Verdi: Don Carlo

Directed by Joseph Franconi Lee

In 1559 in the Forest of Fontainebleau, during the peace negotiations between France and Spain: under the terms of the treaty, the Infante of Spain, Carlos, was to marry Elisabeth de Valois, the daughter of King Henry II of France. During a hunting party, the Infante Carlos (tenor), who loves (Io la vidi) Elisabeth de Valois (soprano), daughter of the King of France, whom he is soon to marry, manages to meet her and declare his love, which is reciprocated. But his father, the King of Spain, Philip II, decides to marry Elisabeth himself. ‘Don Carlos 7’ is a ‘grand opera à la française’ in five acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on Friedrich von Schiller’s tragedy ‘Don Carlos’, premiered on 11 March 1867 at the Paris Opera. From the box set ‘Tutto Verdi’ featuring 27 of Verdi’s operas. Recorded live at the Teatro Comunale ‘Luciano Pavarotti’ in Modena on 5, 17, 19 and 21 October 2012.