cahn

The Chatelet Don Carlos, which I promised

esteven AND RL-opera-friend to watch in... October?? ... was yet another casualty of Holiday Vortex (yeah, I know that was months ago now, it has taken me that long to dig myself out), but here we are!

zdenka sort-of watched Otello in tandem with me earlier (perhaps I will manage to post about that at some point), and that was so much fun that I twisted her arm into watching this DC in tandem with me ("It's in French! Thomas Hampson is in it!") which was really great <3 (not least because zdenka very helpfully pointed out all the places where it switches from tu to vous and back again and <333333) We watched over a period of about two weeks because of schedule and time-zone constraints (and also because we had a LOT of squeeing to do).

You will be totally unsurprised to hear that I have a lot of thoughts about this one. Basically: I loved it, I loved it lots and lots, just hearing the French is absolutely lovely, and the singing and acting was generally superb. Hampson of course (despite the wig, he's just always SO GOOD, both vocally and acting, omg), but also Karita Mattila as Elisabeth was Amazing, I loved her voice. But everyone was really just great.

(I switch between French and Italian/Anglicized names in the following: French when talking about this production, and Italian/Anglicized when talking about other productions I've seen, which have almost all been Italian. I'm also going to refer to the Hampson-Kaufmann Salzburg 2013 a bunch because it was really interesting to me to compare Hampson in the two productions.)

I also don't know that I've watched another Don Carlo(s) that's so romantic. By "romantic," I of course mostly mean "really into Rodrigue and Carlos." They're really touchy-feely! (One of both zdenka's and my favorite bits was that very first scene they have together, where they're both very formal and vous-heavy while the priests are there, and then as soon as the priests leave Alagna not only goes all tutoyer but basically jumps into Hampson's arms. It's adorable.)

But even more than that, the staging and acting brings out this whole romantic-plot betrayal-making-up trope, so SO common as the romantic plot in operas in general, as applicable to Rodrigue/Carlos. First Carlos doubts Rodrigue (in the duet/trio with Eboli, Alagna really brings out the "Rodrigue?? Quel secret ai-je decouvert??" to the extent where I asked zdenka if the second sentence even was in the Italian -- it is, but I've never heard it dwelt on like that before) and then decides to trust him -- and then is betrayed! betrayed!! in the auto-da-fe scene. (Hampson's face, omg, he's not even telepathically trying to convey what's going on as older!Hampson is to Kaufmann in the same scene in Salzburg 2013, he's just horrified and devastated at how much he's hurt Carlos. And Alagna's face! And Alagna just standing there, still and devastated, as the scene swirls on without him.)

This makes "C'est mon jour suprême" even more of a love song than it normally is. In other productions I've seen, they've played the "My Rodrigo! It is nice of you to visit me in this tomb" line straight -- generally, following Schiller, Carlo has gotten over it, is relying on his friendship and trust with Rodrigo, and is indeed happy to see him; and Rodrigo's aria is played simply as Rodrigo saying goodbye to Carlo and steeling himself to tell Carlo what he's done (which I also adore like mad). Here, Alagna makes it clear that his Carlos is not over it, and he is not feeling very happy with Rodrigue. And so "C'est mon jour suprême" becomes functionally the love song where the lover is reassuring his beloved that he does love him, he has not betrayed him, and that he will give up (has given up) all for him. (I mean, it's basically "Di te scordarmi" from Il trovatore!) And during the song, Rodrigue gets closer to him until at the end -- when Carlos finally looks at him, agh -- he is about to put his head in Carlos' lap. (He doesn't, because Carlos breaks in with "But why do you talk of death?!")

Interestingly, this focus on the relationships was at the expense of the political focus. Rodrigue is, canonically, in love with freedom and saving Flanders. I mean, a lot; it's the other great love of his life, and the other great love he gives his life for. In this production it was interesting that Hampson, who sings so movingly to Carlos about... well... any line that has "Carlos" in it, sings all the lines about Flanders to Carlos with a fairly flat affect and with no sense of urgency or intensity. (And very differently from 2013 Salzburg, where Rodrigo is really engaged with Flanders.) It just doesn't seem to be that important to Rodrigue, in this production. Which makes perfect sense because of the laser focus on the Carlos/Rodrigue relationship. Conversely, in the opera libretto (and even the music) there's a disquiet, a certain discomfort, that arises from Rodrigue being pulled between and trying to harmonize, as it were, these two things that are so important to him (and of course in Schiller there is a whole other dimension of manipulative!Posa, but never mind that right now), which here is mostly absent. And that absence does make some of the action of the opera make a little less sense. It made less sense to me that Rodrigue took Carlos' sword at all, and when Rodrigue, right before dying, sang "Save Flanders!" it seemed like a rather odd thing for him to say, whereas usually, of course, it's the culmination of his Flanders-love arc and makes perfect sense.

