Rating: 
Summary: Buy it!
Review: Best Don Carlo available! Domingo, Freni, Bumbry, and entire cast were just top notch and the production grand and impressive. The singing, orchestra, conductor and entire Met chorus and staff can be very proud of this "Don Carlo" it is a classic and will be the best for a very long time to come. This opera requires at least 5 of the best voices and these, at the time, were certainly at the top of the list. It is just wonderful! Add this to your collection over the Pavarotti version, it is a distant #2.
Rating:
Summary: I bow to the King!
Review: Despite that this is an overall great Don Carlos performance, it is Nicolai Ghiaurov who really steals the show. The moment he appears on stage you realise this is no ordinary Filippo. From the grandest to the most moving scenes he was utterly convincing. Little can I say about his instrument. As a critic once put it, "when Ghiaurov raised his voice, the grass did not grow any more". But I would add that he could also scale it down and break your heart! Just listen to his big aria. Ghiaurov recently passed away and this DVD is a great tribute to this legend.His Elisabetta is the radiant Mirella Freni. I too would have preferred a larger voice like Caballe's but Freni is nevertheless convincing as the sad Queen. She is particularly effective in the duets. The mature Domingo is seen and heard here in one of his greatest roles. The role of Don Carlos suits him like a glove. Expressiveness, vigour and commitment are only few of his virtues. Quilico's hollow and covered French baritone is unsuitable for Verdi. He also looks funny! However, I admit that he impressed me in Rodrigo's death scene. Almost 20 years after her studio recording, Bumbry remains a fiery Eboli. Her singing gets better and better as the evening goes on. In O don fatale she is spine thrilling! Furlanetto makes a noble Inquisitor though his instrument pales in comparison to Ghiaurov's. Minor roles are well cast. Levine is here fortunately less grandiloquent than in his studio recording some years later. Scenery and costumes are as grand as one could ask for and the entire performance wonderfully serves Verdi's most fascinating and imposing opera!
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Magnificent Don Carlo!
Review: Don Carlo is perhaps Verdi's finest opera, and it is a work that has gained increased favor of late. This NY Met production under James Levine offers a feast for the eyes and ears. Domingo and Freni are in top form as Don Carlo and Elizabeth, and the other singers are equally impressive.The production is brimming with real emotion and the performers manage to bring Verdi's complex characters to life. This is the Italian version and it includes the often omitted Fontainebleau scene which opens the opera. The Fontainebleau scene is not mere filler as it not only contains some truly beautiful music, but it also enables us to witness the first meeting of Don Carlo and Elizabeth-- making what follows later all the more poignant. The scenes and costumes are all splendid, but it is the singing and acting that make this Don Carlo truly stand out. Although at times the picture quality is not always crisp and clear in some of the darker scenes, my enjoyment and enthusiasm for this DVD were in no way diminished. This is opera at its finest and I imagine it will be a long time before another Don Carlo supersedes this one on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Magnificent Don Carlo!
Review: Don Carlo is perhaps Verdi's finest opera, and it is a work that has gained increased favor of late. This NY Met production under James Levine offers a feast for the eyes and ears. Domingo and Freni are in top form as Don Carlo and Elizabeth, and the other singers are equally impressive.The production is brimming with real emotion and the performers manage to bring Verdi's complex characters to life. This is the Italian version and it includes the often omitted Fontainebleau scene which opens the opera. The Fontainebleau scene is not mere filler as it not only contains some truly beautiful music, but it also enables us to witness the first meeting of Don Carlo and Elizabeth-- making what follows later all the more poignant. The scenes and costumes are all splendid, but it is the singing and acting that make this Don Carlo truly stand out. Although at times the picture quality is not always crisp and clear in some of the darker scenes, my enjoyment and enthusiasm for this DVD were in no way diminished. This is opera at its finest and I imagine it will be a long time before another Don Carlo supersedes this one on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful evening!
Review: Everyone who had the opportunity to be in the Metropolitan Opera at the time of this performance was a very lucky person! Here we have a wonderful performance and excellent singers! Placido Domingo is considered by many the best Don Carlo both on record and on stage! He is ideal for the role, his rich and exciting voice totally appropriate for the role. His acting ability is also great and his portrayal is sentimental and lyric, presenting us with a very tormented and deeply in love Infante. Mirella Freni as Elisabetta is quite good. many have said that she is not as good as Montserrat Caballe and I must agree. Caballe was perfect in the role as she recorded it with Giulini in 1971 (and everyone who hasn't heard her must absolutely listen to that recording). Nonetheless, Freni is very good and with her absolutely stable voice carries out the role with conviction.
