Here's the graphic, which is of the guy playing Rodrigo....the way he looked about 25 years ago:
I guess that's Ramon Vargas in the lower-left-hand corner.
And the text is just as bad:
Yeah, we all know that former-tenor Domingo sells more tickets than Vargas, but wow. This is really insulting and a distortion of the opera.
Are you sure that's not Don Carlo at the upper left? Ii might as well be.
ReplyDeleteGuy in the monk's robe is Emperor Charles V, Philip II's father, who abdicated and became a monk. He is referred to early in the opera and in some, not all, stagings, he appears at the end of the opera.
ReplyDeleteBut the more serious issues here are that LA Opera is omitting the first act, and using the clumsy and inaccurate Italian translation. If you want a translated libretto, at least translate into the language of the audience. Singing Don Carlos in Italian (except in Italy) is the sin against the holy spirit.
ReplyDeleteOmitting the first act is a terrible, terrible sin.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the star-studded (Kaufmann, Tezier, Yoncheva, Garanca, Abdrazakov) Don Carlos in Paris Opera last October, I'm not too keen on this Don Carlo. However, this cast is almost a repeat of the Don Carlo at Wiener Staatsoper (all the same male roles: Vargas, Domingo, Furlanetto).
ReplyDeleteYou can see that performance in entirely on YouTube.
Part I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfEmCkD2w5g
Part II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eweJV1qmPEk&t=2405s
My friend and I watched that together, and she commented that this sounded like Don Carlo being sung by elderly people. I agree! ;)
We had a great Don Carlo here in 2016. Crap production, great singing from five of the leads (Fabiano, Kwiecien, Pape, Krasteva, Silvestrelli) and merely very good from Martinez. Silvestrelli sounded somewhat worn, but solid, and he was a terrifying Grand Inquisitor, where it's not unreasonable to sound a little old.
ReplyDeleteYikes! Another uninteresting season on the main stage. Don Carlo is my favorite Verdi opera, but after SFO's production a few years back, I can't imagine this one topping it. It's the only opera that calls to me from Los Angeles.
ReplyDeleteAre the European opera stars boycotting California? I'm beginning to wonder. They aren't singing in SFO or LAO that's for sure.
Cheers!
I've actually got three operas to see in LA: Satyagraha, Hansel und Gretel, and Clemenza, which it is possible I have never seen.
ReplyDeleteAbout European singers: we're five hours past NY. It is a very long trip for them and they can get paid better in Europe.