REVIEW: ‘DON CARLO’ GETS A GRIPPING REVIVAL AT THE MET OPERA

By ANTHONY TOMMASINI
 

The Italian soprano Barbara Frittoli, above, and the Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee with fellow members of the Metropolitan Opera in Verdi's masterpiece "Don Carlo" at Lincoln Center. Credit Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

A solid cast with no weak links and a probing conductor. That’s what it takes, even more than superlative individual performances, for the profundity of Verdi’s “Don Carlo” to come through. That’s what the Metropolitan Opera’s revival offered on Monday when the director Nicholas Hytner’s 2010 production, which combines traditional and contemporary imagery and was last seen here in 2013, returned to the house.

The French-Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin was in the pit, where he belongs as often as the company can recruit him. Mr. Nézet-Séguin, currently thriving as the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted “Don Carlo” when this production was new.

I was struck during this performance by how seldom Mr. Nézet-Séguin called attention to his conducting, and I mean this as high praise. There were, of course, gripping moments, like the blithe ruthlessness he brought to the choral scene in Act III, when frenzied subjects of the imperious King Philip II of Spain gather outside a Madrid basilica to cheer the burning of some heretics. But the excellence of Mr. Nézet-Séguin’s overall performance came from the way he subtly drew nuanced details, glowing sound and sure pacing from the great Met orchestra in this long, challenging Verdi masterpiece.

Ms. Frittoli and Ferruccio Furlanetto. Credit Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

The excellent Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee took time to warm up as Don Carlo, Philip’s son and heir, a young man tormented with doubt over his father’s oppressive rule and seething with resentment that, in a last-minute ploy to fortify an alliance with France, Philip claims Elisabeth, the French king’s lovely daughter, as his wife. Elisabeth was to marry Carlo. Mr. Lee, who made his Met debut in this role in 2010, has a melting sound, evenness throughout his range and sensitive feeling for the Verdi style. Trim and handsome, he conveyed the character’s youthful impetuosity and powerlessness. He may lack a little vocal star power, but still, we are lucky to have this gifted tenor on the scene.

The soprano Barbara Frittoli, as Elisabeth, comes by the Italian style through heritage and training. Her singing was consistently admirable, with rich body, pliant phrasing and some big top notes. If other sopranos bring more vocal glamour to the role, Ms. Frittoli is earnest and affecting.

The formidable Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto, an acclaimed Philip, still owns the role at 65. The opera revolves around Philip, who knows that the church, in the person of the Grand Inquisitor (James Morris in an earthy-voiced, ominous performance), truly holds the power. Mr. Furlanetto’s full-bodied, elegant singing was chilling one moment and aching the next, especially during the wrenching Act IV aria when the king realizes the extent of his isolation; it is some of the saddest music ever written.

The splendid Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky brought velvety legato phrasing, virile sound and his distinctive smoky timbre to Rodrigo, Carlo’s loving friend and the king’s troubled adviser. The Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova’s dark, powerful voice suits Princess Eboli, the king’s sultry mistress, though you could sense some calculation during stretches of her performance. She was at her best when it mattered most: a fearless account of “O don fatale,” Eboli’s aria of despair turned to determination. She seemed inspired by Mr. Nézet-Séguin and the blazing orchestra. Who wouldn’t have been?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/arts/music/review-don-carlo-gets-a-gripping-revival-at-the-met-opera.html?src=me&_r=0