Don Carlos
Grand opera in Five Acts
17th September 2005
Welsh National Opera, Cardiff
This was a co-production between the Welsh National Opera and Canadian Opera Company of the original 5 Act version of Don Carlos, sung in French.
The first performance of this production was by the WNO at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff on 17th September 2005. It then toured around the UK, playing in Edinburgh, Llandudno, Oxford, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton and Liverpool.
It was subsequently played by the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto during October and November 2007 with a substantially different cast.
The Houston Grand Opera production opened on 13th April 2012 and played in repertoire until the 28th April.
Don Carlos
| Composed by | Giuseppe Verdi |
| Text by | Joseph Méry and Camille Du Locle |
| Based on Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by | Friedrich Schiller |
Creative Team
| Conductor | Carlo Rizzi |
| Director | John Caird |
| Set Designer | Johan Engels |
| Costume Designer | Carl Friedrich Oberle |
| Lighting Designer | Nigel Levings |
| Movement Director | Denni Sayers |
| Chorus Master | Donald Nally |
| Assistant Conductor | Anthony Negus |
| Music Staff | Gareth Jones / David Seaman |
| Staff Directors | Robin Tebbutt / Jean Michel Criqui |
| Language Coach | Marianne Vidal |
| Stage Manager | Liz Walker |
| Scenery built and painted by | Cardiff Theatrical Services Ltd |
| Properties, costumes and wigs by | Welsh National Opera |
| English surtitles | Simon Rees |
| Production Photographs | Bill Cooper |
| Welsh Surtitles by | Mary Jones |
| Cover Illustration by | Johan Engels |
| Costume Illustrations by | Carl Friedrich Oberle |
Cast
| Elizabeth de Valois | Nuccia Focile |
| Elizabeth de Valois was played at two performances by | Sofia Mitropoulos |
| Thibault | Elizabeth Atherton |
| Don Carlos | Paul Charles Clarke |
| Comte de Lerme | Luis Rodriguez |
| The Spirit of Charles V | Matthew Rose |
| Rodrigue, Marquis de Posa | Scott Hendricks |
| Philippe II | Andrea Silvestrelli |
| Princess Eboli | Guang Yang |
| Comtesse D’Arenberg | Claire Hampton |
| Herald | Luis Rodriguez |
| Flemish Deputies | Matthew Hargreaves / Mark Evans / Jonathan May / Damian Thantrey / Eddie Wade / Owen Webb |
| Voice from Heaven | Megan Llewellyn Dorke |
| Grand Inquisitor | Daniel Sumegi |
| A Woodsman | Jack O'Kelly |
Chorus
| Chorus Master | Donald Nally |
| Assistant Chorus Master | Simon Phillippo |
| Sopranos | Meriel Andrew / Anitra Blaxhall / Paula Bradbury / Megan Llewellyn Dorke / Claire Hampton / Fiona Harrison / Rosie Hay / Nicola Morgan / Laura Pooley |
| Mezzos | Amanda Baldwin / Neda Bizzarri / Daniella Ehrlich / Jessica Handley Greaves / Helen Greenaway / Dorothy Hood / Sian Meinir / Anne Morgan / Sarah Pope / Claire Turner |
| Tenors | Michael Clifton-Thompson / Simon Curtis / Paul Gyton / Philip Lloyd Holtam / Alun Rhys Jenkins / Howard Kirk / Gareth Lloyd / Philip Pooley / Gary Watkins |
| Basses | Julian Boyce / Daniel Chadwick / John Gilbert / John King / Philip Lloyd-Evans / Alastair Moore / George Newton-Fitzgerald / Jack O'Kelly |
| Extra Chorus | |
| Tenors | Mark Cartwright / Michael Clarke / Ieuan Davies / Simon Haynes / Simon McEnery / Richard Monk / Anando Mukerjee / Andrew Walters |
| Basses | Ashley Bremner / William Coleman / Julian Dubreuil / Jasey Hall / Ralph Hamer / Stephen Hamnett / Martin Lloyd / Gareth Long / Peter Massocchi / Geraint Miles / Gareth Rhys-Davies / Dyfed Wyn-Evans |
Orchestra
| Leader | John Stein |
| Assistant Leader | Simon Lewis |
| First Violins | Simon Lewis / Lowri Porter / Martin Kegelmann / Robert Tonkin / Catherine Hings / Susan Plessner / Peter Lilley / Mathias Maurer / Emma Kerr / Jane Atkinson / Laurence Kempton / John Stein / Gilian Bradley |
| Second Violins | Antony Tarlton / Donald McNaught / Ann Jones / Josephine Vos / Like Roskams / Marilyn Shewring / Emma Waller / Jane West / Deborah Neath / Alison Balfour-Paul |
| Violas | Philip Heyman / Cédric David / Barry Friend / Domini Lipman / Stephen Lloyd / Louise Brodrick / Victoria Leach / Anne Soren |
| Cellos | Dewi Watkins / Christopher Hodges / Arthur Davies / Simon Davidson / Alexandra Robinson / Andrew Elliott / John Cullis / Juliet Tomlinson |
| Double Basses | John Law / Mikeal Price / Mary Condliffe / Peter Fry / Fran Wright / Imogen Fernando |
| Flutes | Jonathan Burgess / Nicola Dowton |
| Piccolo | Maxine Willis / Barbara Brown |
| Oboes | Murray Johnston / David Probert |
| Cor Anglais | Gillian Taylor |
| Clarinets | Leslie Craven / Peter Fielding |
| Bassoons | Stephen Marsden / Kim Murphy / Christopher Vale / Stuart Russell |
| Contra Bassoon | Christopher Vale |
| Horns | Angus West / Donald List / David Shallow / James Mildred / Nick Smith |
| Trumpets | Martin Evans / Robert Johnston |
| Cornets | Dean Wright / Martin McHale |
| Trombones | Roger Cutts / John Hendy / Aneuryn James |
| Cimbasso | Sean O'Neill |
| Timpani | John Abendstern |
| Percussion | Phil Girling / Andrew Cookson / Jonathan Helm |
| Harmonium | Simon Phillippo |
| Harp | Katherine Thomas |
| Stage Band | |
| D Clarinet | Lee Stephenson |
| Clarinets | Daniel Rye / Duncan Gould |
| Horns | Nick Smith / Leighton Jones / Iestyn Porter / Laura Tanner / Mark Kane |
| Trumpet | Robert Ferriman / Jonathan Mainwaring |
| Cornet | Gillian Hicks / Simon Cox |
| Trombone | Jonathan Pippen / Chris Mowat / Terry Leahy |
| Tuba | Graham Sibley |
Orchestra and Chorus Management
| Orchestra Manager | Philip Boughton |
| Chorus Manager | Wendy Franklin |
| Assistant to Orchestra Management | Peter Lilley |
| Assistant to Chorus Manager | Michael Clifton-Thompson |
| Pit Manager and Assistant Librarian | Christopher Lewis |
| PA to Chorus and Orchestra Director | Helen Watkinson |