In this majestic production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, Riccardo Chailly’s qualities as a Verdi conductor are brilliantly displayed in the dramatic precision and transparent instrumental detail he draws from both orchestra and cast. Willy Decker directs a wonderful piece of stagecraft, letting the tragedy unwind with minimal, yet telling, interventions. The drama takes place in the mausoleum of Filippo II’s Escorial, where the tombs of countless generations of Spanish royalty line the walls. Filippo’s confrontation with Il grande inquisitore – which takes place over his own coffin, its resting place in the wall ready and waiting – is chillingly symbolic, as are the feet of the giant crucifix that hangs over Don Carlo as he sees his life sacrificed by his father.

Robert Lloyd, Rolando Villazón, Amanda Roocroft, Dwayne Croft, Jaakko Ryhänen, Giorgio Giuseppini, Violeta Urmana
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / De Nederlandse Opera Chorus / Riccardo Chailly
Stage Director Willy Decker



Plus
Illustrated Synopsis and Cast Gallery.

Introduction to the opera including interviews with Robert Lloyd, Rolando Villazón, Amanda Roocroft, Violeta Urmana, Riccardo Chailly and Willy Decker.

Reviews
‘… a fabulous summation of Chailly’s qualities as a Verdi conductor… a wonderful piece of stagecraft…’
The Guardian

‘…Croft is marvellously skilled, in the tradition of American baritones decades ago. Ryhänen is magnificent… Villazón… displayed a superb voice, rich phrasing and energetic acting…’
Opera

‘Rolando Villazón confirms that he’s all set to become one of the best tenors of his generation… Villazón strikes me as the best young romantic tenor to have emerged since Carreras’s youthful glory days… I have never heard Carlo’s music sung with such a combination of vocal glamour, musical refinement and brooding machismo in the theatre…’
The Sunday Times

‘Rolando Villazon is suitably young and gauche in the title role, singing with clear, clean and attractive tone… Riccardo Chailly draws fine playing from the orchestra in a version of the opera that is likely to win many friends.’
Opera Now

‘Musically it is in almost all respects superb, so much so that I wish it had been the five-Act version that was performed. … It is violent, unflinching, and terribly powerful theatre. The cast is almost uniformly excellent, with Rolando Villazon making much more impression in the title role than almost anyone I’ve seen… Robert Lloyd, in strong steady voice, is a horrible Phillip II, while Amanda Roocroft plays Elisabeth with passionate intensity… Violeta Urmana is a fruity, vindictive Eboli, and Dwayne Croft a passionate Rodrigo, the ideal foil to Philip. Riccardo Chailly conducts with a powerful dramatic sense, and the whole three hours passes incredibly fast.’
BBC Music Magazine

’Even without making comparisons, going by names and reputations alone this new version has to deliver the goods in no uncertain terms to become an automatic recommendation. … The introduction is by far the most interesting and extensive, lasting some 25 minutes, and provides a suitable way into the production. … [Chailly] has the measure of internal dynamicism within the work…
Rolando Villazón delivers a forthright, anguished performance as Don Carlo. As he astutely comments in the introduction, the role is one to be acted and sung in the extremes of emotion from the start, and this he achieves wonderfully. Vocally there are few problems for him, having more the ringing burnish of a young Carreras or heroicism of Domingo, but like Pavarotti he too has the ability to capture pianissimi tellingly with the head voice. In terms of an all-round Don Carlo Villazón has all that could be desired, and demonstrates fine duet singing too.
Dwayne Croft’s Rodrigo too is strongly characterised and excellently sung. The strength of it is that his evil remains largely under wraps, observed and commented upon by the Grand Inquisitor. … Robert Lloyd’s Philip II bears the benefit of his long and varied experience with the opera…
Not to be outdone by the men, Violeta Urmana and Amanda Roocroft hold their own as Eboli and Elizabeth respectively. Urmana brings a voluminous presence as Eboli and delivers “O don fatale” in fire-eating style. … Roocroft’s voice has grown in stature over the years to become a fine Verdian instrument, as the splendid rendition of “Tu che le vanità” shows. But for both ladies, their roles come across as being much more than their big numbers – which is as it should be. … The live filming of this production brings added immediacy to your involvement with the action…
An automatic recommendation? On the whole, yes. …what clinches this version for me is Decker’s production – the cage it creates for the drama to inhabit is at once abhorrent, claustrophobic and yet so totally appropriate: it is really great drama.’
Music Web International

CAT NO: OA 0933 D
FORMAT: All Formats
REGIONS: All Regions
PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
LENGTH: 199 Mins
SOUND: DTS SURROUND / LPCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/ES/IT/NL
RELEASED: 29/08/2005
NO OF DISCS: 2