Don Carlo: Teatro Regio (Noseda) [Blu-ray] [2015] [Region Free]

In one of the most outstanding productions of this complicated Verdi work I have ever seen. The Torino Teatro Regio has placed the work in the secure hands of director/designer Hugo de Ana and especially the brilliant conductor Ganandrea Noseda/ The cast assembled includes some of the finest sing actors before the public today: Ramon Vargas, Daniela Barcellona, Ludovic Tezier, Ildar Abdrazakov and Roberto Tagliavini. Unfortunately the performance is somewhat spoiled by the shrill and squally Elisabetta of Svetlana Kasyan. By what serious misjudgement Kasyan came to be involved in this rarified ensemble is anybody's guess. However, in spite of Kasyan's sever shortcomings, the DVD is as a whole highly recommended.

Great performance all round

This is a production of the four-act Italian Don Carlo, first performed in 1884. The work in this form is certainly tauter, more direct than in the five-act French original. It is a conventionally lavish production, but there is not much wrong with that when it so effectively evokes the atmosphere of the religious oppression and personal antagonisms so depicted by Verdi. The setting is the 16th-century Spain. We get Verdi's opera as grand costume drama with lavish and very atmospheric sets including giant stone walls and statues and religious backdrops. The richness of the costume design is impressive and the splendor of the golden Spanish Baroque court is a feast for the eye. There is rarely any light: the prison, the cloister, the square outside the Cathedral, everything is dark and claustrophobic. The feeling of those places is a triumph of mystery, lurking shadows and dusky corners, but excellent, if discreet, lighting ensures crystal clear images.The heart of almost any opera production is the cast of singers, and it takes artists of rare stature to measure up against a staging as big as this. Ramón Vargas as Don Carlo has a strong and attractive voice and he knows how to shape a phrase. Although his voice may no longer be at its prime, he brings passion to the title character. Svetlana Kasyan has a handsome-looking stage presence and she looks the very image of the wronged, sympathetic Elisabeth, but her voice sounds a size too small for Elisabeth, however, she possesses a beautiful and potent voice. Ludovic Tézier's Rodrigo, if somewhat limited in facial mobility, puts a lot of expression into his part. Ildar Abdrazakov's Philip displays intelligence and musicality to the kings loneliness and dilemmas about his son and the Inquisitor. Daniela Barcellona is an impressive Princess Eboli, but she is at times pushed by the excessive demands of the role. The dark-hued, threatening setting fits Gianandrea Noseda's sensitive conduction well. He throughout evinces a feeling for the 'colouring' of the score.The production looks stunning on the Blu-ray release with crystal clear images, the sound is convincing and the filming uncontroversial. This is not just for traditionalists but for all who value thought-through design and production values faithful to the original scenario.

First presented in Paris in French as a five-act grand opera, the challenging length and nature of Don Carlos meant that it would undergo several further revisions, but in whichever version it's presented, this remains one of Verdi's greatest works and one of the most impressive spectacles in all of opera. That impression is upheld by the 2013 Teatro Regio di Torino production of the 1884 four-act version of Don Carlo even if the musical performance and singing are not quite up to the considerable demands of this challenging opera.The 1884 version drops the whole of the original Act I, where Don Carlo first meets and immediately falls in love with his promised bride Elisabeth of Valois in the gardens of Fontainebleau. This has the consequence of shifting the emphasis from love story to brotherhood, family and duty, but openings with a funeral and an apparition rather than the romantic encounter of the five-act version of the work, this sets the tone for a work that is still a highly charged drama. This tone comes through most successfully in the Turin production, with monumental sets, stone pillars, the ceremonial, religious and regal formality and richness of the costume designs all contributing to a sense of deeply serious intrigue and dark drama. It's a grandeur that matches Verdi's vision. and intensity of purpose, a major spectacle that looks every inch the ultimate expression of opera, which in many ways Don Carlo is.While the epic scope is all there on the stage, the level of nuance and psychological probing that needs to be expressed through the playing and the singing just doesn't live up to the exceptional demands of Verdi's score here in the Turin production. It's a heavy and oppressive work, but even so Gianandrea Noseda's management of the pace and tone of the work is quite leaden, never finding the light and shade that is there to reflect the shifting themes and personalities. There's a lot demanded of the singers too, but despite the fact that the cast here is an exceptionally good one, it's hard to feel that any of them are right for the roles. Ildar Abdrazakov comes out best, his singing capable, controlled and authoritative as Philip II, but Ramón Vargas' voice has lost much of its former force as Carlo and Elisabeth is much too big a role for Svetlana Kasyan. Even the wonderful Daniela Barcellona is pushed by the excessive demands of this work, but even if they are unable to get across the full measure of Verdi's brilliance, the Turin production is still impressive, and you are never in doubt that this is one of the greatest creations in all opera.The production looks stunning in High Definition on the Blu-ray release, the image crystal clear, the sets looking impressive with bold colouration and strong contrasts. The singers are not wearing radio mics so it can be a little echoing, but there's a rich dark tone to the orchestration that is warm and enveloping, with good presence in the DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 mix. There's a deep low-frequency boom on the surround mix which has most impact during the Grand Inquisitor scene. The only extra feature on the disc is a Cast Gallery, but there's an essay on the creation of the work and a synopsis in the booklet. Subtitles are in English, French, German, Japanese and Korean.

