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For the first time 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.

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For the first time 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.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a world-beating cast of opera’s leading lights, including tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth de Valois, and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as Eboli. Bass Günther Groissböck and bass-baritone John Relyea are Philippe II and the Grand Inquisitor, and baritone Étienne Dupuis rounds out the all-star principal cast as Rodrigue.

Don Carlos is a story of love and devotion conflicting with political and religious upheaval. Lost on a hunting expedition, Elisabeth de Valois, daughter of the King of France, runs into the young Prince of Spain, Don Carlos. They immediately fall in love, and are delighted to find out that they are actually betrothed. Their happiness is not to last, and with the end of the war comes the end of their relationship: Elisabeth has been promised as bride to King Philippe, Carlos’s father, and must fulfil her duty to keep the peace.

Against the backdrop of the brutal torturing and executions performed by the Spanish Inquisition, which they used to rapidly convert ‘heretics’ to Catholicism, this powerful story of intense love, and immense loss has remained popular, in its many forms, since it was first performed in 1867.

Verdi’s masterpiece receives a monumental new staging by Sir David McVicar that marks his 11th Met production, placing him among the most prolific and popular directors in recent Met memory.

Don Carlos is sung in French with English subtitles.

A screening of the broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera 2021-22 Season in New York.

Please Note: the dates of Metropolitan Opera productions may be subject to change.

Duration 5 hours 15 minutes, including 2 intervals.

Click here to view our Met Opera Season


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