By James Jorden
The staging of the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Don Carlo is a triumph of conservatism. Ironic, when you come to think about it, because that’s the tragic action of the opera too: attempts at reform or even basic human compassion among the court of King Philip II are crushed like so many bugs by the reactionary political arm of the Catholic church.
Now, even for a Regiehead like myself, there is a lot to be said for a well-executed conservative (i.e., noninterventionist) production. Hytner manages to leave Don Carlo strictly in the epoch prescibed in the libretto, and at no time (well, almost) does he directly defy the published stage directions. And yet, the drama is exciting and fresh. So, in this case, conservatism is a (if not the) valid approach to take to a classic. (more…)