Verdi: Don Carlo Blu-ray (Vienna Philharmonic)

'Jealousy, treachery, forbidden love, revenge and self-sacrifice ... set against a dark backdrop of suffocating religious repression and political tryanny' (Bloomberg). Giuseppe Verdi's late opera Don Carlo delivers all the big topics while the ultra-simple décor in Peter Stein's production provides a spartan counterpoint to the dramatic action. 'With Antonio Pappano in the pit, Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros brought to their interpretations of the leading roles rapturous arcs of phrasing and refulgence of tone that we have not heard for a generation. Verdi's music can weather mediocrity and still provide audiences with enjoyment ... but here he was truly honoured as he would have wished.' The Telegraph

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Filippo: Matti Salminen
Don Carlo: Jonas Kaufmann
Rodrigo, Marchese di Posa: Thomas Hampson
Elisabetta di Valois: Anja Harteros
La Principessa Eboli: Ekaterina Semenchuk
Il Grande Inquistore: Eric Halfvarson
Un frate (Carlos V): Robert Lloyd 

Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor: Antonio Pappano
Chorus Master:Jörn Hinnerk Mennerich
Production: Peter Stein
Set Designs: Ferdinand Wögerbauer
Costume Designs:Annamaria Heinreich
Lighting Designs:Joachim Barth
Choreography: Lia Tsolaki