tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post625535681469961035..comments2024-03-18T09:22:11.316-04:00Comments on OPERA OBSESSION: Don Carlo: lo spirto che vacillaLucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02549302523503271428noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-78305829241326631182013-03-17T22:10:15.325-04:002013-03-17T22:10:15.325-04:00I tend to think that what Verdi got right in this ...I tend to think that what Verdi got right in this opera he got fantastically right, but for me it's the flaws that make it really interesting -- what with the various reconstructions done these days, they give us a chance to see some of Verdi's process. That he was less than satisfied with the end result is clear from the fact that there kind of isn't one.strayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109343770835869181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-32191800827357516762013-03-10T21:22:32.750-04:002013-03-10T21:22:32.750-04:00Though it doesn't really sound, Anon, as thoug...Though it doesn't really sound, Anon, as though you're looking for debate on <i>Don Carlo</i>'s musical structure or dramatic merits, I'll briefly give you my two cents. Long and episodic the opera undoubtedly is, but I see in the episodes which you call discursive a fierce concentration of vision, thematically speaking (perhaps even more tightly focused than that of Schiller in the play on which the opera is based.) That Verdi approaches the questions of tyranny and liberty, loyalty and betrayal, love and duty, natural and political bonds, faith and religion from such a variety of angles in this opera is, to me, one of the things that makes it so interesting. Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02549302523503271428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-56042929365848626302013-03-08T17:23:32.131-05:002013-03-08T17:23:32.131-05:00At bottom, Don Carlo is your basic Italian soap op...At bottom, <i>Don Carlo</i> is your basic Italian soap opera, but bloated (or perhaps padded would be a better term) to intolerable proportions. This opera is not merely long. It's bloody interminable. Dramatically, it's a discursive train wreck, abounding with effects without cause (or without sufficient cause), and about as plausible dramatically as a Three Stooges epic... <br /><br />It bothers me no end that a master dramatic craftsman and box-office-savvy composer such as Verdi would find it acceptable to squander such splendid music on an opera whose dramaturgy was so deeply flawed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-45980891633060209032013-03-08T12:48:21.858-05:002013-03-08T12:48:21.858-05:00It's all about the madness.It's all about the madness.Dr.Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02298893523780056481noreply@blogger.com