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Don Carlo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Verdi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This monumental work of Verdi is based on an historical subject, and therefore most stagings keep it in original period. When I was in Madrid some years ago, I took a day trip to the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, the monastic complex and royal residence where Philip II lived with his family during the last years of his reign. It has also served, since its construction, as the burial place of the Spanish royal family. Looking at the portraits of Philip, Carlos, Elizabeth of Valois, and the Princess Eboli in the Prado, and later exploring this massive, prison-like complex of rigorously classical architecture, it struck me that this is the perfect setting for this story. Although it was built after the death of Carlos, it is the perfect expression of the imperial authority of Philip, as well as the morbid, ascetic Catholicism and isolationism that were emblematic of his reign. The characters of Don Carlo are all trapped in their situations. With the threat of the Inquisition looming over them, and over the rest of the empire, this is a world of fear and longing for death. Each scene is framed by a pair of massive black columns and niches containing bronze statues of Philip II and his father Carlos V. These units open and close to adjust the width of the playing space and create a sense of confinement. We "enter" the story glimpsing through the opening at the high altar of the Basilica; as the Friar sings, the scene widens to reveal two more symbols of the imperial legacy: bronze groupings of the families of Emperor Carlos V and of Philip II, kneeling, on either side of the altar. The second scene, set in a cloistered garden, contains a small classical "Tempietto" from which the Queen emerges. The second scene of Act II, the crisis scene, takes place on the vast plaza before the palace. The King and Queen appear before the crowd in imperial splendor and the "Auto da Fe," or burning of the heretics, tekes place on the wooden pier in the background. The third act begins in Philip's study. The royal library at El Escorial is a long, splendid corridor of classical carved cabinets and a barrel-vaulted, frescoed ceiling. My interpretation of the space is dark, cold and comfortless. Philip sits, contemplating his old age, his loneliness, and the fact that his wife has never loved him.
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