Don CarlosIn the title of the opera and the play, "Don" is used as the Spanish honorific. is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien (Don Carlos, Infante of Spain) by Friedrich Schiller and several incidents from Eugène Cormon's 1846 play Philippe II, Roi d'Espagne.Kimbell 2001, in Holden p. 1002; Budden 1981, pp. 15–16 (includes details of Cormon's play). The opera is most often performed in Italian translation, usually under the title Don Carlo.
The opera's story is based on conflicts in the life of Carlos, Prince of Asturias (1545–1568). Though he was betrothed to Elisabeth of Valois, part of the peace treaty ending the Italian War of 1551–59 between the Houses of Habsburg and Valois demanded that she be married instead to his father Philip II of Spain. It was commissioned and produced by the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra (Paris Opera) and given its premiere at the Salle Le Peletier on 11 March 1867.
The first performance in Italian was given at Covent Garden in London in June 1867. The first performance in Italy was in Bologna in October 1867, also in Italian translation. After some revisions by Verdi, it was performed in Italian in Naples in November/December 1872. Verdi was also responsible for a short four-act "Milan version" in which the first act was removed and the ballet omitted (composed to a French text, but first performed in Milan in January 1884 in Italian translation) but also apparently approved a five-act "Modena version" in which the first act was restored but the ballet still omitted (performed in Modena in December 1886, also in Italian translation). Around 1970, substantial passages of music cut before the premiere were discovered in Paris archives, giving rise to at least one additional version that can be ascribed to Verdi: the version he prepared for the Paris Opera in 1866, before any cuts were made.Verdi; Günther 1986, pp. XX–XXI. No other Verdi opera exists in so many authentic versions. At its full length (including the ballet and the cuts made before the first performance), it contains close to four hours of music and is Verdi's longest opera.Budden 1981, pp. 23–25.
Composition history Pre-première cuts and first published edition
Verdi made a number of cuts in 1866, after finishing the opera but before composing the ballet, simply because the work was becoming too long. These were a duet for Elisabeth and Eboli in Act 4, Scene 1; a duet for Carlos and the King after the death of Posa in Act 4, Scene 2;Kimbell 2001, p. 1002, notes that "some of the deleted material from this served as the seed for the 'Lacrymosa' in the Requiem". and an exchange between Elisabeth and Eboli during the insurrection in the same scene.
After the ballet had been composed, it emerged during the 1867 rehearsal period that, without further cuts, the opera would not finish before midnight (the time by which patrons would need to leave in order to catch the last trains to the Paris suburbs). Verdi then authorised some further cuts, which were, firstly, the introduction to Act 1 (with a chorus of woodcutters and their wives, and including the first appearance of Elisabeth); secondly, a short entry solo for Posa (J'étais en Flandres) in Act 2, Scene 1; and, thirdly, part of the dialogue between the King and Posa at the end of Act 2, Scene 2.Budden 1981, p. 25.
The opera was first published as given at the première and consisted of Verdi's original conception, without the music of the above-named cuts, but with the ballet.
In 1969, at a Verdi congress in Verona, the American musicologist David Rosen presented the missing section from the Philip-Posa duet from the end of Act 2, which he had found folded down in the conductor's copy of the score. Other pages with cuts had simply been removed from the autograph score and the conductor's copy. Shortly thereafter, the British music critic Andrew Porter found most of these other cut passages could be reconstructed from the individual parts, in which the pages with the "lost" music had been either "pasted, pinned or stitched down." In all, 21 minutes of missing music was restored.Porter, Andrew. "Musical Events: Proper Bostonian" The New Yorker, 2 June 1973, pp. 102–108. Nearly all of the known music Verdi composed for the opera, including the pre-première cuts and later revisions, can be found in an integral edition prepared by the German musicologist Ursula Günther, first published in 1980Porter 1982. and in a second, revised version in 1986.Verdi; Günther 1986.
Performance history
19th century
As Don Carlos in French After the première and before leaving Paris, Verdi authorised the Opéra authorities to end Act 4, Scene 2 with the death of Posa (thereby omitting the insurrection scene) if they thought fit. This was done, beginning with the second performance on 13 March, after his departure. Further (unauthorised) cuts were apparently made during the remaining performances.Budden 1981, p. 25–26. Despite a grandiose production designed by scenic artists Charles-Antoine Cambon and Joseph Thierry (Acts I and III), Édouard Desplechin and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (Acts II and V), and Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon (Act IV), it appears to have been a "problem opera" for the Opéra—it disappeared from its repertoire after 1869.Kimbell 2001, in Holden, p. 1003.
As Don Carlo in an Italian translation
It was common practice at the time for most theatres (other than those in French-speaking communities) to perform operas in Italian,Budden 1981, p. 156. and an Italian translation of Don Carlos was prepared in the autumn of 1866 by Achille de Lauzières.Budden 1981, p. 26; for the Italian translation by Achille de Lauzières, see (vocal score); (libretto). On 18 November 1866 Verdi wrote to Giovanni Ricordi, offering the Milan publisher the Italian rights, but insisting that the opera: must be performed in its entirety as it will be performed for the first time at the Paris Opéra. Don Carlos is an opera in five acts with ballet: if nevertheless the management of Italian theatres would like to pair it with a different ballet, this must be placed either before or after the uncut opera, never in the middle, following the barbarous custom of our day.Quoted and translated in Budden 1981, p. 27.
