Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TAKING SOUNDINGS, August 26, 2005
Opera in sound alone can never be the full monty, just as Shakespeare on the radio can't be. The grander the Grand Opera the more true this is, and Don Carlo is bigger in scope even than Aida. It is about a lot more than the story of a love-triangle set against a background of armies, slaves, pyramids and elephants: there are four parties to the love-interest alone, the role of Posa is nearly as important as any of them, and the action takes in the fate of the royal house of Spain, the imperial dominion in Flanders and the overweening power of the Spanish Inquisition. It cries out for staging. However in sound alone the Grand Inquisitor without his garb will have difficulty in being more than a disembodied bass voice given that his is a rather small part, and however dramatically kings, princes, princesses and nobles sing and act with their voices I can't help finding myself more concerned with them as sopranos, tenors, baritones and basses than as the dramatis personae they would be for me in the opera house.
When recommending a Don Carlo on disc I therefore focus mainly on the musical side. In any case there is no possible risk that if this music is sung properly it will come across as a concert - Verdi sees to that. He was a dramatist to the marrow of his bones, and the listener at home has only to follow the words in order to be caught up in the grand sombre tragedy that Verdi has burned into music. The best performance on disc, for me, will be the performance that most consistently conveys both power and beauty, because this opera is about tormented human emotions at the mercy of ruthless political power in addition to their own tragic fallibility. None of that needs any staging when conveyed in music like this. It would be a tall order to expect any performance of this outsize opera to be perfect. It is not a perfect work itself, on any showing. Even by Verdi's standards it went through an enormous amount of rethinking and revision, and it has surely the most peculiar and unconvincing conclusion there can ever have been in a work of its stature. A worthy performance has to convey total and absolute belief and commitment, but the focus has to be on beauty as well, more than would be so in the opera house, because sound is all we have.
One doesn't have to get far into the first act to realise that this Don Carlo is going to score quite exceptionally highly in point of beauty. Domingo is in superb voice, and Caballe surpasses herself. As the work goes on I suppose it might be fair to say that her lower register is not the equal of her higher, but this is Verdi and not Wagner. Wagner pitches his solo parts reasonably so as not to put strain on the voices, Verdi exploits the upper range of every voice except the bass with remorseless partiality, and Caballe rises to his monstrous demands magnificently. Eboli is a mezzo role, but the challenge Verrett has to overcome is hardly less in that respect, and her confession of the theft of the jewel-box is perhaps the final solo gem in a performance that is a jewel-box itself. Not everyone is absolutely right - the Grand Inquisitor's voice is too youthful, but I have very little criticism indeed to make of any of the major roles. Raimondi as the king seems perfectly good to me, and Milnes delivers a fine rendering of the part of Posa, combining power and inwardness, sometimes at one and the same time. If there is a high spot to the entire performance it is surely the quartet in act IV, a sublime outpouring of beautiful sound from all the principals together.
In the last analysis this Don Carlo surpasses any other I have ever heard for its combination of sheer beauty with wholehearted power. Giulini was born to conduct it, and I doubt I have a single criticism of anything he does from start to finish. The recording is now 35 years old, but you might not be able to tell. Now only weeks from Giulini's passing I am especially glad to be able to give such an unqualified endorsement to what I believe to be one of his finest achievements, indeed one of the finest opera recordings I know. It's only to be expected that there are details that one prefers in other accounts, but for sheer consistent quality at the highest level I would say your search can safely end here.
