Don Carlo

This was a classic opera production, a remake of original direction and design made for several Spanish opera companies. The story is grave, and so is the look of the stage throughout most of the evening. The pauses between the scenes lasted too long, sometimes breaking the tension in a very tense opera.

Verdi has assigned the male singers to carry most of the burden in Don Carlo, and in Tel-Aviv all of them did extremely well. Simon Lim returned to this stage with a very convincing performance of King Filippo. Together with him Gustavo Porta as Don Carlo and Levgen Orlov as the Great Inquisitor delivered excellent roles, exposing notable dramatic skills.

Among the ladies the star of the evening was no doubt Ketevan Kemoklidze as Countess Alexandrovskaya. She was born for this role and her tragic as well as comic moments on the stage were enchanting. On the other hand I did have higher expectations for Ira Bertman (Elisabetta the Queen). Her beautiful voice was not matched properly with the right gestures, looking a bit lost at times.

Daniel Oren electrified the orchestra and the stage as he usually does, in particular with Verdi. Don Carlo is not performed too often, but when it reappears under the button of Oren all the greatness of this unique composer comes to life. The Israeli opera Corus was also an important element in the success of the evening.