One of the things zdenka and i both really enjoyed about this production is how young Alagna and Hampson are in it! It's really easy to see how Carlos and Rodrigue are really just kids, in way over their head, and with all these Feelings that they're wrestling with, and which, in the end, lead to tragedy. And it's so believable that they're peers, they're the same age, they're best friends -- I also got that peer-friend vibe from Alagna and Keenlyside in the Met, but I think all the other Don Carlo's that I've seen have had a much older Rodrigo and/or much more of a lord/vassal or mentor/student relationship -- e.g. Hampson and Kaufmann in 2013 Salzburg, or even Keenlyside and Villazon in the 2008 ROH (where Keenlyside doesn't necessarily present as particularly older, but he's playing the devoted vassal more than the best friend). And with young Carlos and Rodrigue, it's easier to see how Philippe thinks of Rodrigue as a stand-in for his own terribly disappointing son (this is more evident in the French version, where for example he calls Rodrigue "enfant").

Speaking of Philippe. José Van Dam's Philippe (I did not know this, but

alcanis_ivennil pointed out to me the irony that he's Belgian, ha) is much more restrained in his acting, with his passion mostly breaking through into anger or standoffishness when he's interacting with other characters. I had a hard time with this at first, but in Act IV I was quite a bit more convinced ("Elle ne m'aime pas" was great) and it also occurs to me that being much more restrained is itself making a statement in this wildly emotional court where everyone is pretty much falling intensely over everyone else (often literally). It did make "Restez!" a different experience than I've seen it in other productions -- I've been imprinted by Furlanetto, I suppose, but I'm used to seeing a lot more of Philip becoming more and more visibly fascinated with Rodrigo during this scene (which I think is supported by the libretto and music). Here, Philippe remained standoffish for a while, despite Hampson doing his level best to fling himself to the ground and seize Philippe's hands (van Dam has the best "what are you DOING??" reaction at that, it's hilarious), until he starts talking to Rodrigue about his personal problems. Here, he's still relatively restrained but at one point he grabs Rodrigue's hands, perhaps mirroring what Rodrigue did before, and it's really interesting because Hampson then gets a similar "what are you doing??" reaction, only instead of "help I need HR" like 2013 Salzburg!Hampson, it's more "HOLY COW DID YOU SEE THAT?? THE KING JUST DISPLAYED AN EMOTION???? HE ACTUALLY TOUCHED MY HAND THIS MIGHT BE A FIRST" which really brings out his "Quel rayon du ciel descendu m'ouvre ce cœur impitoyable?"

That is to say, in other productions I've seen, Philip is the villain because he has these intensely strong passions/emotions that conflict with the intense passions of the other characters in destructive ways, but in this production it's almost that Philippe is the villain because he has intensely strong passions he can't articulate in any kind of meaningful way...? --

--And then of course they did the Lacrimosa, and of course it did nothing to change my firm opinion that every production of Don Carlo(s) everywhere should always do the Lacrimosa, because it is So Good. I mean, tenor son and bass father duetting over the body of the dead man they both loved, and one of them killed? You could not be more relevant to my interests if you tried. Van Dam is excellent here, his restraint becoming tragic as he and his son grieve side by side, kneeling together (oh man Alagna is excellent here too, there is just so much good stuff in this production) but that shared grief not quite turning into understanding or reconciliation. (I keep wondering, though, what would have happened if Eboli hadn't showed up right then... could they have bonded over their shared grief at all? Anyway, I think this every time I see the Lacrimosa, and thought it this time too.) And when Philippe sings, "Oui, je l'aimais," it really brings out that he couldn't say this, could perhaps not even think it, when Rodrigue was alive and it might have made a difference.

ALSO zdenka pointed out to me that when Philippe comes in after Rodrigue's death, the music for his entrance is a callback to when Philippe sings, in the Restez! scene, "At this bloody price I have bought the peace of the world!" (both of these are only in unrevised version). (!!!!) As zdenka said, that is one hell of a reminiscence motif. I CAN'T EVEN, VERDI. HOW CAN YOU BE SO AWESOME. ALSO WHY DID YOU CUT THIS IN THE REVISED VERSION.

