Verdi: Don Carlos

Verdi: Don Carlos

A very important live recording from 1950, in decent sound, of a great performance of Verdi’s finest opera, notable above all for Jussi Björling’s heroic Carlo, but also with a magnificent Cesare Siepi as Philip II. The women are slightly less impressive, but I was stunned afresh by the work’s grandeur. Michael Tanner

Our rating

5

Michael Tanner

Published: January 20, 2012 at 4:22 pm

COMPOSERS: Verdi
LABELS: WHRA
WORKS: Don Carlos
PERFORMER: Cesare Siepi, Jussi Björling, Robert Merrill, Jerome Hines; Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra/Fritz Stiedry
CATALOGUE NO: 6021

A very important live recording from 1950, in decent sound, of a great performance of Verdi’s finest opera, notable above all for Jussi Björling’s heroic Carlo, but also with a magnificent Cesare Siepi as Philip II. The women are slightly less impressive, but I was stunned afresh by the work’s grandeur. Michael Tanner

Michael Tanner

Journalist and Critic, BBC Music Magazine

Michael Tanner is a critic for BBC Music Magazine and the opera critic of The Spectator. He is now a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, having lectured in the Philosophy faculty at the University of Cambridge for 36 years. In 2010, he released The Faber Pocket Guide to Wagner.
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