Don Carlos

Giuseppe Verdi

Don Carlos

Opera in 4 acts

Performed in Italian

(with synchronized Kazakh and Russian supertitles)

Running time: 3 hours 15 minutes (including one interval)

Please note that the age limit is 10+

Management reserves the right to substitute artists

The sheet music material has been made available by G. RlCORDl & CO., Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH, Berlin

Libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle based on the eponymous drama by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller.

Don Carlos is the largest and most ambitious of all Giuseppe Verdi’s operas. It was commissioned to the composer in November 1865 by the director of the Théâtre Impérial de l’Opéra in Paris, where it premiered on 11 March 1867.

The music of Don Carlos rather surprised the audience than gave pleasure. The imperious power that formed the basis of Verdi’s creative genius was manifested in the mighty simplicity that had already gained the maestro acclaim and fame, but in the opera, it was reinforced by the extraordinary development of harmonic means, sophisticated sonority and new melodic turns. Having already won recognition by creating such masterpieces as Rigoletto, La traviata and Il trovatore, Verdi himself understood that he wrote the opera, which marked a turn in his creative work.

To stage the opera in Italy, it was translated the same year, entailing some changes and alterations in the music. Between 1882 and 1883, Verdi significantly revised the opera; Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824–1893), who wrote the libretto to Aida, took part in the creation of new scenes. This version, staged at the Milan Theatre on 10 January 1884, was much shorter than the first one.

During Verdi’s lifetime, but without his participation, the third version of the opera was created. Currently, the opera is usually staged in a mixed version.

The goal of all these changes was to bring the opera as close as possible to its literary source – Friedrich Schiller’s eponymous tragedy, created in 1787 and telling about the Eighty Years’ War, the struggle for independence from Spain and the court intrigues of King Philip II.

Operas based on Schiller’s works are quite popular these days. The most well-known of them are Don Carlos, Maria Stuarda, William Tell, I masnadieri, The Maid of Orleans, Luisa Miller and The Bride of Messina.

There is no ‘canonical’ version of the opera. Relatively speaking, there are three versions: the 1867 original version in French, the 1884 four-act version in Italian and the 1886 five-act version in Italian. However, almost every theatrical production has certain variations: inserts of various scenes from different versions or, on the contrary, cuts, or both.

The opera Don Carlos stands out from the entire context of the composer’s creative work, but remains one of the greatest creations he penned.

At present, both the French and the Italian versions of the opera have been holding the stages of the world’s major opera houses.

LEAD ROLES AND PERFORMERS

Philippe II: Yevgeniy CHAINIKOV, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

Don Carlos: Medet CHOTABAYEV, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

Rodrigue:      Rasul ZHARMAGAMBETOV, Laureate of the State Youth Prize “Daryn”

Le Grand Inquisiteur:    Bolat YESSIMKHANOV /

                                             Shyngys RASYLKHAN, laureate of the State Youth Prize “Daryn”

Élisabeth de Valois: Zhupar GABDULLINA, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan /

                                      Bibigul ZHANUZAK, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

Princess Eboli: Saltanat MURATBEKOVA

A Monk: Valery SELIVANOV

Tebaldo: Nazym SAGYNTAY / Madina ISLAMOVA

A Voice from Heaven: Assem SEMBINA

The Count of Lerma: Ramzat BALAKISHIYEV

Royal Herald: Talgat ALLABIRINOV (Debut) / Arthur GABDIYEV (Debut)

ORCHESTRA, CHORUS, BALLET ARTISTS AND EXTRAS OF THE ASTANA OPERA HOUSE

PRODUCTION GROUP

Conductor: Alan Buribayev, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan, Laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Director, Set Designer: Davide Livermore

Set Design: Gio Forma Studio

Costume Designers: Sofia Tasmagambetova, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan / Pavel Dragunov, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

Chorus Master: Yerzhan Dautov, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

Lighting Designer: Vincenzo Raponi

Video Projection: D-WOK Srl

Vocal Coach and Consultant: Ala Simonishvili

Assistant Directors: Giancarlo Judica Cordiglia, Salvatore Nicosia / Yevgeniy Chainikov

Assistant Conductors: Ruslan Baimurzin / Elmar Buribayev

Assistant Costume Designer: Natalia Fedorova

Tickets purchased at the Astana Opera are exchangeable and refundable only in cases of cancelled or postponed performances. In all other cases, no refunds and exchanges are possible.