Giuseppe Verdi’s
Don Carlos
Cast: Sonya Yoncheva (Élisabeth de Valois), Elina Garanca (Eboli), Matthew Polenzani (Don Carlos), Etienne Dupuis (Rodrigue), Eric Owens (Philippe II), John Relyea (Grand Inquisitor)
There will be a pre-opera talk one hour before the performance led by Russell Fox.
For the first time in company history, the Met presents the original five-act French version of Verdi’s epic opera of doomed love among royalty, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a starry cast, including tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth de Valois, and mezzosoprano Elina Garanca as Eboli. Bass-baritones Eric Owens and John Relyea are Philippe II and the Grand Inquisitor, and baritone Étienne Dupuis rounds out the principal cast as Rodrigue. Verdi’s masterpiece receives a monumental new staging by David McVicar that marks his 11th Met production, placing him among the most prolific and popular directors in recent Met memory.
Act I
Don Carlos meets Élisabeth, and they fall in love. Their happiness ends with news that Élisabeth is instead to marry King Philippe, Carlos’s father.
Act II
Carlos confesses to Rodrigue his love for the new queen, and they swear eternal friendship. Eboli entertains the ladies of the court with a song. Élisabeth enters, followed by Carlos, who declares his love. She rejects him. Philippe warns Rodrigue to beware the Inquisition and asks him to watch Élisabeth and Carlos.
Act III
Carlos arrives to meet Élisabeth, but when he discovers that it is actually Eboli, he rejects her. She swears to expose him, and Rodrigue threatens to kill her, but Carlos prevents him. At a burning of heretics, Carlos leads a group of Flemish deputies to Philippe. The king rejects their pleas for freedom. The prince draws his sword on his father, but Rodrigue disarms him.
Act IV
The king reflects on his life with a wife who doesn’t love him and consults the Grand Inquisitor. When Élisabeth enters, Philippe accuses her of adultery. Eboli confesses to Élisabeth that she falsely accused her of being unfaithful. Eboli swears to save Carlos. Rodrigue visits Carlos in prison. Agents of the Inquisition shoot him, and he tells Carlos that Élisabeth will meet him at St. Just.
Act V
Élisabeth and Carlos bid each other farewell, and Philippe and the Grand Inquisitor arrive. As the agents of the Inquisition move in on Carlos, Charles V materializes out of the darkness.