A Don of another color

Having given us a silly Don last month, the Met now gives us a tragic one--Verdi’s masterpiece Don Carlo based on Schiller’s play. Don Carlo (the crown prince) travels to France to get a glimpse of his intended bride, Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of the French King Henry. They meet cute in the forest of Fontainbleu after a shooting party, as the skies are darkening. Poor Elisabeth is frightened but Carlo volunteers to protect her, having identified himself as a messenger from the Spanish court. She is curious about her intended match and Carlo shows her a portrait of himself. Bingo! Both are instantly and deliriously in love. After their joyful duet all goes downhill. Canons announce a Franco-Spanish peace to be sealed by nuptials and the orchestra erupts with climactic bursts of sound. And who is wedding Elisabeth???? Surprise!

Carlo’s father has decided to take Elisabeth for his own bride, thus unleashing four more acts of friendship, sacrifice, betrayal, thwarted love, honor, rejection, self-delusion, disgrace, and an auto da fe. The four and a half hours fly by in waves of gorgeous melodies and apt orchestrations propulsively conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Horns are a constant presence and the entire brass section keeps our attention on red alert. There is no down time.

This is a more balanced casting than the one I saw some years ago that was dominated by the charismatic Dmitri Hvorostovsky. In this production the role of Rodrigo is sung by Simon Keenlyside who definitely could have put a bit more pizazz into the role. On the other hand, Roberto Alagna was everything he was supposed to be and more. I could completely believe him as the neglected and unloved son who cannot let go of the now-forbidden love for Elisabeth. Marina Poplavskaya is equally convincing as the honorable queen who is trying to do the right thing but carries her secret love in her heart and Carlo’s portrait in her jewel case. This leaves the door open for the jealous Princess of Eboli (ably interpreted by Anna Smirnova’s dusky mezzo) to betray her queen and to set in motion a chain of events that is tragic for everyone. Rodrigo has walked a fine line between loyalty to Philip, who has expressed gratitude for his support, and his loyalty to Carlo, born of friendship. He gives his life for Carlo but dies in vain. He never achieves his goal of freeing the beleaguered Flemish people from Philip’s tyranical rule, nor can he save Carlo from the envy and contempt of his father.

The surprising thing about the characterizations is that one can feel sympathy for each player in this sad tale. Philip is a lonely aging man despairing over his inability to win the love of his young queen. His aria (“Ella giammi m’amo”) is heartbreaking, particularly so as sung by Ferrucio Furlanetto who certainly has the “garlic”. He is terrified of losing power to Carlo and must ask the Grand Inquisitor for permission to kill him. The G.I. himself (in a terrific piece of acting and singing by Eric Halfvarson) is blind and feeble but wields unquestioned power over everyone. He assures Philip that he can sacrifice his son, Just as God sacrificed HIS son. The tragedy of living in a state of paranoia in a totalitarian nation is driven home over and over again.

The chorus was as potent as usual. I was pleased to recognize some favorite young singers onstage: Here is Layla Claire portraying Elisabeth’s page! Oh, and then there were Donovan Singletary and Christopher Schaldenbrand among the Flemish Deputies. That’s always fun.

So....dream casting, excellent performances, passionate conducting of gorgeous music and a stirring story. Can I find anything to complain about? Sure. The production seems threadbare and minimalistic and doesn’t add anything to the storytelling. The setting of the first act in the forest of Fontainebleu is the exception. We are in a cold snowy landscape with a visually arresting pathway snaking through; the chill is relieved when Carlo lights a (real) fire to warm Elisabeth. This works. But afterward we are frequently treated to bare walls with squares of color which I supposed were meant to look like shafts of light but looked to me like a geometry puzzle. The designers seem to favor a color palette of red, black and gold. In the Queen’s garden, the women of the court are dressed in black and wave red fans. This is visually compelling but steals drama from the Princess Eboli singing a song about a veiled woman deceiving her husband ( as in Nozze de Figaro) which foreshadows the veiled Princess Eboli herself appearing to Carlo. And what is that strange red piece of “street furniture”? It suggested to me either a wastecan or a portapotty. Well, at least the furniture didn’t sing so let’s give it a pass.