Some very powerful moments but I did find Willi Decker's sets a little too bleak. Not as powerful as the famous Strasbourg La Traviata. Amanda Roocroft did not look young enough for Don Carlo to fall in love with - she did look like his mother! Villazon was in good voice as was Robert Lloyd.

one of the worst don-carlo-recordings of the last 60 years. Ramon vargas is now much to old for this role and looks ridiculous.his singing is a shame for Verdi. his elisabetta is even worst, she sounds like an amateur church-singer and is anxious before every note.her expression shows that she knows nothing about the role and the text. abdrazakov and tessier are dull as never before - no wonder in this surrounding. Only daniela barcellona tries to keep her own high standard- conductor and director seem to be absent. I don't see an excuse for the publishing of this s***.

Ce produit est important pour ma recherche. C'est une production du style très contemporain et protestant de "Don Carlo" en quatre actes. La qualité de DVD est bonne.

Estado físico do produto muito bom. Qualidade artística excelente. Foi uma ótima compra, em todos os sentidos.

Il don Carlo di Torino diretto da Andrea Noseda. Dopo la "quasi" integrale del Met Freni Domingo Levine e quella di Pappano, Mattila e Alagna, farsi un'idea di un Don Carlo decente, grandioso al punto giusto e con interpreti validi, per rifarsi, dopo il pessimo ultimo spettacolo di un paio di anni fa a Bologna. Peccato non esista, seppur trasmesso a suo tempo dalla RAI, il Don Carlos Freni, Carreras Abbado con l'imponente regia di Ronconi. Sognarselo, come il Simon Boccanegra, ai giorni nostri quando c'era Abbado alla Scala.

Don Carlo von G. Verdi hat, jedenfalls soweit ich das überblicken kann,in den letzten 20 - 30 Jahren auf den Opernbühnen der Welt ihrenfesten Platz gehabt. Momentan scheint dies bei einem Blick diesbezüglichins Netz nicht mehr ganz so stark zu sein. Möglich, dass die Oper inZeiten, als man dachte, Charles in England würde bald den Thron besteigen, deshalb so oft kam.Doch nun zur Sache: Diese Produktion ist nicht nur elegant und stilsicher inder gesamten optischen Erscheinung, nein, sie zeigt sich mit ihren Protagonisten auch sehrstilsicher im Verdi-Bel-Canto, während dessen eine komplexe Handlung verständlichaber trotzdem spannend zu emotional-herrlicher Musik abläuft, die stets romantischanmutet, aber zum Teil - man staune - auch leitmotivisch im Sinne Wagners komponiert ist.Dieses Stück sich auf den Bildschirm zu holen, zahlt sich aus meiner Sicht wirklich aus,weil so etwas vorherrscht, was Johann Sebastian Bach vielleicht "vergnügte Ruh" nennen würde,als eine im Prinzip wenig dramatische sondern eher epische Handlung auf der Bühne dargestelltwird, die jedoch geradezu einer psychologischen Analyse der Figuren gleichkommt, weil ebendieseimmer von der Gebärde her aber auch schon im gesungenen Text selbst von den Singdarstellern je konkret erzählt wird.Diesbezüglich erinnert man sich also auch an die Shakespear'schen Stücke, die die es ja zur Perfektion treiben,den Schauspielern bildartige Aussagen als Text zur Verfügung zu stellen, was in diesen Fällen aber auchder Notwendigkeit geschuldet war, einen an sich schon anziehenden, bildhaften Text für den konkreten Zweckzur Verfügung zu stellen, dass man auch von den Seitenbereichen des Zuschauerbereichs aus dieHandlung gut verstehen zu können, ohne Blickkontakt mit der Bühne zu haben.Auch die deutschen Subtitles, die in DC zur Verfügung standen, gaben eine sehr brauchbare wie schöne Übersetzung up.

2013年トリノでのライブ。日本語字幕選択可｡本作はヴェルディの最高傑作の一つだが、音楽は非常に渋くオーケストラも歌唱も難しく難曲とされ上演されることは少ない。原作はシラーの戯曲「スペインの太子ドン・カルロス」｡政略結婚が招いた父子の悲劇と教会権力と王権の相剋の物語。本盤はカルロ役にこの役を得意とするメキシコの名テノール ヴァルガス、フェリペ王役にロシヤの名バス歌手アブドラザコフという男性陣はベストの配役。しかし、女性陣がやや弱いのが残念。演出も時代考証と原作を考慮した暗く、威圧的で重厚なもの｡残念なのは当初の５幕版から第1幕部分をカットした、4幕版であること。５幕版の方がストーリーの流れが理解しやすい。このような映像を観ると現在のイタリアの準大劇場の実力が分かる。私見であるがコロナで中止にならなければ10月に来日する予定のスカラ座の2演目は5月に来日予定であったマッシーモ（パレルモ）の「ナブッコ」に負けていたろう（逆に「ノルマ」は主役がダメなので負け）。日本の聴衆も本盤のような優れた映像で耳が肥えているので、名前だけで大金を払う人は少なくなって来ていると思う（ましてこんな時代である）。なお、５幕版はTutto-Verdyシリーズ（日本語字幕付き）のものがとても良い。派手さは無いがバランスの取れた好演。自分はこれが同シリーズの最高傑作であると思う。