Don Carlo

Giuseppe Verdi

Don Carlos

LIVE IN HD

new production

Saturday, Mar 26

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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. Patrick Furrer leads a world-beating cast of opera’s leading lights in this March 26 performance, including tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth de Valois, and mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Eboli. Bass-baritone Eric Owens are Philippe II and the Grand Inquisitor, and baritone Étienne Dupuis rounds out the all-star 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. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Buy tickets for Don Carlos live in the opera house here.

Production a gift of Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard, †Edwin C. Holmer III, and The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund

Additional support by the Hermione Foundation, Laura Sloate, Trustee

Major support provided by Rolex

Read Synopsis Cast Sheet

Sung In

French

Met Titles In

  • English
  • German
  • Spanish

Estimated Run Time

4 hrs 35 mins

  • House Opens

  • Acts I and II

    90 mins

  • Intermission

    30 mins

  • Act III

    35 mins

  • Intermission

    30 mins

  • Acts IV and V

    90 mins

  • Opera Ends

Cast

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TBA

Performing

Performed

All Dates

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Don Carlos

World premiere: Opéra, Paris, 1867
Verdi’s longest and most ambitious opera—which appears this season in its original, five-act French version—offers a profound look at the intersection of the personal and the political spheres. The opera features a number of complex one-on-one confrontations, and the chorus, when it appears, is imposing, most notably in the central auto-da-fé. The grandeur of the score telescopes in Acts IV and V to the individuals, with magnificent and melodically rich solo scenes.

Creators

In a remarkable career spanning six decades in the theater, Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) composed 26 operas, at least half of which are at the core of today’s repertory. Don Carlos’s libretto is by François Joseph Méry (1797–1865), a notable Parisian playwright, and Camille du Locle (1832–1903), who completed work on Don Carlos after Méry’s unexpected death. It is based on the 1787 play Don Karlos by German poet, philosopher, and historian Friedrich von Schiller (1759–1805).

PRODUCTION

David McVicar

Set Designer

Charles Edwards

COSTUME DESIGNER

Brigitte Reiffenstuel

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Adam Silverman

MOVEMENT DIRECTOR

Leah Hausman

Headshot of Giuseppe Verdi

Composer

Giuseppe Verdi

Articles

Liberty or Death

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Power Player

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Don Carlo

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