DON CARLO, Royal Opera House, 26 May 2017

Giuseppe Verdi, DON CARLO, Friday 26 May 2017

Cast

DON CARLOS                                                        Bryan Hymel
Infante of Spain

TEBALDO, Elizabeth's Page                                 Angela Simkin

ELISABETH DE VALOIS                                        Kristin Lewis

COUNT OF LERMA                                               David Junghoon Kim

COUNTESS OF AREMBERG                                Rosalind Walters
(Silent role)

RODRIGO, MARQUIS OF POSA                         Christoph Pohl

PHILIP II, KING OF SPAIN                                    Ildar Abradazakov

PRINCESS EBOLI                                                 Ekaterina Semenchuk

PRIEST INQUISITOR                                           Josh Davies

FLEMISH DEPUTIES                                           Wyn Pencarreg,
                                                                              Gyula Nagy,
                                                                              Yuriy Yurchuk, 
                                                                              James Cleverton,
                                                                               Simon Shibambu, 
                                                                               David Shipley

VOICE FROM HEAVEN                                       Francesa Chiejina

GRAND INQUISITOR                                          Paata Burchuladze

Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

CONDUCTOR                                                        Bertrand de Billy



DIRECTOR                                                            Nicholas Hytner


This is a revival of Nicholas Hytner's pared-down, but not minimalist, production, which is effective in conveying the gloomy,brooding atmosphere of Philip II's court - the predominant colours are black, red and grey. There is very little to lighten the darkness, either physical or psychological. Here is an image from the Fontainebleau scene./

Carlos and Elisabeth were sung by Bryan Hymel and Kristin Lewis, both new to these roles.  The young soprano Kristin Lewis brought a freshness and clarity to the role, she was especially touching in the Fontainebleau scene.....this is always heartrending, because you KNOW what is going to happen.......and you watch Elisabeth change from a hopeful young girl to a sad, disillusioned woman. Kristin Lewis is able to encompass all the varied demands of Elisabeth's role and obviously has a deep understanding of the text. She is well-matched by Bryan Hymel - the role of Carlo also makes varied demands on the voice of the tenor, as he is plunged from hope to despair. Here they are together in their brief moment of happiness (which has no equivalent in Schiller's play, but is nonetheless very moving). He was very convincing in his portrayal of Carlo's vulnerability.

All in all a splendid cast. Christoph Pohl as Posa was perhaps rather subdued in the first scene with Carlo, though his singing is never less than mellifluous. The scene with King Philip - Ildar Abdrazakov - was thrilling in its intensity, especially when Posa criticises Philip's 'peaceful' Spain as 'the peace of the grave'. 'Orrenda, orrenda pace! La pace e dei sepolcri!' (Literally from Schiller's 'Die Ruhe eines Kirchhofs!') Philip advances on Posa while the orchestra GROWLS, and I started thinking,...'He's going to hit him, isn't he......' But the moment passes.

Not all the scenes caught fire like this, but everything was very competently done, and the smaller roles - Tebaldo, the Count of Lerma, the Flemish Deputies - acquitted themselves admirably. Ildar Abdrazakov rose to heights of pathos and despair in 'Ella Giammai m'amo', and the scene with the Grand Inquisitor - Paata Burchuladze - was spine-chilling, especially when the Inquisitor enunciated 'Tutto tacer dovra per esultar la fe'......this is all on one note, and Verdi manages to extract the maximum terrifying power from it.

To sum up - a very competent performance, which at times rose to heights of dramatic tension. I loved the precision and the well-judged tempi of the orchestra under Bertrand de Billy.

DON CARLO, Royal Opera House, 18 September 2009

DON CARLO, Royal Opera House, Friday 18 September 2009

CAST (In order of appearance)


DON CARLO, Infante of Spain........................Jonas Kaufmann


TEBALDO, Elisabeth’s page......................   Pumeza Matshikiza


ELISABETH DE VALOIS..............................Marina Poplavskaya


COUNT OF LERMA.......................................Robert Anthony Gardiner*


COUNTESS OF AREMBERG......................Elizabeth Woods


CHARLES V/MONK........................................Robert Lloyd


RODGRGO, MARQUIS OF POSA................Simon Keenlyside


KING PHILIP II OF SPAIN..............................Ferruccio Furnlanetto


PRINCESS EBOLI.........................................Marianne Cornetti


PRIEST INQUISITOR......................................Téo Ghil


FLEMISH DEPUTIES................................... John Cunningham, Daniel Grice,


