大象传媒

Radio 3's Verdi 200 celebrations continue with a live performance from the Met in New York of one of Verdi's finest works, Don Carlo.

This historical drama, based on a play by Schiller and delivered here in its Italian version, tells the story of the Spanish heir to the throne, Don Carlo, Prince of Asturias, who sees his betrothed lady, Elisabeth de Valois, marry his own father, King Philip II, instead in order to secure a peace treaty.

The plot is dense in this magnificent grand opera, originally written for Paris: there's a case of mistaken identities; heretics are burnt at the stake by the mighty Spanish Inquisition; and even the spirit of Emperor Charles V comes back from the dead to rescue the opera's tortured hero.

In a starry cast, Ramon Vargas takes the title role of Don Carlo; Barbara Frittoli is Elisabeth the Valois; Dmitri Hvorostovsky is Don Carlo's friend Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa, and Ferruccio Furlanetto is King Philip II. Renowned maestro Lorin Maazel conducts the chorus and orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House.

Don Carlo.....Ramon Vargas (tenor)
Elisabeth de Valois.....Barbara Frittoli (soprano)
Eboli.....Anna Smirnova (mezzo-soprano)
Rodrigo.....Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone)
Philip II.....Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass)
Grand Inquisitor.....Eric Halfvarson (bass)

Chorus and Orchestra of The Metropolitan Opera, New York
Lorin Maazel, conductor.