Don Carlo at La Scala

The apex of Verdi's musical inspiration, the dark Don Carlo describes a world lacerated by the victims of power during the Spanish Inquisition. The Infante of Spain is in love with his stepmother, but also desired by his father's lover. The throne of Filippo. The Grand Inquisitor obtains the sacrifice of the son and his most loyal friend, Posa.

The Italian version was first performed in 1884 (the shortest of the five known versions), prepared by Verdi himself for La Scala and in which, in the final act, the ghost of Carlo V calls his grandson to him to save him from the clutches of the Inquisitor's guards.

The opera will be broadcast live at the Louvre and in the Italian Microcinema and Digima circuits, in 35 cinemas.

• Synopsis
• Libretto
• Discography

Born at Le Roncole, near Busseto (Parma), on 10 October 1813 to an innkeeper and his spinner wife, Giuseppe Verdi was a precocious musical talent.

His cultural and general education was above all gained at the richly furnished library of the Jesuit School in Busseto, which still exists today.

Biography

On 3 August 1778 La Scala inaugurated an experimental season with l'Europa Riconosciuta by Antonio Salieri. It was an opportunity to show off the new theatre, built at the behest of the empress Maria Teresa of Austria after the fire of 26 February 1776 that had destroyed Teatro Regio Ducale.

The new theatre, designed by the architect Giuseppe Piermarini, could accommodate an audience of two thousand five hundred, in a city of around 130,000 inhabitants.
The first official season began on 26 December 1778, with Calliroe by Alessandri. Saint Stephen's day was, at that time, the date chosen for the opening of the La Scala season; a tradition that remained in place until 1951 when the management of the theatre decided to bring forward the date to 7 December in order to avoid being penalised by the habit of many Milanese families to leave the city for the Christmas holidays.

Among the most important first nights was that of 1818 with La clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
La Vestale by Gaspare Spontini opened the 1824-25 season.

And, on 26 December 1885 the people of Milan heard for the first time Bizet's Carmen, which had been performed ten years earlier in Paris.

In 1900 Caruso made his debut at La Scala in Bohème by Giacomo Puccini. In 1921 La Scala became an autonomous municipal body: the year in which Verdi's Falstaff opened the season, marking a predilection for the work of the Maestro from Busseto that would be further consolidated in the following years.

After the bombings of August 1943, La Scala was obliged to abandon its historical home after the roof collapsed, and transferred to Como and Bergamo. It was an absence that lasted until 11 May 1946, when Arturo Toscanini raised his baton in the restored theatre for the moving opening notes of Nabucco. Those who could not find a place inside the theatre invaded the square and surrounding streets to listen to the music broadcast by loudspeakers.

1951 was the year when the opening night was brought forward to 7 December with a performance of I Vespri Siciliani featuring Maria Callas.

The opening night has continued to be an important cultural event, with performances conducted by great conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti and Carlos Kleiber, and directed by the likes of Luca Ronconi, Giorgio Strehler and Franco Zeffirelli.

On 7 December 2000 the season dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi opened with Il Trovatore, conducted by Riccardo Muti. At the end of that season the Piermarini building was closed for a total renovation and restoration of the building and its technical structures and facilities.

On 7 December 2004 the season opened with the opera that 266 years earlier had opened the theatre itself: l'Europa Riconosciuta by Antonio Salieri.

This year the opening work is Don Caro by Giuseppe Verdi.

• Teatro alla Scala
• Giuseppe Verdi
• Comune di Milano
• Listen to the Opera on Radio 3 Suite