Opera doesn’t come much grander than Verdi’s Don Carlo. Enjoy another chance to see The Royal Opera’s highly acclaimed 2008 production, with several of the original principals – including Simon Keenlyside and Ferruccio Furlanetto, who received an Olivier Award nomination for his masterly portrayal of King Philip of Spain.

Verdi’s grandest and – for many – greatest opera was presented in 2008 in an acclaimed new production by Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, to resonant designs by Bob Crowley. Semyon Bychkov, whose previous successes at Covent Garden include Elektra, Boris Godunov, The Queen of Spades and Lohengrin, returns to conduct an all-star cast, many of whom took part in this staging on its initial appearance.

New to the title role is one of today’s most admired tenors, Jonas Kaufmann, with Marina Poplavskaya as his stepmother Elizabeth of Valois, with whom he has fallen in love, and Ferruccio Furlanetto as his father, Philip II of Spain, who suspects the worst. Around this tragic central triangle, complicated by the intervention of Sonia Ganassi’s Princess Eboli, is the conflict between authoritarian religion, represented by John Tomlinson’s Grand Inquisitor, and Simon Keenlyside’s liberal Marquis of Posa. Spectacle and intimacy combine in an in-depth exploration of how the private and public lives of the powerful impact on the fate of nations.

Run Time: Four hours 20 minutes | 2 Intervals

Sung in Italian with English subtitles