Giuseppe Verdi, Carlo Maria Giulini, PlA¡cido Domingo, Montserrat CaballA©, Ruggero Raimondi, Sherrill Milnes, Shirley Verrett, Giovanni Foiani, Simon Estes, Ryland Davies, Ambrosian Opera Chorus - Verdi - Don Carlo / Domingo A· CaballA© A· Raimondi A· Milnes A· Verrett A· Estes A· Giulini

Politics, love, and family conflict make a heady brew in Verdi's masterpiece, originally set to a French text for Paris in 1867. In 1882, the composer made an Italian version with big cuts, lopping off the entire first act, which here is restored by Giulini. His pointed, nuanced conducting makes this recording the best available. An ideal Don Carlo requires the unattainable: five great singers and an expert Verdi conductor. This 1970 set has glorious voices that don't dig deep enough for this multilayered drama. The young Domingo sounds fresh, but lacks the free top that the part needs. Milnes has the voice for Rodrigo but, like Domingo and Caballé, is too generalized. Raimondi is too light-voiced for Philip, and the confrontation scene consequently lacks the chilling tension that Tito Gobbi and Boris Christoff bring to it on an earlier EMI cut led by Gabriele Santini. Rival recordings have bigger flaws and few of the virtues that are displayed here, such as Caballé's extraordinarily beautiful if detached singing. True Verdians also will want Pappano's French version, also on EMI, which features Alagna as the hapless prince. --Dan Davis Amazon.com

A Glimpse of Verdi's Grandeur

Don Carlo is probably Verdi's most musical and dramatically tense work.
The opera demands a high-calibre cast that few houses nowadays can afford.
In this recording headed by the legendary Giulini, Domingo and (again legendary) Caballe, listeners are treated with a well-nigh unsurpassable overall performance. The conducting of Giulini is nothing but sheer perfection.
With the Fontainebleau Act uncut, we have a very fine scene and duet between Carlos and Elisabetta in their Fontainebleau meeting. I hate other versions (the Milan) with this crucial Act being cut out. The first duet between Carlos and Elisabetta is undisputably one of the most beautiful duets in Verdi's works for tenor and soprano, and Caballe and Domingo brought the piece off in flying colours.
Not all the roles are 'perfectly' done, admittedly. Milnes is in his better form in this recording, but his voice is nonethelss drier than other more suitable portrayals, Cappucilli being brought to mind. Posa is a very important figure with lots of drama and pathos in the later Acts of the Opera, even more so than Carlos himself, and much more so than Elisabetta, Filippo or any other character. Milnes's portrayal tends a bit towards monochronism.
Raimondi's Filippo of course not to be compared with Cesare Siepi, but he's nonetheless adequate for the role. The duet with Faioni's Grand Inquisitor is a bit whitish, but otherwise, the two did not fare badly in this performance.
The difficult role of Eboli is tackled by Verret with aplomb in the big aria 'Don Fatale', but her Veil Song is not on par with Olga Borodina's under Haitinck, or Baltsa under Karajan. The voice is big, but not as beautiful as Borodina or Baltsa, a trait so vital for the role of Eboli the vain seduttress.
The best part of this wonderful recording rightfully goes to the supreme coupling of two Spaniards - Caballe and Domingo in the major roles. This is more enhanced by the retaining of the beautiful first Act, to which every opera lover would but agree that it is a more than fabulous 'bonus'. September 26, 2008

Almost 40 Years Later, this is still the Best Don Carlo

Don Carlo is one of Verdi's most difficult operas to stage. You need six principal singers with outstanding Verdi voices and characterful insights that bring this great masterpiece to life. In addition to that, you also need a conductor sensitive to the musical language of Verdi's score, to its changes in mood, its grand moments, and its reflective scenes. We rarely get great Verdi voices today, but back in the 70's when this set was produced, EMI assembled a team of such a high caliber that it became almost impossible to surpass such high standards. They also enlisted the services of Carlo Maria Giulini, known then as the decade's most talented Verdi conductor, and also as the pioneer of setting the performance practice of mounting the 5-Act version of the opera.

The cast is outstanding. You have the fresh, young Don Carlo of Placido Domingo, the beautiful, plangent Elisabetta of Montserrat Caballe, the rich, dark Posa of Sherrill Milnes, the earthy, yet accurate Eboli of Shirley Verrett, and the rolling Filippo of Ruggiero Raimondi. No, the Inquisitor is not Martti Talvela, but that is a minor protest compared to the excellence of this cast. Years later, Decca and Sir Georg Solti would challenge this cast with their own Don Carlo featuring Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Fischer Dieskau, Grace Bumbry, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and Martti Talvela, and as excellent as that set is, I'm afraid it does not capture the level of poetry that Giulini's team has in abundance in this recording.

