Golden Label Opera & Music Theatre – The original version of Don Carlos, as Giuseppe Verdi truly intended it, was what the Opéra de Wallonie chose. It lasts 4 hours and 30 minutes, quite a long time and that deters audiences. Already in Verdi's time, there was eager cutting. The result is that a whole range of versions exist, because almost every opera house intervened in its own way.
About the opera house in Liège
The friendly atmosphere, the human warmth and the family character are in themselves something that distinguishes the Walloon opera house from most others. Everything revolves around giving as much Beauty as possible to the audience. And did they succeed with the complete version of Don Carlos!
Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera is not only the director of the house, which you might call an extension of Italy, he is an artistic jack-of-all-trades who is driven and makes choices as uncompromisingly as possible for pure opera, the story and the music as the composer and librettist once intended. This has become a great rarity and is even viewed somewhat condescendingly in the opera world. However, the audience, the artists and the entire team of staff members frequently agree with the director's vision, and that is very appealing. It makes it much more pleasant for the musicians, set builders, costume workshop and so on. It provides ample satisfaction and a sense of deep artistic commitment. Talk to singers after countless stagings that fit like a glove on a pig with the music and story, and also talk to singers after such an 'old-fashioned' production in Liège…
Four hours and forty-five minutes flew by
"We present the opera in full", was the order from Stefano Mazzonis, who took over the direction immediately. Worth extra attention, because it rarely happens that the complete opera is performed anywhere. It is important for that reason alone that this performance is filmed and broadcast on February 14 this year. In my opinion, it should be released on DVD (!)
With operas that run long, sometimes the viewer's/listener's attention can wane a bit. Sometimes you even long for the end. Understandable. It is equally understandable that this was not the case at all here. The whole thing is so tightly constructed on every level that you only realize how long the opera was when you look at your watch and think: "What? Is it really that late already?"
What did the audience hear and see that provoked such enthusiasm?
The eye was constantly delighted with the beautifully detailed costumes of the great nobility from the 16th century, the time of the Spanish Habsburgs and Philip II. Plenty of Renaissance, and you also see it in the sets that look like they were cut straight from a Spanish palace of that time. The common people are dressed as they were, soberly. With careful lighting design, every scene, whether set in the forest, the chapel or the palace garden, is given color and emphasis. The theatrical element in this opera is abundantly present, and yes, of course the wealth of aristocratic life at the time inspires. It comes to life on stage.
Don Carlos, the son of Philip II, is engaged to the daughter of the French king, with whom his father is at war. To make peace, the French king does not give his daughter to Don Carlos, despite the engagement, but to his father, thereby greatly increasing his empire and influence in Europe. Elisabeth de Valois will be his third wife. The young couple, who have just at length declared their desire for each other and fantasized about their future, must learn this in the forest of Fontainebleau. A cold shower. This would be one of the reasons why great rivalry and hatred arose between father and son.
History tells us that Don Carlos, the heir to the throne, would not have been very sound of mind and that he died under still unexplained circumstances at the age of 23. This obscurity is also strongly evoked in this opera, at the very end, when Don Carlos steps into the opening sepulchre of Emperor Karl V, his grandfather.
Verdi and his librettists Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry (inspired by the theatrical work Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller) leave nothing out in highlighting the dictatorial traits of Philip II. The Spanish Inquisition and the oppression of the Flemings and Brabanders is, together with the love story between Don Carlos and Elisabeth on the one hand and the loyal friendship between Carlos and Rodrigue, the Marquis of Posa, the red thread running through the story. The latter makes it clear to Carlos how the noble people from the Low Countries are subjected to violence and does everything to convince Carlos to come to Flanders to put an end to the oppression. History tells us that this was probably also attempted by Carlos, but Philip II sent the Duke of Alba, with all that entailed, and Carlos suddenly found death 'somewhere'. Anything but glorious is the history of the possibly religiously and megalomaniacal Philip II, who felt encouraged and supported in everything by the very harsh repression of the all-powerful Grand Inquisitor.
The oppression by the inquisition comes to life on stage. You see how the heretics, dressed in a fool-like robe in cages, are driven past the Escorial, the megalomaniac abbey palace of Philip II, and how other heretics pull and push the carts while being whipped by soldiers and the people spit at them. They are part of the coronation festival where flag-wavers add color to this gruesome celebration. On the small stage of the Liège opera house you think it impossible, but Mazzonis does it: you have the impression of witnessing a very large event from very close up. It makes the audience silent, you feel people reflecting and experiencing emotions.
Singers / actors move
Such a strong story with such direction not only requires an excellent orchestra and choir – and both excelled. Never before have I heard the orchestra, on which I had had some reservations earlier, make music better. It could stand up to comparison with all other major opera houses. Top! Conductor Paolo Arrivabeni was in full swing and one piece of inspiration. That fact, combined with everything happening on stage, cannot but have given the singers an extra dose of artistic adrenaline to perform even better.
Let's go through the list. Don Carlos was sung by American tenor Gregory Kunde. What a voice, what an interpretation! He was simply the young, honest, loyal prince and could move, but other voices would move as well. Italian bass Ildebrando D'Arcangelo delivered an impressive, characterful Philip II. The carrying dark compelling voice, his penetrating gaze… And then there was that poor Elisabeth de Valois, the woman who would never be allowed to know true love. Although soprano Yolanda Auyanet was sick, she sang this loving role with great dedication. A performance that deserved extra applause! The treacherous and late-repenting princess Ebola, who will betray Don Carlos, Elisabeth and his friend out of jealousy, was perfectly rendered by Kate Aldrich who was a guest at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie / Liège for the first time.
Whoever delivered a performance that you might or must call world-class was Lionel Lhote as the Marquis of Posa. The duet where he and Don Carlos swear the oath of friendship and then his death scene, you might as well place among the greatest interpretations you could ever experience. You would tremble, so to speak, when the bloodthirsty Grand Inquisitor sings his deadly words full of compelling demands. Roberto Scandiuzzi, bass, you can hardly imagine in any other role. The smaller roles are also filled very nicely one by one, more or less modestly, but still quite appropriately as it should be.
This opera house deserves special mention because it employs people at the margins of our society in almost every production and thus involves them in the whole and gives them dignity. It is a particularly beautiful gesture of humanity.
What happened to me, I still don't know, but I could neither get nor can I get rid of the impression that this opera production was about the most beautiful one I ever experienced. Our colleague Matthias De Bel was equally speechless and after the applause he told me: "Actually, I've never seen a better opera before". That's how you heard that impression confirmed in the corridors as well. A Golden Label Opera & Music Theatre Nomination is therefore more than justified.
- WHAT: Don Carlos, opera by Giuseppe Verdi with a libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry
- WHERE & WHEN: Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Liège, premiere January 30, 2020
- WHO: conductor: Paolo Arrivabeni - Orchestra and choir of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie – direction: Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera – sets: Gary Mc Cann – costumes: Fernand Ruiz – lighting: Franco Marri – choir direction: Pierre Iodice
- VOICES MAIN ROLES: Gregory Kunde, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Yolanda Auyanet, Kate Aldrich, Lionel Lhote, Roberto Scandiuzzi
- IMAGE MATERIAL: © Opéra de Wallonie
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