The ‘Don Carlo’ Dream Cast
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

When the Metropolitan Opera’s 2006–07 season was announced, many people said that “Don Carlo” boasted the very best cast — even a “dream cast.” They had a point. And “Don Carlo” — Verdi’s masterpiece from 1867 — had its season premiere on Thursday night.
Who was in that cast? As Elisabetta, the soprano Patricia Racette. As Eboli, the mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina. As Carlo, the tenor Johan Botha. As Rodrigo, the baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. As Philip, the bass René Pape. And as the Grand Inquisitor, another bass, Samuel Ramey.
Okay, okay, a very good cast. So the performance on Thursday night should have been an outstanding one. But you never know in music, as in other areas of life. Sometimes the events most anticipated turn out to be duds; and sometimes an event that looks like nothing turns out to be great.
Take last Wednesday night. I went to a concert by the Miró Quartet in Alice Tully Hall, thinking it would be ho-hum. Instead, it was just about as fine a chamber-music concert as you can ever hope to hear.
And the “Don Carlo”? Was it a letdown? No, it was stupendous — as good as its cast.
Of course, the most important performer in “Don Carlo,” as in many operas, is the conductor, and James Levine was in the pit. When he first appeared, the audience, full of anticipation, went nuts. He got more applause on his entrance than many conductors do at the end. And he proceeded to have an excellent night. He was keen, taut, and immovably musical. His Verdi can sound like Beethoven — highly disciplined — and he got maximum drama out of the score.
Sure, there were lapses here and there, and I have the smallest complaints. For me, the “interview” between Philip and the Grand Inquisitor was a tad fast, when it might have been woozily spellbinding. And the big duet between Carlo and Rodrigo — “Dio, che nell’alma infondere amor” — was wretched. A real dog. It had no swagger, no punch, no anything.
That is not a “small complaint,” I grant you. But almost all of the rest of the evening was magnificent.
Ms. Racette practically stole the show — and that would have seemed impossible, in a cast like that. She was close to an ideal Elisabetta. Her soprano manages to be cutting and lyrical at the same time. Throughout the opera, she showed superb control, and her “Tu che le vanità”was nothing less than a tour de force. The hour was late — past 11:30 — and the audience should have been tired. But Ms. Racette created pandemonium.
Ms. Borodina did not start out her best self, and her first aria — “Nei giardin” — was actually a little labored. But she soon came into her own, singing the blazes out of “O don fatale” and everything else. When she finished that second aria, I thought, “This is what it means to be an opera star, and a great singer.”
Really now: Has there ever been a better Eboli (or Amneris, or Delilah, or Marfa, or …)?
Mr. Botha, in the title role, started out poorly — wobbly, strained, and uncertain. But he eventually gained his footing, and sang with command. Obviously, he gave us ringing heldentenor high notes, but I thought he was best, actually, in his softer, more conversational singing. In his final duet with Elisabetta, he was positively beautiful.
Mr. Hvorostovsky, needless to say, looked like a million bucks, outfitted in Rodrigo’s cape, boots, and sword. He sang well too, although, like some of his colleagues, he had a shaky beginning. I have seen him in this role several times, and have never seen him more authoritative — for example, in Rodrigo’s rebukes of the king.
Mr. Pape has portrayed many kings, as is the lot of every bass. He is particularly known for King Mark, in Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” As Philip, he poured forth his usual sound, and displayed his usual self-mastery. So good is Mr. Pape, you can almost take him for granted.
And Sam Ramey? He was tremulous and terrifying as the Grand Inquisitor. The mileage on his voice makes him an even better Inquisitor than he would have been in his prime. And he can still sing all the notes, Mr. Ramey — he produced an excellent low E, and two excellent high Fs.
And as I watched Messrs. Pape and Ramey together, I could not help thinking, “You know, Ramey was pretty much the Pape of an earlier time.” And so torches pass.
Even the minor roles in this opera were wonderfully cast, and I will mention just a few: The bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi was a radiant, gleaming forester. A bass, Andrew Gangestad, was a radiant, gleaming friar — exuding the necessary gravity, too. And the mezzo Kate Lindsey was a solid, chipper page. Moreover, she can really run (as the stage direction has her do).
And the Celestial Voice? Some sweet, ethereal thing? No, one of the biggest voices in town: that of the impressive soprano Jennifer Check.
The Met orchestra came through in almost every way, with the horns particularly good: demonstrating true selfcontrol. Rafael Figueroa executed his usual miracles on the cello. Odd, that an opera orchestra should boast one of the best cellists in music. And the Met chorus was completely dependable.
The production was John Dexter’s from 1979, and it “holds up,” as they say. How a production could “hold down,” I don’t know. A production is good or it isn’t. It does not expire. A production is not like wine, but neither is it like milk. In the last few months, there has been a lot of talk about the “New Met,” as current management unashamedly calls itself. The “New Met” is supposed to be fresh, imaginative, and outside-the-boxy, as contrasted, one presumes, with the “Old Met.”
But, for me, the main mission of the Met is to stage operas with the best casts available, in any given period. (To put it just a little too simply, or incompletely.) That’s what the Met has always done, and that’s what the Met should continue to do. It is not a matter of “New”or “Old.”The Met’s primary mission may be considered eternal.
A “Don Carlo” with the best cast available at the time? Who could tire of that?
Until December 23 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).