Don Carlos Is Met Opera's March 26, 2022, Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: Don Carlos is Met Opera's March 26, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, airing as 13th of the 2021-2022 season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts.

Met Opera's new 2021-2022 season staging of Verdi's Don Carlos reunites the production's director, Sir David McVicar, with Matthew Polenzani in the title role; they last worked together at Met Opera in the 2015-2016 season's presentation of Donizetti's Roberto Devereaux: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook March 24, 2016

Verdi's Don Carlos is Met Opera's March 26, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, scheduled as the 13th of the 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts on the 2021-2022 season's roster.

Don Carlos by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) receives eight performances in the 2021-2022 season. The first six performances took place Monday, Feb. 28, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; Thursday, March 3, at 6:30 p.m. EST; Sunday, March 6, at 2:00 p.m. EST; Thursday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. EST; Sunday, March 13, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; and Friday, March 18, at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The seventh and eighth, closing performances are scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, at 7:00 p.m. EDT and Saturday, March 26, at 12:00 p.m. noon EDT.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin originally was scheduled to conduct Don Carlos in the first five and seventh through eighth, closing performances. Met Opera's third music director had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, in the opera house’s 946th performance of Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875).

Yannick Nézet-Séguin shares the conductorship of Don Carlos with Swiss conductor Patrick Furrer, who conducted the sixth performance, Friday, March 18. The Swiss conductor had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021, in the opera company's 463rd performance of The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), Met Opera's abridged, English language holiday presentation of Die Zauberflöte by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Update: The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at 10:52 a.m., the replacement of Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Patrick Furrer as conductor for the evening's performance. This places Maestro Nézet-Séguin's conductorship of the opera at six of eight performances.

Update: The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter March 25, 2022, at 6:08 p.m., the replacement of Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Patrick Furrer as conductor for the closing performance, Saturday, March 26, of Don Carlos. This places Maestro Nézet-Séguin's conductorship of the opera at five of the first eight and Maestro Furrer's conductorship of the opera at the season's last three Don Carlos performances.

Matthew Polenzani sings the title role of Don Carlos, whose betrothed, Élisabeth de Valois, becomes his stepmother according to a peace treaty between France and Spain. The American lyric tenor had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Dec. 19, 1997, as boyar Khrushchov in the opera company’s 251st performance of Boris Godunov by Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839-March 28, 1881).

Don Carlos numbers as the second of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Matthew Polenzani. He sang Tamino for the Dec. 18 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of The Magic Flute, Met Opera's abridged, English language holiday presentation of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

Sonya Yoncheva sings Élisabeth de Valois, the French princess whose marriage to Philippe II, King of Spain, consolidates peace between France and Spain but overrides her betrothal to the king's heir. The Bulgarian operatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, as Gilda in the opera company’s 859th performance of Verdi's Rigoletto.

Günther Groissböck originally was scheduled for all eight performances as King Philippe II, whose continued kingship depends upon the Grand Inquisitor's approval. The Austrian bass made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010, as Colline in the opera company’s 1,224th performance of La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Update: The New York Times classical music editor, Zachary Woolfe, announced, via Twitter Thursday, Sep. 2, 2021, at 2:06 p.m., the replacement of Günther Groissböck by Eric Owens as King Philippe II in all eight performances. The American operatic bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, as General Groves in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Doctor Atomic by contemporary American composer John Coolidge Adams (born Feb. 15, 1947).

Update: The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at 5:40 p.m. the replacement of Eric Owens with Matthew Rose as Philippe II for the evening's performance. The English operatic bass made his Metropolitan Opera debut Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, as Colline in the opera company’s 1,240th performance of Puccini’s La Bohème.

Elīna Garanča originally was scheduled to sing Princess Eboli, whose jealous realization of Don Carlos' love for his stepmother as his former betrothed motivates her destructive scheme against Élisabeth de Valois. The Latvian operatic mezzo-soprano made her Metropolitan Opera debut Jan. 12, 2008, as Rosina in the opera company’s 565th performance of Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

Jamie Barton replaces Elīna Garanča as Princess Eboli for all eight performances, according to The Metropolitan Opera's announcement Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, via Twitter. The American mezzo-soprano made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009, as the second of three ladies in the opera company’s 393rd performance of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

Etienne Dupuis sings Rodrigue, Marquis of Posa, who incriminates himself to save his friend, Don Carlos. The French-Canadian baritone had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, as Marcello in the opera company’s 1,321st performance of Puccini's La Bohème.

