Long before the creation of Los Angeles Opera, LA had to rely on imports for its supply of arias, predominantly from the New York City Opera, which would perform an annual fall season at the (then relatively new) Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center.
In 1967, NYCO’s season included a production of “Don Rodrigo” by Alberto Ginastera, an Argentine composer. The title role was sung by a rising star of the company — a 26-year-old Spanish tenor named Plácido Domingo.
How ironic that last Saturday, 55 years later, a 77 (soon to be 78) year-old Plácido Domingo would stride onto the same stage in a role with exactly the same name. Only this time (as a baritone) Domingo would be singing the role of Rodrigo, the Marquis de Posa in Verdi’s “Don Carlo.”
But what was even more amazing was the dark-haired wig, the trimly cut costume and robust make-up that allowed Domingo to convincingly appear as a character a half-century his junior! In fact, the transformation was so convincing that no one recognized him when he made his entrance, a moment that up to now has always been greeted with a warm round of applause.
“Which one is Plácido?” I heard a woman ask her friend during intermission. “I think he’s the King, the guy in gold,” she responded.
He was not the “Guy in gold.”
Domingo, who formerly displayed his tenorial splendor in the role of the lovelorn prince, Don Carlo, proved he could be equally impressive as his comrade-in-arms, Rodrigo. His voice, now in its baritone incarnation, maintains all of its luster as well as Domingo’s signature amber hue. He has also lost none of his strength as a dramatic actor.
In this season-opening revival, Domingo is accompanied by tenor, Ramón Vargas as Don Carlo; soprano Ana María Martínez as the woman he cannot have, Elisabeth de Valois; mezzo-soprano Anna Smirnova as the jealous Princes Eboli; with basses Feruccio Furlanetto as the mighty monarch, King Philip II of Spain, and Morris Johnson as the Grand Inquisitor.
Verdi’s original 1867 French version of the opera, “Don Carlos,” was deemed too long to succeed with his Italian audiences. So the opera was trimmed from five acts to four, its ballet was jettisoned, and it was given a new Italian title and libretto. This is the version that LA Opera is presenting.
It is also well documented that Verdi was never happy with the result, which eliminates the entire opening act — the opera’s only scene of pastoral, romantic bliss between Don Carlos and Elisabeth of Valois in the forest of Fontainebleau. In contrast to that leafy setting the four-act version thrusts the action immediately into the dark, oppressive world of the Spanish court and the horrors of the Inquisition.
When LA Opera first presented this production in 2006, I found the single unit set design by John Gunter, with its dripping blood color scheme and massive depictions of writhing martyrs so oppressive and unrelenting that my eyes felt exhausted looking at it for more than three hours! Nothing has changed.
Surprisingly, the oppressive nature of the production seemed to effect the conducting by James Conlon, which throughout the first act felt listless, bogged down in slow tempos and a general lack of energy. Even the rousing tenor/baritone duet between Vargas and Domingo, Dio, che nell’alma infondere amor, lacked the level of bonding bravado it usually produces.
Fortunately, the vocal and orchestral performance gained strength and dramatic momentum in the series of confrontational duets, trios and quartets. Voices that had seemed underwhelming in Act 1 became dynamic, even ferocious, led by the explosive force of Smirnova’s Princess Eboli.
But whoever designed the red fright wig she wears (that makes he look more like the Red Queen in “Alice in Wonderland”) did her no favor. To the point that when the hefty Russian mezzo sang Eboli’s plaintive final aria, “O don fatale (O fatal beauty),” there were laughs in the audience that she certainly must have heard.
Furlanetto is a force to be reckoned with as King Philip, reaching a zenith is his grand aria of love-lost despair, “Ella giammi m’amo (She had no love for me).”
Ramon Vargas is a tenor of bright tone with a reasonably impressive upper range. He is not, however, a tenor of heroic proportions. His declarations of love to Martínez were ardent but overshadowed by a persistent aura of hangdog depression. For her part Martínez projected a regal sense of stoic, statuesque grandeur and sang with dulcet lyricism.
Taylor Redpath plays the role of the squire, Tebaldo, and Morris Robinson once again proves himself a bass among basses as the Grand Inquisitor.
Sadly, the opening night of the LA Opera season has lost its former luster. Once a champagne flowing, glittery red-carpet affair that could almost compete with the Academy Awards, it is now just another night of business as usual.
Jim Farber is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.
Los Angeles Opera
Rating: 2.5 stars
What: “Don Carlo”
Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave, Los Angeles
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 and Oct. 11; 2 p.m. Oct. 7 and 14
Tickets: $24 and up
Time: 3 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission
Suitability: Not for younger audiences
Information: 213-972-8001, www.laopera.org