The Italian translation was first performed not in Italy but in London at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 4 June 1867, where it was produced and conducted by Michael Costa. However, it was not as Verdi desired; the opera was given in a cut and altered form, with the first act removed, the ballet in Act 3 omitted, and Carlo's aria Io la vidi (originally in Act 1) moved to Act 3, just before the terzetto. Additionally, the duet between Philip and the Inquisitor was shortened by four lines, and Elisabeth's aria in Act 5 consisted only of part of the middle section and the reprise. The production was initially considered a success, and Verdi sent a congratulatory note to Costa. Later when he learned of the alterations, Verdi was greatly irritated, but Costa's version anticipated revisions Verdi himself would make a few years later in 1882–83.Budden 1981, p. 27.
The Italian premiere on 27 October 1867 at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, conducted by Verdi's close friend Angelo Mariani, was an "instant success", and this version, although produced in Verdi's absence, was more complete and included the ballet.Budden 1981, p. 28. For the Rome premiere on 9 February 1868 at the Teatro Apollo, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Papal censor imposed some crucial changes: the Inquisitor was turned into a Gran Cancelliere (Grand Chancellor), thus leading, among others, to the alteration of Filippo's bitter consideration "Dunque il trono piegar dovrà sempre all'altar!" ("So the throne will always have to bend the knee to the Altar") into "Fia di Posa il Signor — adunque un traditor!" ("So Posa is a traitor!"), obliterating the libretto's criticism towards the Catholic Church; Eboli's line "Solo in un chiostro al mondo ormai/dovrò celar il mio dolor!" ("By now, only in a cloister I will have to hide my sorrow from the world!") became "Sola divisa dal mondo ormai" ("By now, alone, separated from the world"), thus excluding any ties to a future retreat in convent by such a scandalous character; the Monk/Emperor was now a mere "Solitario" (Recluse); Elisabetta's second line in "Tu che le vanità" was transformed from "Se ancor si piange in cielo, piangi sul mio dolor" ("If you still weep in Heaven, weep upon my sorrow") into "O gran Re Carlo V, piangi sul mio dolor" ("Oh great King Charles V, weep upon my sorrow").
This version of the opera was first performed in Milan at La Scala on 25 March 1868, and prestige productions in most other Italian opera houses followed, but it did not become a popular success. The length was a particular problem, and subsequent performances were generally heavily cut. The first production in Naples in 1871 was indisputably a failure.Walker 1962, p. 326.
1872 revisions for Naples Following the unsuccessful performance in Naples in 1871, Verdi was persuaded to visit the city for further performances in November / December 1872,Walker 1962, p. 417. and he made two more modifications to the score: (a) a revision of the closing two-thirds of the Philippe-Rodrigue duet in Act 2, Scene 2 (to Italian verses, almost certainly by Antonio GhislanzoniPorter 1982, p. 368.), which replaced some of the previously cut material, and (b) the removal of the allegro marziale section of the final Elisabeth-Carlos duet (replaced with an 8-bar patch).Verdi; Günther 1986, pp. XX, 263–276 (a), 623 (b). Budden 1981, pp. 28–29. Porter 1982, p. 362. These are the only portions of the opera that were composed to an Italian rather than a French text. According to Julian Budden, Verdi "was to regret both modifications".Budden 1981, p. 29. Ricordi incorporated the revisions into later prints of the opera without changing the plate numbers. This subsequently confused some authors, e.g. Francis Toye and Ernest Newman, who dated them to 1883.Porter 1982, pp. 362–363.
1882/83 and 1886 revisions: "Milan version" and "Modena version" The idea of reducing the scope and scale of Don Carlos had originally come to Verdi in 1875, partly as a result of his having heard reports of productions, such as Costa's, which had removed Act 1 and the ballet and introduced cuts to other parts of the opera. By April 1882, he was in Paris where he was ready to make changes. He was already familiar with the work of Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter, who had worked on French translations of Macbeth, La forza del destino and Aida with du Locle, and the three proceeded to spend nine months on major revisions of the French text and the music to create a four-act version. This omitted Act 1 and the ballet, and was completed by March 1883.Budden 1981, pp. 31–38. An Italian translation of this revised French text, re-using much of the original 1866 translation by de Lauzières, was made by . The La Scala première of the 1883 revised version took place on 10 January 1884 in Italian.1884 Milan version: Notice de spectacle at BnF.
Although Verdi had accepted the need to remove the first act, it seems that he changed his mind and allowed a performance which presented the "Fontainebleau" first act along with the revised four-act version. It was given on 29 December 1886 in Modena, and has become known as the "Modena version", which was published by Ricordi as "a new edition in five acts without ballet".Budden 1981, p. 39.
20th century and beyond In Italian