|
|
|
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A CAST ASSEMBLED IN HEAVEN, May 31, 2001
This benchmark recording has already earned all the accolades extolled by critics and laymen alike possible, and this one more wouldn't hurt and wouldn't tip the balance.Giulini is undoubtedly the driving force behind this fantastic recreation and realisation of one of Verdi's greatest operas. The cast of characters are no less worthy of acclaim. No expense was spared in organsing and arranging for this magnificent heaven-sent cast to come together in this union. Don Carlo was originally written in French and was in five acts. Several other versions appeared, including translations into Italian and what is presented here is the original five act opera, in Italian translation. Some may gripe that the original flow of Verdi's intentions were lost in the translation, but being as idiomatic as it is, Italian doesn't jar on the ear and makes an acceptable alternative, and is in fact, the more popular version of the opera. Domingo's Carlos, as compared to his later recording in French for DG, is young-sounding. His darker tone in the later recording may bring forth the character's passion and intensity, but it is this recording in which Domingo made his mark. He sings well, his voice capable of encompassing the tumultous emotions running amok with his character. Shirley Verrett as Eboli is truly stunning. She charms and seduces with the Veil Song, her voice taking on a languid and sanguine tone. She however, strings it along well, her husky voice purring away like an engine. It is the test-aria, O don fatale, in which she pulls out the stops. She invests totally into the character, physically and mentally. The perilous stretches and reaches of the role's tessitura are no hurdle for her. Her voice takes on a harsh and relentless quality as she pleads for forgiveness. Her chest notes are remarkable for their depth and intensity. No less respectable are the high notes which she hits effortlessly and spot-on. Raimondi as Filippo is a tortured soul in torment. His gravelly voice may not be as dark as preferable, but it is convincing. His anguish and pain is clearly felt. Milnes' Rodrigo is executed without any major hitch as well. His duets with Domingo are well-sung, with the voices blending. The supporting cast is also deserving of their bouquets. The star of the show must be Montserrat Caballe. As Elisabetta, she may be less than involved and immersed, but her singing is top-notch and of the highest standard. Her voice is perfectly suited for this regal role. Lush, plush and rich, her singing more than makes up for her character development. As demanding as the test-aria in the final act is, Caballe aces it by her reading. Her tone, full and concentrated, she builds up the aria from scratch and imbues in the role an intensity unmatched and a delicacy unheard of. She ends the aria by stringing the last phrase together in a long-held pianissimi straight from the heavens. A pity is that she did not "misbehave" in this recording. She has been known on two other occasions, to end the opera with a literal bang. She emits a blood curdling scream to bring out the opera and where most other sopranos would let the orchestral chords do their part, she has sucessfully held on to her scream, closing the scene, the act and the opera in tandem with the ochrestra. This would have meant at least a 20 second hold of a top note at maximum volume! Giulini leads the Royal Opera House Orchestra in a taut and incisive performance. The lower strings are notably poignant. This is the benchmark and reference recording and it is justly so. Get it or regret it!
|
|
|
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not flawless, but definitely the best on disc, February 20, 2001
This recording of "Don Carlo," arguably Verdi's greatest opera, uses the 1886, five-act version, which is the correct one to use. If the four-act version (which omits the Fontainebleau scene) is used, then we lose half an hour of great music as well as a musical theme ("Di quali amor") that is used as a leitmotif later on in the opera. In addition to using the correct edition of the score, this 1971 recording has a cast unmatched on disc in terms of both voice and characterization, and has a truly great conductor, Carlo Maria Giulini, presiding over all. Giulini turns in a sensitive, finely detailed reading of this richly rewarding score. Unlike Karajan, he conducts everything as written and lets the music speak for itself. He allows the music time to unfold (I especially like his relatively slow tempo for "Tu che le vanitŕ"), and has a masterly overview of the score. This is one of his finest recordings. His cast is especially notable for the two Spaniards, Plácido Domingo and Montserrat Caballé. Domingo, then just thirty, turns in a glorious performance of one of Verdi's most demanding tenor roles, with a warm, velvety voice perfectly comfortable even in the high reaches of the part. He has an excellent interpretation of this role and (gasp!) he also sings softly. Caballé, the greatest modern Verdi soprano, is in her absolute prime here, with her pure, silvery, gorgeous instrument, climaxing in a gloriously lyrical account of her big Act Five aria, alone worth both the five star rating and the price of the set. Ruggero Raimondi's voice is too baritonal for Philip, but he sings beautifully and intelligently and with absolute purity and security in the middle and bottom of his range, if not much volume. Shirley Verrett turns in an excellent, beautifully sung Eboli, even if she doesn't possess the full fiery temperament Cossotto, for instance, brought to the role, and Sherrill Milnes is at the very peak of his form as a magnificently sung Rodrigo. The Grand Inquisitor, Giovanni Foiani, is not dark and steady enough for this role, but he still sings memorably and resonantly. Thanks to him, Raimondi and most of all to Giulini, the crucial confrontation with the king is rivetingly intense and memorable. Simon Estes is ideal as the monk. Excellent work from the orchestra and chorus.This recording's main rival is the 1965 Solti/Decca performance, out of print in the United States but available basically everywhere else. That recording's strengths are the two basses, Nicolai Ghiaurov as a glorious Philip and Martti Talvela as a completely intimidating but gorgeously sung Inquisitor, and it also has a radiant Renata Tebaldi as Elisabetta. Bergonzi and Bumbry as Carlo and Eboli are good, though definitely not on the level of their colleagues on that recording or their correspondents on this, but Fischer-Dieskau is hopelessly miscast as Rodrigo, and Solti's direction is not perfect. If a highlights CD of the Solti comes out which includes the Ghiaurov/Talvela scene, grab it. But the EMI recording, newly reissued as a "Great Recording of the Century," is definitely my first recommendation, thanks essentially to Domingo, Caballé and Giulini.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
~ Richard Bonynge
~ Giacomo Puccini
~ Giuseppe Verdi
~ Giuseppe Verdi
See all 26 tracks on this disc
by Giuseppe Verdi 
