Review by Edward Kliszus
The Composer
American drama and music critic William Foster Apthorpe (1848-1913) as he described the intense, taciturn Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901):
His was a voice from the nether stratum, frank, fierce, lurid, unheard before on the lyric stage; he brought into over-sophisticated opera the popular song…and turned its siren warblings to passionate utterance…His volcanic heat fairly singed the boards; people began to wake up, and say: Here verily is a man!
Nabucco – The First Success
With Nabucco in 1842, Verdi exclaimed, “With this opera, my artistic career can truly be said to have begun.”
The music of Nabucco was compelling and exciting; during rehearsals, employees working off stage, including painters, workers, and machinists, left their tasks to stand, watch, and listen to what was happening onstage. Hence, accounts from the day noted that “the music was so new, so unknown, rapid, and unusual that everyone was amazed.” Clearly, Verdi had opened and expanded the formula for the bel canto opera.
1923-Nabucco. Copertina libretto Nabucco dramma lirico in quattro atti di Temistocle Solera musica di Giuseppe Verdi – edizioni Ricordi. Public Domain
Verdi used a larger orchestra, thus producing a more commanding tonal drive. In addition, there was no more lingering on empty vocal display. And while there were plenty of vocal fireworks, it was to portray emotional meaning rather than exhibitionism.
The Plot & Production
There are venues where it is more relevant to opine about what version or language Don Carlo(s) should be performed. Some argue about which acts should be reinstated or cut or whether a singer’s volume was properly balanced with the orchestra. Others discuss how a diphthong is better articulated or how a piccolo dropped a note at the end of a difficult prestissimo passage. Still, others are shocked if the lower brass poorly timed a fortissimo entrance with the woodwinds.
Literary Sanctimony
Conversely, pointing to subtle flaws in a production is construable as an act of literary sanctimony that arguably dismisses consideration of the artist’s integrity. Consider Vladimir Horowitz’s return to the stage in 1978 to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic Eugene Ormandy conducting. Indeed, Horowitz is indisputably one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.
While listening to a recording of that performance for RCA and considering whether wrong notes remain on the recording, Horowitz replied in the affirmative. He noted, “It is, after all, a performance. That’s the way it should be.” From the first phrase, his interpretation reflects his insights and mastery of the form. It is powerful, glorious, and commanding.
Multi-Media
Consider opera as the ultimate multi-media product of human artistic expression striving for creative apotheosis. Note also that opera occurred well before the recorded media of the 20th century and is, after all, an amalgam of music, visual art, literature, dance, and drama. Performed by artists of bravura, integrity, and accomplishment, it is driven by music and mystical Euterpe, thus evoking the full range of human imagination, frailty, and aspirations.
Euterpe, the Muse and patron of tragedy and flute. Hoogstraten – 1678 – Inleyding tot de hooge schoole der schilderkonst – UB Radboud Uni Nijmegen – 066106893 01 Euterpe de Reedewikster. Public Domain
Artists Sublime
The Metropolitan Opera Company and its orchestra are among the finest in the world. Its productions are consistently superb, its performing artists sublime, and its patrons and audiences loyal and informed. Sets and costumes, lighting, and ambiance are consistently excellent, drawing authentic appreciation from those in attendance. It is always thrilling to arrive at Lincoln Center, walk past the iconic fountain, and enter the opera theater under Marc Chagall’s massive representations. Have you yet stopped at Fiorello’s across the street to sample their decadently delicious homemade Italian wedding soup?
Giuseppe Barberis – Carlo Cornaglia – Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo at La Scala. Public Domain
Colossus of Italy
Verdi’s music made him the true colossus of Italy of his time. His music can set the most fatuous libretto to sound like the music of angels at the heights of lyric ecstasy and rapture. Indeed, he can take a vacuous, melodramatic literary gallimaufry and express it with fabulous fountains of melodic verse. And, of course, some of his finest music emerges with powerful libretto, as in Falstaff, Othello, and his Requiem.
While Verdi never pretended to be a learned, erudite musical scholar, we know he was a creative genius of new vistas of inspiration and craftsmanship. He was recognized early on by those like Bartolomeo Morelli, Impresario of La Scala, who inspired him to create his first commercial success, Nabucco.
Only One Name
Like Clara Schumann, her sister Marie Wieck was a prominent pianist of her day. She writes in 1855, “The youthful vigorous singers of today have only one name on their lips, and that is Verdi. Upon his operas rest the whole art of music, for the present time and for the future, and for this reason, many singers, under certain circumstances, sacrifice the remains of their voices, sometimes even their health and constitution. All are ambitious only to be called Verdi singers, and they claim their title with glorious pride.”
Frederich Schiller
Led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met presented this 1867 version in the original French of the Paris premiere, libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle. It is inspired by Friedrich Schiller’s play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien. David McVicar designed stunning staging for his 11th season at the Conductor Patrick Furrer and led the world-class Met orchestra to ensure the full range of orchestral colors and support for the cast.
Giuseppe Verdi by Giovanni Boldini. Public Domain
Through a panoply of landscapes gliding throughout Spain and the Netherlands, Don Carlos is a four-hour, five-act masterpiece. It projects a sense of grim destiny set in magnificent music. The work is clearly dominated by the tormented King Philippe II of Spain, not hero and heroine Élisabeth of Valois and Prince of Asturias Don Carlos. Initially betrothed by elder parties, they meet by accident, discover each other’s identity, and fall in love.
Strange Stepmother
Arrangements are modified to maintain peace between Spain and France, and Élisabeth must instead marry Don Carlos’ father, King Philippe. Élisabeth becomes Don Carlos’ stepmother.
Evil Powers
We are in the time of the Inquisition at the peak of its ultramontane evil powers. For a primer on the monstrous depravity of the Inquisition, explore Foxe’s Book of Martyrs by John Foxe. While the opera anthropomorphizes revenge, sacrifice, honor, adultery, and insurrection, it ultimately expresses love’s immortality, a theme explored by the Romantics through other doomed couples like Aida and Radames, Tristan and Isolde.
Heartbreaking, serene, and elegant–Carlos, écoute from Rodrigue’s (Etienne Dupuis) death scene.
Auto da fé
The auto-da-fé scene possesses incomparable musical force and a type of chromaticism unusual for Verdi. Double basses, cellos, bassoons, and the contrabassoon grind away with ominous, viscous patterns. These are likewise countered by richly intoned, closely harmonized trombones and French horns. The subsequent sonic effect evokes a horripilation of dread tingling down one’s spine during Philippe’s confrontation with the blind, hobbling, all-powerful Inquisitor (John Relyea). Ultimately, Don Carlos is an epic work dealing with the burdens of rule, aspirations of freedom, and the plight of Europe’s war-torn countries.
Here are reviews of the Met’s marvelous productions of Madama Butterfly and Ariadne Auf Naxos.
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Readers may also enjoy our other opera reviews, like Hamlet at The Met, La Bohéme, Ariadne Auf Naxos, and Madama Butterfly.
