G. Verdi: Don Carlo – Teatro Regio Torino / Noseda

   in Opera Now (Feb, 2015)
Hugo de Ana’s production of the four act version is traditional and sumptuous in the extreme. Not just a museum piece, it does convey the magnificent claustrophobia of court life and doesn’t rely on endless parades of gorgeously costumed extras for effect; the acting is generally good and the interrelationships clear. Gianandrea Noseda’s conducting is excellent, combining large-scale grandeur with finesse, and the orchestra and chorus are world class. Ramon Vargas’s protagonist is elegantly voiced, supply phrased and with admirable heft for his outbursts. His Elisabetta, Svetlana Kaysan, a young stand-in, has presence and a promising instrument with some refulgent tone, but her tuning is wayward and she starts to flag. …