The Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday matinee broadcasts are the longest-running continuous classical program in radio history. The 80th season of broadcasts kicks off on December 18 with Verdi’s Don Carlo, starring Yonghoon Lee, Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Twenty-two broadcasts will be presented on the Toll Brothers–Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network through May 14. Margaret Juntwait returns as the series’s host for her seventh season, joined by commentator Ira Siff. More details at: http://operainfo.org/
Don Carlo
Opera in Five Acts; revised version, Four Acts
Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Text in Italian by Achille de Lauzières and Angelo Zanardini, with later revisions by the composer and Antonio Ghislanzoni.
The Cast
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Elisabeth de Valois: Marina Poplavskaya
Princess Eboli: Anna Smirnova
Don Carlo: Yonghoon Lee
Rodrigo: Simon Keenlyside
Philip II: Ferruccio Furlanetto
Grand Inquisitor: Eric Halfvarson
The Characters
Elisabetta di Valois (soprano) – Daughter of the French king. He arranges her marriage first to Don Carlo and then to King Filippo II, in hopes that an alliance with the Spanish throne will end the war between their countries.
Princess Eboli (mezzo-soprano) – One of the ladies at the Spanish court. She is infatuated with Don Carlo.
Don Carlo (tenor) – Son of the Spanish king Filippo II and heir to the throne. He falls in love with his fiancée, Elisabetta of France, and is heartbroken when she is betrothed to his father. He and his best friend, Rodrigo, risk charges of treason to support the cause of Flemish independence.
Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa (baritone) – Like his best friend Don Carlo, Rodrigo supports the cause of Flemish independence. Filippo also enlists him to spy on Elisabetta and Carlo.
Filippo II (bass) – King of Spain. He is married to the French princess Elisabetta, but he suspects her of having an affair with his son.