Nicolai Ghiaurov was the best Filippo ever and seing this performance will make you understand why! His dark voice suited the role perfectly and his acting abilities are beyond doubt! A great bravo!!!
Quilico sings well in the entirety of the performance but he wouldn't be my first-choice Rodrigo. Cappuccilli or Milnes would be better (I prefer the first one).
Bumbry gives us a fiery and absolutely jealous Eboli with both her solo pieces executed accurately!
Finally, Furlanetto (unrecognisable as the Grand Inquisitor) is absolutely convincing ad just perfect for the role.
Levine gives us the full 5-act version of the opera (including the prologue, something very rare!) and conducts with passion and appropriate tempi most of the time. You must see this DVD!! It is an exciting experience. I also recommend the DVD with the French version of the opera with Alagna, Mattila, Hampson, van Dam and Meyer under Pappano. It is equally exciting and the singers are more persuasive and make a wonderful impression!
Rating:
Summary: Staged and sung to perfection
Review: First, by including the prologue, Levine gives us a Don Carlo than makes sense. Freni and Domingo are vocally beautiful and dramatically heartbreaking in the prologue's love duet. Robbins' brief turn as Charles V is worth playing over by itself. Although Troyanos was my favorite Eboli, Bumbry more impulsive and less sinister Eboli is very,very good. Hines was my first and favorite Philip II, but Ghiaurov is really just as good. In Levine's hands, the long introduction to "Dormiro sol" is a real gem. Quilico's Rodrigo is more than adequate. Furlanetto's Grand Inquisitor is vocally and dramatically first rate horror. The costumes and sets are gorgeous and seem to be copied from Velasquez's paintings of the real things.
Rating:
Summary: Grand Opera in the truest sense
Review: Forget the dark sets and low level lighting of this Met version of Verdi's true Grand Opera...Domingo & Freni in their prime are enough reason to buy this tape.
Rating: 
Summary: An Enjoyable Performance, but there must be better
Review: I agree with many of the reviews here. This is a great performance. I am a huge fan of Domingo, Freni, Bumbry, and Ghiaurov. However I think that this role was a step to big for Freni. Her performance is good, but the voice does not quite encompass the roles, and while I love her to death I would have preferred to see other ladies at the Met at the time of this recording performing the role; Millo, Tomowa-Sintow, or Studer, Millo being my first choice (although she wasnt on the main stage much during this time). Another downfall of this DVD is the dark dark dark production. I know its not a happy story, but why is everyone wearing black, and why are the sets all back! Its to dreary! I think that this production is the one to own righ now. I will also buy the Alagna/Mattila version when it becomes available on DVD, because their acting is so incredible. I'm sure that sometime in the future we'll have another more appropriate version to come out. Until then this one does feature some great singing.
Rating:
Summary: An Enjoyable Performance, but there must be better
Review: I agree with many of the reviews here. This is a great performance. I am a huge fan of Domingo, Freni, Bumbry, and Ghiaurov. However I think that this role was a step to big for Freni. Her performance is good, but the voice does not quite encompass the roles, and while I love her to death I would have preferred to see other ladies at the Met at the time of this recording performing the role; Millo, Tomowa-Sintow, or Studer, Millo being my first choice (although she wasnt on the main stage much during this time). Another downfall of this DVD is the dark dark dark production. I know its not a happy story, but why is everyone wearing black, and why are the sets all back! Its to dreary! I think that this production is the one to own righ now. I will also buy the Alagna/Mattila version when it becomes available on DVD, because their acting is so incredible. I'm sure that sometime in the future we'll have another more appropriate version to come out. Until then this one does feature some great singing.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest cast
Review: This DVD of Don Carlo is not only one of the best Verdi telecasts from the Met, it is the best opera DVD available up to now (September, 2003). Placido Domingo is perfect in this heroic part and Mirella Freni will show you -- LIVE! -- what a great soprano at the age of 48 can do with an 11 minute aria at the finale, with perfect breathing, soft and clear pianisimos and sudden powerful high notes without the screeches heard from some myths of the past...
Baritone Louis Quilico is one of the greatest of the century with 25 straight seasons at the Met. Nicolai Ghuiarov is so at home as King Felipe that he should actually live at the Escorial Palace in Spain. And Bumbry, with her primeavel high Cs is very exciting. You can play this DVD over and over and learn something new about grand opera every single time.
Bravisimi!!!
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