Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien (Don Carlos, Infante of Spain) by Friedrich Schiller. The opera is usually performed in Italian. In addition, it has been noted by David Kimball that the Fontainebleau scene and auto da fé "were the most substantial of several incidents borrowed from a contemporary play on Philip II by Eugène Cormon".
| Librettist | Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle (Based on the dramatic play "Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien" ("Don Carlos, Infante of Spain") by Friedrich Schiller) |
| Date of composition | 1866 (1865-1866) |
| Premiered | 1867, October 27th in Bologna, Metropolitan City of Bologna, Italy |
| Type | Opera |
| Approx. duration | 200 minutes |
| Spoken language | Italian |
| Arrangement of | Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlos |
| Instruments |
Voice (Bass)
- Filippo II di Spagna, re (Philip II, the King of Spain, son of Charles V and father of Don Carlos)
Voice (Tenor) - Don Carlos, infante di Spagna (Infante of Spain, son and heir to the King) Voice (Baritone) - Rodrigo, Marchese di Posa, grande di Spagna (Marquis of Posa, a friend of the Infante Don Carlos) Voice (Bass) - Il Grande Inquisitore (The Grand Inquisitor) Voice (Bass) - Un monaco (A monk, the apparition of the deceased Emperor Charles V, or "Carlo Quinto") Voice (Soprano) - Elisabetta di Valois (a French princess initially betrothed to Don Carlos but then married to King Philip) Voice (Mezzo-Soprano) - La Principessa Eboli (an aristocrat in court) Voice (Soprano) - Tebaldo, paggio d'Elisabetta (Thibault, page to Elisabeth) Voice (Tenor) - Il Conte di Lerma (The Count of Lerma, a Spanish delegate to France) Voice (Tenor) - Un araldo reale (Royal Herald) Voice (Soprano) - Una voce dal cielo (A Voice from Heaven) Voice (Bass) - Deputati fiamminghi (Flemish envoys) Voice (Bass) - Inquisitori (Inquisitors) Chorus/Choir - Di popolo, monaci, dame, cavalieri, ambasciatori (Ladies and Gentlemen of the Spanish Court, the people, Pages, Guards, Monks, Soldiers) Orchestra |
| Autotranslations beta |
Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo |
Mirella Freni (27 febbraio 1935 – 9 febbraio 2020)arie da "Mefistofele", "Tosca", "Gianni Schicchi", "Don Carlo"live rec.1985 Foto Ken Howard