Colin’s Cultural Corner
Don Carlo - Giuseppe Verdi
(1886 version)
Royal Opera House
12th July 2023
Not written one of these for a little while as, although I’ve seen things, none have really warranted a full blown CCC. Don Carlo most certainly does!
Great seats in the stalls, far enough back for the rake to be effective and give a wonderful view of the entire stage which opens, as the first notes rise from the ever magnificent orchestra, to reveal a forest at night in winter. Bare trees dot the landscape and a frozen river snakes its way downstage. The only thing which was missing for me was the joy of seeing it snow. And snow is something the ROH do really effectively. It might have been a nice touch to have the curtains open and for the audience to be met with snowfall in the forest but that would have created issues to be cleared up for the next scene I guess.
Plot wise this is actually really rather sensible and logical. Perhaps that’s because it’s based on a Schiller play which is based on historical events and people. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting used to the absurdity of opera plots and now view things like this one as being realistic.
Don Carlo enters the forest. He is the heir to the Spanish throne. His dad, King Philip II of Spain, has fixed a marriage between Carlo and Elizabeth of Valois, sung beautifully by Lise Davidsen, as a method of ensuring peace between France and Spain.
Carlo isn’t sold on the idea of marrying someone he’s never even seen so he’s absconded from the Spanish court and has travelled in disguise to Fontainebleau (hence the forest setting) in order to see what Elizabeth looks like without letting her know who he is. He’s lurking in the forest to meet her and meet her he does.
Somehow she’s lost in the forest that’s her actual back garden and can’t find her way back to the chateau. DC stumbles upon her, or she stumbles upon him I guess, and he falls in love with her immediately. She falls head over heels for him at first sight as well.
As they’re both singing how much they are each in love with each other and how they would both die for the other a volley of cannon fire is heard in the distance. It’s marking the signing of the peace agreement between Spain and France and is a reason for unbridled joy and celebration. Well it would be if it wasn’t for the fact that DC’s dad, King Philip II, is so full of the joys of peace that he announces his intention to marry Elizabeth himself.
DC and Elizabeth are mortified and vow undying love to each other. Elizabeth also vows that she has no choice but to marry Philip and starts calling DC “son”. He starts referring to her as “mother”.
DC retreats to a monastery where the tomb of his grandfather King Carlos V is located. It’s a beautiful set that ingeniously moves the tomb across the stage and drops in a cloisters setting so that we get two viewpoints as the action moves around the tomb. I’m describing it poorly but it is a really rather elegant solution to the question of how you can hide characters in positions that they can eavesdrop without being seen but still being visible to the audience.
DC asks the memory of Carlos V for advice, and mentions that the cloisters are haunted by, not quite a ghost, but the memories of Carlos V. He decides, with the help of his most trusted aid, to go to Flanders and basically use that as a reason to mount a rebellion against Philip II. Sort of. I think.
Meanwhile there’s a lady in waiting who’s head over heels in love with DC (of course there is!) and she’s heard his lamenting that his love can’t be acted on. She then discovers that it’s not her he’s in love with but Elizabeth. She vows revenge. He’s never shown any interest in her at all so I’m not sure what she’s vowing revenge for other than her own warped sense of entitlement that she should be able to get any man to love her.
There’s a huge subplot with catholics vs protestants and the Spanish Inquisition. It’s a bit unclear to me what was actually going on but it mattered not one jot as it was beautiful to see and to hear.
Anyway, lady in waiting steals love tokens given by DC to Elizabeth and gives them to the King. He now thinks that the Queen has been unfaithful and wants her punished and DC dead. He asks the Grand Inquisitor if it’s OK to kill his own son. He’s told that God killed his own son so no reason why that rule wouldn’t apply to the King and DC.
DC and Elizabeth meet, knowing that they’re in danger, and vowing undying love for each other. She beseeches him to leave so that he can live. She’s happy to die so that he can live. He reluctantly agrees and then she comes up with a magnificent notion that DC should kill Philip and drag her “to the alter, drenched in his blood”. He agrees with that.
There’s a sword fight between DC and some Flemish protestants on one side and Philip, guards and the Inquisition on the other. DC is killed. Elizabeth isn’t killed or banished to a convent. Philip lives on but has to bow to Inquisitor (and therefore accept that the Church is above even a King). Then the presumed dead Carlos V makes an appearance and is very much alive and all is right with the world again.
It’s an odd ending which suggests Verdi just ran out of time to write a proper one or maybe had a pressing dinner engagement and left it undone. But it doesn’t matter. The whole piece is magnificent. The music is sublime. There’s a cast that’s probably somewhere near 150 in total. I would happily see this again tonight if I could.
The added bonus was seeing Lise Davidsen as Elizabeth of Valois. She’s been lauded as a voice of a lifetime and as much as I love seeing Angel Blue in any role it’s crystal clear that Lise is in a different league. She’s a true star with phenomenal control as well as a beautiful tone and it’s all backed up by solid acting ability. She’s going to be someone talked about for a long long time and I’m delighted that I got to see her perform.
Also got talking to a critic who was sitting next to me (and my Panto friend Tom who also loved it!) and she asked to read some of my CCC's and was talking about getting me into a program that the ENO does where they take newly formed opera fans and work with them on writing their experiences before publishing them on the ENO website..... You get free tickets and also get paid for anything they publish... so watch this space....
Oh and Tom, who's now a casting bod, has offered me a film role he just can't see anyone else doing. He's sending the script over and I'll read it and get back to him with thoughts. I'll probably say yes because it's something coming from a good friend and there's no pressure. So watch this space as well!