                                                                         Lukas Jakobski*, Dawid Kimberg*,


                                                                        Changan Lim*, David Stout


VOICE FROM HEAVEN..............................Eri Nakamura*


GRAND INQUISITOR...................................John Tomlinson


(Singers marked with * are participants in the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme)






CONDUCTOR.........................................   Semyon Bychkov


DIRECTOR.................................................Nicholas Hytner


Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House.








The first thing that struck me about this performance of DON CARLO was that Bychkov conducts at a slower tempo than Pappano did when this production was first performed last year. I was happy with this, as his pace adds gravitas to such crucial scenes as the confrontation between Philip and Posa, and of course to Philip’s monologue “Ella giammai m’amò”, while – just! – avoiding the risk of ponderousness in, for instance, the Fontainebleau scene.


Jonas Kaufmann takes over from Rolando Villazon as the doomed Infante. He seemed to be vocally hesitant at his entrance, but I concluded that this was part of the characterisation, and actually very far from being a flaw...he is a shy young man, whose hopes for happiness in life are brutally cut short just as he thinks they are starting to blossom. He never recovers from this, and Kaufmann’s sensitive lyric tones (and brooding good looks) are ideally suited to the portrayal of this wrecked life.

 His final scene with Elisabeth was especially moving, singing in seemingly hushed tones which were nevertheless audible in the farthest reaches of the auditorium.


Elisabeth de Valois was again sung by Marina Polavskaya, who gave a very convincing portrayal of Elisabeth’s development from an ardent young girl, full of hope, to a sad, disillusioned woman. She says that she is going to her new home “happily and full of hope”..(ne andrò giuliva, pieno il core di speme)...this is so poignant, when we know what is going to happen to all this youthful ardour. The production emphasises the change in her; in the Fontainebleau scene she first appears laughing with the hunters, and is relaxed and mobile in her encounter with Carlos, but once she is made Queen, the Spanish envoys wrap her in a black, embroidered coronation robe, and she never again has the (literal and metaphorical) freedom of movement that she had up till then.

 Her farewell to the Comtesse d’Aremberg (Non pianger, mia compagna) was very well sung, showing great depths of feeling, but she was perhaps at her best in the final duet with Carlo.


Simon Keenlyside was again the Posa, and this time he gave a more nuanced, intelligent performance than on the previous occasion – although he was good then too! But I felt that this time he gave more weight and commitment to the crucial confrontation with King Philip.

.and yes, the Death Scene was also very moving and convincing, but Posa’s role in the drama makes more sense if it’s clear that what is important to him is the campaign for freedom in Flanders – this is the legacy he leaves to Carlo. I have added a YouTube clip of Keenlyside in the Death Scene...it is not from this production,, and there is no further information, about the conductor or orchestra, for instance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVZ_DoYifRE





 Keenlyside’s lyric baritone is ideal for this role, and indeed contrasted very effectively with the sonorous bass of Ferruccio Furlanetto as King Philip – whose “Ella giammai m’amò” was deeply heart-felt, revealing the torment of this lonely old man. Yes, it’s his fault that he’s a lonely old man, but this doesn’t make his sorrow any less heart-breaking. And then he tries to put on a brave face for his confrontation with the Grand Inquisitor – masterfully sung by John Tomlinson. The Grand Inquisitor gets the better of the King in the end, and in this performance the tension between them was palpable, quite frightening!

I wasn’t too impressed with the Eboli, Marianne Cornetti – she sang competently, not very inspiringly, but made little or no effort to act in the way the others did, I found that I was just sitting there waiting for her to finish “O Don Fatale” so we could get on with the Prison Scene, which is much more interesting. I don’t think that Eboli is INTRINSICALLY less interesting than the other characters, but there was a rapport between Kaufmann and Poplavskaya, and between Kaufmann and Keenlyside,

that Marianne Cornetti didn’t share – just a lack of dramatic spark.


The role of Charles V/Monk was well sung by my beloved veteran Robert Lloyd, and the smaller roles were all competently sung.