Sung in English
Lasts approximately 3 hours 20 minutes.

Don Carlos, the son of the King of Spain, is in love with French Princess Elisabeth from Valois, their happiness is torn apart when Elisabeth is forced to marry the King. Set in 16th century France and Spain the opera shows how love, loyalty and friendship are liable to be crushed by the harsh imperatives of power.

Verdi’s music is rich and electrifying, full of feeling and charged with passion. Tim Albery, who recently directed Verdi’s Macbeth for Opera North, directs this classic production, with psychological depth and visual glory.

Supported by the Peter Moores Foundation.

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Characters

Philip, King of Spain, has recently married Elisabeth de Valois of France. Carlos, his son, was originally meant to marry her. They loved each other but now she is his step-mother.

Act One

Scene One
At the tomb of Charles V
Carlos laments his fate. A monk offers him words of comfort. Carlos is terrified because he is convinced that it is the ghost of the dead Emperor Charles V. Rodrigo has just returned from Flanders, where the people suffer under the repressive rule of Spain. He urges Carlos to fight for their freedom. The King and Queen pass by on their way to Mass. Carlos knows that Elisabeth will never be his and decides to devote himself to the Flemish cause.

Scene Two
A garden outside the cloister
The ladies of the court wait for Elisabeth to return from the morning service. Princess Eboli entertains them with a song. Rodrigo delivers a secret note from Carlos to the Queen. The court retreats, allowing her to meet Carlos in private. Carlos wants Elisabeth to ask the King to send him to Flanders. He grows angry at her apparent coolness. Recrimination quickly turns to love. Elisabeth only extricates herself from potential disaster by brutally confronting Carlos with the fact that she is now his mother. He leaves distraught and Elisabeth is discovered alone by the King. Furious at finding the Queen unattended, he banishes her French lady-in-waiting. When the court is gone, Philip interrogates Rodrigo, who shocks him by launching into a tirade against Spanish policy in Flanders. Philip reveals his doubts about his wife’s fidelity and gives him the task of observing her and Carlos. Rodrigo realises the political advantage of having the trust of the King.

Act Two

Scene One
The Queen’s garden
Carlos has received a note – he presumes from Elisabeth – inviting him to a secret meeting. His raptures of love are silenced when the ‘Queen’s’ veil is lifted to reveal Eboli. In love with Carlos, Eboli had written the note. She warns him of Rodrigo’s new friendship with the King. Rodrigo fears that Eboli might ruin his plans. Despite his threats she leaves, intent on vengeance. Rodrigo persuades a confused Carlos to hand over any incriminating letters he is carrying.

Scene Two
The Auto da Fé
The people gather for a public burning of heretics condemned by the Inquisition. The arrival of the King and Queen is interrupted by Carlos, accompanied by a deputation from Flanders. When Philip rejects their plea for clemency towards the Flemish people, Carlos demands to be sent to rule in Flanders. Philip reacts with scorn and Carlos draws his sword against his father. To Carlos’s amazement, Rodrigo steps in to disarm him. Carlos is led away to prison as the burning begins.

Act Three

Scene One
The King’s study
Philip is now convinced that Elisabeth has betrayed him with Carlos. He has summoned the Grand Inquisitor, who tells him that the church will sanction the killing of Carlos. But, in return, the Church demands the death of the King’s new advisor, Rodrigo. Philip refuses and the matter is left unresolved. Elisabeth bursts in. She is furious: someone has stolen her jewel box. Philip has it and confronts her with the portrait of Carlos he has found inside. When he accuses her of infidelity she collapses. Alone with the Queen, Eboli confesses to the theft of the jewel box. Elisabeth forgives her, knowing she acted out of jealousy. But when Eboli goes on to confess that her anger at Carlos has led her to commit adultery with the King, the Queen exiles her forever from the court. Eboli, knowing that she must live out her days in a convent, realises that she may still be able to save Carlos.

Scene Two
A prison
Rodrigo comes to see Carlos in prison. He has represented the letters Carlos gave him as his own and allowed them to fall into the hands of the authorities. He hopes by this self-sacrifice to save Carlos. An unseen assassin shoots Rodrigo. As he dies he tells Carlos to meet Elisabeth early the next morning at the tomb of Charles V. She will help him escape to Flanders. Philip arrives. Now he knows that Rodrigo is a traitor, he is ready to forgive Carlos. He is shattered to hear that Rodrigo died deliberately to save his son. The people, roused to rebellion by Eboli, come to free Carlos, who escapes before the Grand Inquisitor manages to crush the revolt.

Act Four
At the tomb of Charles V
Elisabeth and Carlos reconcile themselves to parting, but before Carlos can leave for Flanders, the King arrives. He hands them both over to the Inquisition. As Carlos resists arrest, the ghost of Emperor Charles V reappears.
 

"There is something exhilarating about a close encounter with a great opera, especially when sung in clear English without surtitles. The pleasure is multiplied when you have a cast and production as good as Opera North's Don Carlos" Andrew Clark - Financial Times

" ...enthrallingly conducted by ON's music director Richard Farnes. ...he raises the temperature to white-hot and gives the score a raw, cutting edge. The intensity is exsplosive" Rupert Christiansen - The Daily Telegraph

"The highlight is the chilling encounter between Philip ll and his Grand Inquisitor, a gravid duet for two basses that decends to the roots of religious paranoia. Brindley Sherratt has a haunting, hollow tone as the king, while Clive Bayley's ancient, blind inquisitor is the image of a twisted fire-starter" Alfred Hickling - The Guardian

"This brilliant conductor (Richard Farnes) has already proven his Verdian credentials, but this is possibly his finest achievement yet: Verdi's questing search for humanity - even in the political cesspit - matched by playing of sometimes shockingly intimate tenderness. Distill the epic into the personal and you have the elusive essence of Verdi: both on stage and in the pit, this show is dripping with it" Neil Fisher - The Times

"Julian Gavin is the agonising son, singing with perfectly expressed heartache. Jane Dutton, making her Opera North debut, excels as scheming Princess Eboli. Her aria in the fourth act is a soaring belter. Each word is purely sung. More of Ms Dutton, please. Both Clive Bayley, as the Grand Inquisitor, and Robert Winslade Anderson as the Monk sing with commendable power." Kevin Berry - The Stage