I said this before, but I really liked Mattila as Elisabeth. I'm not sure how much of this was interpretation, and how much was the singer's age and her shorter hairstyle (which made her seem more stylish than ingenue), but I felt like she came across as fairly mature. Though zdenka pointed out she was much more afraid of Philippe in Act IV than most Elisabeths usually play it -- she was literally shaking. So maybe it's all just in my head.

But omg her voice! Her "Oh ma chère compagne" was sooooo beautiful. I think it is also better in French, where the language brings out those gorgeous plaintive lines in a way that Italian just doesn't, but also her VOICE, agh. Her "Toi qui sus le néant des grandeurs de ce monde" was also just so, so good; I was riveted.

Elisabeth is also very touchy-feely with Aremberg (I... ship it now, also this brings a whole new perspective to why Philip exiled her, ha) and with Philippe. Eboli is not exactly touchy with Elisabeth, but one rather has the sense that she would not mind, and she and Hampson have enough chemistry (yes, Hampson has chemistry with everyone, it is a Fact of Life) that now I'm shipping Eboli and Rodrigue too. (okay, I kind of already did, but only in the egalitarian way I pretty much ship Rodrigo with everyone.) In general, that Eboli-Rodrigue-Carlos trio was just fantastic, there's a lot of interplay between the characters as well as awesome singing.

Waltraud Meier (!) as Eboli was just fantastic in general. The only singer I've heard to rival her was Elīna Garanča in the Paris 2017, who was also pretty darn fantastic. I am not sure I had ever been totally convinced by the Veil Song the way I was here. And although the veil bit at the beginning of Act III was a bit weird (she... took the veil off before Carlos arrived?? I thought the whole point was that she had it on??) she managed to convey to me, in that small scene, how stifled she is in the court, and how much she longs for love <3

Which reminds me that the other bit of staging that was fantastic was the part where the Queen opens Carlos' letter. Rodrigue is clearly flirting with Eboli to take her attention away from the Queen reading Carlos ' letter (gently redirecting her whenever she turns back to Elisabeth), and then drops her like a hot potato once Elisabeth starts talking to him about Carlos. It's hilarious and also rather sad for Eboli, A+ direction and acting by Hampson and Meier there.

There were to be honest some very weird staging choices. Actually all of Act IV scene 1 was just one big questionable staging choice (what were those large bags hanging from the ceiling? Elisabeth was actually on stage for part of Philippe's aria but wandered offstage at some point?? Her jewelry box was under the blanket on that same cot??) which is too bad because I love the quartet so much, and here they sang an interesting version of it, and it was staged weirdly so I felt that it lost visual impact (though aurally it was still gorgeous). But the most weird bit was probably the Grand Inquisitor, who goes around on sticks meandering across the stage like some giant spider or something, poking Philippe with one of the sticks at some point. I don't think I was supposed to laugh, but I did. Though it is true that when the Inquisitor uses the same stick to poke at Rodrigue's dead body later on, it was very shiver-inducing.

The videography was pretty meh. (I blame the Met that I notice videography at all. But theirs is so good.) There were a bunch of times that zdenka and I were all "But we need to see Rodrigue's face!!" (...it's actually kind of amazing how important Rodrigo's reactions are, even when he's not the focus of the scene, and I swear I'm not just saying this because I love Rodrigo. Verdi/mery/du Locle loved him too, is what I'm saying.) And "We want to see all the players in this scene!! Where is everyone else??" But, I mean, 1996, and before the Met upped everyone's standards, so...

The ending / Act V: I usually don't find Act V super interesting, but Mattila and Alagna really made this. I loved that they followed (my interpretation of?) Schiller in that Carlos doesn't really seem that interested in Elisabeth once Rodrigue is dead, as he's too busy mourning Rodrigue <33333 -- which of course plays into the whole romantic interpretation as well. And at the end, Carlos didn't exactly die! Charles V beckoned Carlos into the crypt and he went, looking back once (I forgot to mention that he also clearly heard the Voice From Above in the auto-da-fe when a bunch of other people clearly didn't, so there's that strand going through too), and it was chilling and so, so good.

In conclusion: obviously it's no fun without complaining about it some (and come on, what about Flanders??) but really, one of the best-sung, best-acted, and most moving Don Carlo(s)'s I've seen! (Though the sets don't get that description :) )