Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo, Carlo Giulini (1958, Live)

As with Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlo is one of Verdi’s lesser-known operas. I don’t really understand why, as the combination of Schiller’s multi-layered play and the musical depiction of the characters and story is fascinating. The reason might be the difficulty in establishing a definitive version (there is the original five-act French version from 1867, the standard Italian version from 1884, and various mixed versions). The performance reviewed here is a live recording of the classic 1884 Italian version, captured in London in 1958.

The first time I listened to this recording, I was quite positively struck by it. It was dynamic—much more so than I felt the classic Solti recording was. To write this article, I listened to it again, and while I understand why I was so pleased years ago, my judgment is now a lot more nuanced.

Let’s start with the sound quality. It’s a historical live recording from 1958, and it’s not very good, even compared to other historical recordings from this period (the Krauss Ring from Bayreuth, recorded in 1953, is much better).

Giulini certainly knows his job here. He is the one giving energy to the performance; he chooses a rather quick pace, typical of the classic Italian way Verdi was conducted at the time (with short, quick rhythms, and a percussive use of the brass section). If you know his later recording for Warner, this one is much quicker and more vibrant.

Jon Vickers is a truly thrilling Don Carlo. Even though his voice is not the most Italian-sounding, he is deeply passionate, just as Don Carlo should be. In addition, he is vocally very impressive. For me, he is definitely on par with Corelli across all the different recordings.

Gré Brouwenstijn might not be familiar to many of you, but she sang at Bayreuth quite a few times. Her singing offers a nice mixture of a beautiful tone and the ability to sustain long lines. The voice is somewhat on the cold side, but it would be wrong to say she lacks musicality. A great Elisabetta, in my opinion.

Fedora Barbieri as Eboli is disappointing. She was probably indisposed during this performance; she plays it safe in ‘O don fatale’ and misses the high notes. It is a pity compared to her performance eight years earlier in New York, even though her timbre is definitely not the most beautiful you could find for this role.

Rodrigo is sung by Tito Gobbi, who also recorded the role for Santini. He is in his prime here, and simply a great Rodrigo in every way, offering a mixture of good technique, musical sensitivity, and acting.

Filippo is sung by Boris Christoff. Here I can repeat more or less the same as for Gobbi, and emphasize that for me, Christoff, together with Siepi, is one of the best Filippos on record you can find. But as with Gobbi, you can hear him with better audio quality in his studio recordings with Santini (he recorded it twice, once for EMI/Warner and once for DG; reviews coming soon). Christoff has this unique dark timbre, a more Italian way of singing than you would expect, and the ability to act with his voice. He is both a King and a human being.

The other singers, the chorus, and the orchestra are good, although the Grand Inquisitor, for instance, is not on par with Filippo (for a great example, listen to Hines with Hotter, two Bayreuth Wotans). What is quite surprising, however, is how many coordination problems there were during this recording—an unusually high number, even for a live performance, and especially for a major production at a major opera house.

So, any final words? This is a recording for Don Carlo fans—specifically, fans of Vickers, and/or those interested in hearing Brouwenstijn as Elisebetta. For Gobbi and Christoff, the Santini recording is more interesting in my view, as the recording quality is better. Giulini is good, but so were other Italian conductors of his time.

Afilliate Link to Amazon (There are a lot of editions by various labels… This is one of them)