Truly, the Fontainebleau scene has never been bettered by any other recording. Domingo and Caballe shine in the crucial First Act when both leads meet for the time. Their timbres suit the ecstatic and later tragic moments of this often neglected act, bridging the emotional and psychological states of the characters in the latter acts. For this act alone should you buy this recording. Some people may say that Caballe and Domingo lack the spontaneity and passion of a staged setting, but that overstates the fact that this is a studio recording. I most certainly find it moving, and although I find these two singers more exciting on stage, the perfection achieved in this recording is simply beyond description. The tenor and soprano in the later acts communicate the romantic tragedy of Verdi's largest opera, and no one gives as beautiful and well-thought out soliloquy as Caballe in Tu che le vanita. Their farewell scene is heartbreaking and impassioned. How unfortunate it is that Verdi never wrote great tenor arias for Don Carlo. Domingo would have made them his own.

The next few scenes introduce us to the characters whose lives are intertwined in this great Verdian drama. While there are certainly finer voiced baritones in the role of the patriotic Posa, Sherrill Milnes gives us one of the most incisive performances of his career. He may not be as insightful as Hampson with Pappano or as luxurious as Bastianini, but he gives a complete account of this baritone role. I'm glad too that he doesn't have the snarling effects of a wrongly cast Fischer-Dieskau in the Solti set. Shirley Verrett is one of the most exciting Ebolis to sing the part, even if her Italian diction is not perfect. She deals with the fioritura with elan, and while I far prefer Bumbry and Cossotto in this mezzo part, she paints one of the most complete Ebolis on disk. Her "O Don Fatale" is devastating, if not in the same level of Grace Bumbry.

Ruggiero Raimondi is lighter than Nicolai Ghiaurov as Filippo, but he nuances the gravitas of the character more finely than the Bulgarian giant. His scene with the Inquisitor may not capture the same degree of electricity achieved in Solti's recording with Talvela and Ghiaurov, but Raimondi paints the rest of the character's complexities with the finesse of a Romantic artist. This is Philip the forlorn lover, not Philip the merciless dictator.

Giulini conducts the opera with Verdi's poetry and beauty. If this does not capture the excitement of the opera the way Solti's does, no one else captures the detail, the beauty, and the singing qualities of the score that the way this great conductor does in this recording. A must for every collection.
December 6, 2007

Peu de personnalité

Version de 1970 en cinq actes de 3 heures et demie avec Domingo et Caballé. Heureusement Domingo est encore jeune (30 ans) mais son interprétation est déjà routinière. Raimondi rate Philippe II et Giulini n'est pas à la hauteur de son enregistrement en public à Covent Garden en 1958. L'interprétation de Caballé est impersonnelle mais il est vrai aussi que le rôle d'Élisabeth est souvent ingrat (on comprend que Crespin l'ait refusé à Karajan, dans une version très abrégée du rôle il faut le dire). September 12, 2007

Marvelous performance by the whole lot.

This is a very good version of the 5-act Italian "Don Carlo". You can notice the anguish and pain of Don Carlo into Domingo's performance, sometimes is heartbreaking. Monserrat Caballé singing is full of pain and longing, a true performance by the Catalonian soprano. The Marquis de Posa sung by Milnes shows a true friendship bond to Carlo and Elisabetta. The emperor Phillip is sung by Ruggero Raimondi. As the bad guy, his singing is dark yet full of expression, specially on his monologue "nel mio manto regal". The wicked Eboli sung by Verret is very good, showing the desire of breaking the love between Carlo and Elisabetta. Giulini conducting is passionate and blazing, like fireworks. The choir is very good, specially at the auto-de-fe scene before Carlo gets arrested. Don't look further, this is the Don Carlo to listen and it has a great price too. May 30, 2007

This is the definitive recording of Don Carlo!!!

This is the definitive recording of Don Carlos.Giulini(a golden age conductor)does a marvelous job with his wand.Montserrat Caballe's performance is profound.She sings with such seemless legato line,and the most glorious tone,this demanding role of elisabetta di valois.Her high notes are so beautiful and powerful,she more than does this role justice.Caballe's pianissimo note at the end of her main aria,tu che le vanita(is one of the grandest verdi has ever written,and in caballe's hands,one of the most beautiful.)has to be heard to be believed.It is truely a revelation,in terms of the singular beauty Caballe is able to manifest here on planet earth.A note so soft and pure,and yet luxuriously audible.Shirley verrett is another reason to have this don carlo.Her eboli is sung with rich and beautiful tone,as well as thrilling dramatic bite.her o don fatale blows me away every time.Domingo sings with a handsome tone,and stays in character throughout.The other singers are in good voice,and pleasant to listen to.Milnes and raimondi are a nice addition to this recording.Giulini's don carlo was recorded in 1970,and this newly remastered version sounds pristine.The over all atmosphere I feel from this don carlo,when playing on my stereo,is that of being transported in a aural rapture to golden age heaven. January 2, 2006

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