Riccardo Chailly / Rolando Villazon / ROYAL CGO - Don Carlo (Gesamtaufnahme)
In this majestic production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, Riccardo Chailly’s qualities as a Verdi conductor are brilliantly displayed in the dramatic precision and transparent instrumental detail he draws from both orchestra and cast. Willy Decker directs a wonderful piece of stagecraft, letting the tragedy unwind with minimal, yet telling, interventions. The drama takes place in the mausoleum of Filippo II’s Escorial, where the tombs of countless generations of Spanish royalty line the walls. Filippo’s confrontation with Il grande inquisitore – which takes place over his own coffin, its resting place in the wall ready and waiting – is chillingly symbolic, as are the feet of the giant crucifix that hangs over Don Carlo as he sees his life sacrificed by his father.
Robert Lloyd, Rolando Villazón, Amanda Roocroft, Dwayne Croft, Jaakko Ryhänen, Giorgio Giuseppini, Violeta Urmana
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / De Nederlandse Opera Chorus / Riccardo Chailly
Stage Director Willy Decker

Format: All Formats, Regions: All Regions, Picture Format: 16:9, Length: 199 min.
Sound: DTS Surround / LPCM Stereo, Subtitles: English, French, Deutsch, Spanish, Italian, Dutch
Plus
Illustrated Synopsis and Cast Gallery.
Introduction to the opera including interviews with Robert Lloyd, Rolando Villazón, Amanda Roocroft, Violeta Urmana, Riccardo Chailly and Willy Decker.

Reviews
‘… a fabulous summation of Chailly’s qualities as a Verdi conductor… a wonderful piece of stagecraft…’
(The Guardian)
‘…Croft is marvellously skilled, in the tradition of American baritones decades ago. Ryhänen is magnificent… Villazón… displayed a superb voice, rich phrasing and energetic acting…’
(Opera)
‘Rolando Villazón confirms that he’s all set to become one of the best tenors of his generation… Villazón strikes me as the best young romantic tenor to have emerged since Carreras’s youthful glory days… I have never heard Carlo’s music sung with such a combination of vocal glamour, musical refinement and brooding machismo in the theatre…’
(The Sunday Times)
‘Rolando Villazon is suitably young and gauche in the title role, singing with clear, clean and attractive tone… Riccardo Chailly draws fine playing from the orchestra in a version of the opera that is likely to win many friends.’
(Opera Now)
‘Musically it is in almost all respects superb, so much so that I wish it had been the five-Act version that was performed. … It is violent, unflinching, and terribly powerful theatre. The cast is almost uniformly excellent, with Rolando Villazon making much more impression in the title role than almost anyone I’ve seen… Robert Lloyd, in strong steady voice, is a horrible Phillip II, while Amanda Roocroft plays Elisabeth with passionate intensity… Violeta Urmana is a fruity, vindictive Eboli, and Dwayne Croft a passionate Rodrigo, the ideal foil to Philip. Riccardo Chailly conducts with a powerful dramatic sense, and the whole three hours passes incredibly fast.’
(BBC Music Magazine) Released: 2005