The Telegraph, 09 Oct 2013

By Rupert Christiansen

Verdi: Don Carlo, Salzburger Festspiele, 13. August 2013

Giuseppe Verdi: a model of integrity

Excerpt about Don Carlo, Salzburg:

As the 200th anniversary of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi is celebrated, Rupert Christiansen pays tribute to a man whose moral values were rock-solid ..... ........ One lament of opera-lovers today is that there are so few singers with the grandeur of voice, style and presence to do Verdi’s music justice – a sad chorus in which I have myself often joined. But this bicentenary year has brought some satisfaction on this front: I have been profoundly moved at Covent Garden and the Salzburg Festival by performances of Don Carlo, which in some respects I consider Verdi’s supreme masterpiece. In neither case did the production come close to an adequate visual realisation of the magnificent drama, but with Antonio Pappano in the pit, Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros brought to their interpretations of the leading roles rapturous arcs of phrasing and refulgence of tone that we have not heard for a generation. Verdi’s music can weather mediocrity and still provide audiences with enjoyment (in a way that Wagner can’t), but here he was truly honoured as he would have wished. Now I am keenly awaiting two further productions of operas from his middle period which have been neglected or misprised. Next week, Les Vêpres Siciliennes will receive its first performance at Covent Garden, conducted by Pappano; and in December, the golden couple of Kaufmann and Harteros will be reunited for La Forza del destino in Munich. Viva Verdi!