...or just "Don Carlo," if you're watching it in the Italian translation, as I was, though as I understand it both French and Italian are commonly performed.
It takes place during the Spanish Inquisition. Carlos or Carlo is a Spanish prince who falls in love with a French princess, Elisabeth. They're happy, but unfortunately only for several seconds, as his father Philippe II wants to marry her to cement peace between the two countries. She goes along with this out of a sense of duty, and everyone is sad. There are many more details, but that, in essence, is that.
I liked this one a lot, and I'll say one thing for it in particular: it has one of the better love stories I've seen in an opera. I refer not to Carlo and Elisabeth, whose relationship is somewhat half-baked, as these things tend to be (though they do have a very passionate love duet in their first scene), but Carlo and his loyal friend Rodrigo, whose love for each other is truly vivid and affecting. Thiseffectively minimalistic Met production is excellent, and brilliantly cast. I'm not sure I've ever seen Roberto Alagna as good as he is here, and Simon Keenlyside (there's the most British-ass name in the world) and Marina Poplavskaya are both great as Rodrigo and Elisabeth. It's a small part, but I also want to give big ups to Eric Halvarson as the terrifying Grand Inquisitor, made up to look like the oldest man in the world. However, I'm actually going to give pride of place here to Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philippe II (though as oft happens, I wonder if I'm actually doing that because he's the best singer, or just because it's the best role) But he is VERY powerful as the doubt-wracked king, and man, if nothing else, you've GOTTA listen to his awesome, pathos-ridden aria ("Ella giammai m'amò) that opens Act IV.
So I really liked this a lot. However...I have to admit, it turns out a littlewonky at the end. So the idea (which I don't think is introduced as clearly as it could've been) is that the people of Flanders are suffering due to France's oppression, and when Carlo and others beg him to forgive them for whatever they've done, he won't. So Carlo is going to be their savior, and Act V is largely taken up by this whole long thing about how he and Elisabeth love each other but they know they can't be together, it turns out honor is more important than love, they'll be united in Heaven, and so on. But then--like, seriously, in the last two minutes of the opera--the King and Grand Inquisitor and a bunch of guards storm onto the stage. Carlo is wounded and then, boom, the ghost of the previous king, Charles V, appears, and everyone's freaked out. Um...the end. Different sources describe this differently; per wikipedia, it's not actually a ghost, and it "drags Carlos into the tomb and closes the entrance;" according to this, the ghost "appears and leads [Carlos] to safety." I feel like people should be able to get their story straight, but regardless, it is REALLY WEIRD, and even if it weren't, fercryinoutloud, you need to BUILD UP to a tragedy; you can't just have ghosts suddenly appearing for no reason. The stuff with Carlo and Elisabeth seems very clearly to be how the opera is going to end, but then it goes a bit pear-shaped. Still liked it, though.
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