and Hines and Plishka and Hines) it is terrifying and very like a clash of the titans moment. This effect was ruined by the idea to have Eboli present and even worse the miming she and Phillip are made to do is really grotesque and distracting.All in all, a controversial production that just didn't work for me. The 1996 production of the French version of this amazing opera is much better. 4/10 Bethany Cox