Don Carlos numbers as the second of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Etienne Dupuis. He sang Oreste in the Feb. 26 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Iphigénie en Tauride by 18th-century German classical composer Christoph von Gluck (July 2, 1714-Nov. 15, 1787).

John Relyea sings the Grand Inquisitor, who controls the Spanish throne. The Canadian operatic bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000, as Alidoro in the opera company's 13th performance of Rossini's La Cenerentola.

The 2021-2022 season's presentation of Verdi's Don Carlos debuts a new Met Opera production by Sir David McVicar. Sir David's new staging numbers as his 11th Met Opera production, according to the opera's page on the Metropolitan Opera website. The Scottish opera and theatre director had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, in the opera company's 600th performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Sir David's production team comprises Charles Edwards, set designer; Brigitte Reiffenstuel, costume designer; Adam Silverman, lighting designer; and Leah Hausman, movement director. Charles Edwards, Brigitte Reiffenstuel and Leah Hausman all made their Met Opera debuts Feb. 16, 2009, alongside Sir David. Adam Silverman made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012, in the opera company's 288th performance of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera.

The Metropolitan Opera website page for the 2021-2022 season's staging of Verdi's Don Carlos announces that the new production presents, as a first in the opera company's history, the opera with its original, five-act French libretto. The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Don Carlos took place Thursday, Dec. 23, 1920. The Metropolitan Opera Archives Database (MetOpera Database) notes that the premiere's Italian libretto was the Lauzières-Zanardini translation. The 1883 translation of Verdi's revised, four-act French libretto by Angelo Zanardini (April 9, 1820-March 7, 1893) incorporated the 1866 translation of Verdi's original, five-act French libretto by Achille De Lauzières (1818-1894).

The opera's original French title is Don Carlos. The Italian libretto bears the title of Don Carlo. Met Opera's Italian version of the opera retained the opera's French title for its first three seasons at the opera house, according to MetOpera Database's notes on the opera's Metropolitan Opera premiere page.

The takeaways for Don Carlos as Met Opera's March 26, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast are that Verdi's opera airs as the 2021-2022 season's 13th of 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts; that the season's presentation of Don Carlos introduces the opera's original, five-act libretto, for the first time, into the company's repertoire; that the season's staging of Don Carlos debuts a new Met Opera production by Scottish opera and theatre director Sir David McVicar; that the production numbers as Sir David's 11th Met Opera staging; and that Don Carlos numbers as the second of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts for Matthew Polenzani and Etienne Dupuis.

Met Opera's new 2021-2022 season staging of Verdi's Don Carlos reunites Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Met Opera's third music director, with Sonya Yoncheva; their last operatic coincidence at Met Opera occurred in the 2015-2016 season's new Bartlett Sher production of Verdi's Otello: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook June 6, 2020

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

Met Opera's new 2021-2022 season staging of Verdi's Don Carlos reunites the production's director, Sir David McVicar, with Matthew Polenzani in the title role; they last worked together at Met Opera in the 2015-2016 season's presentation of Donizetti's Roberto Devereaux: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook March 24, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/director-sir-david-mcvicar-and-matthew-polenzani-in-an-early-rehearsal-for-doniz/10156752633700533/

Met Opera's new 2021-2022 season staging of Verdi's Don Carlos reunites Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Met Opera's third music director, with Sonya Yoncheva; their last operatic coincidence at Met Opera occurred in the 2015-2016 season's new Bartlett Sher production of Verdi's Otello: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook June 6, 2020, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10163849152715533

For further information:

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Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "For the upcoming performances of Verdi’s Don Carlos February 28–March 26, the role of La Princesse Eboli will be sung by Jamie Barton. #CastChange." Twitter. Jan. 27, 2022.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1486813923298971650?cxt=HHwWhMC4ldjYnKIpAAAA

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "For tonight’s performance of Verdi’s Don Carlos, the role of Phillippe II will be sung by Matthew Rose, and the role of the Monk will be sung by Matthew Anchel. #CastChange." Twitter. March 22, 2022.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1506385339711172608

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Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Tomorrow’s performance of Verdi’s Don Carlos, which will also be transmitted Live in HD, will be conducted by Patrick Furrer. #CastChange." Twitter. March 25, 2022.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1507479621251567619

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Zachary Woolfe @zwoolfe. "Günther Groissböck, last seen withdrawing from Wotan at the last minute this summer at Bayreuth, is now dropping out of the Met’s first-ever French 'Don Carlos this season 'for personal reasons.' Eric Owens will replace him." Twitter. Sep. 2, 2021.
Available via Twitter @ https://twitter.com/zwoolfe/status/1433491566522470408