Don Carlo (Don Carlos in the original French) is an 1867 opera by Giuseppe Verdi, after the play Don Carlos by Friedrich von Schiller. The plot of both the play and the opera is very loosely based on the events surrounding the real Charles of Austria Don Carlos, son of Philip II, King of Spain.
Basically, it goes like this: Don Carlos, the Prince of Spain, was engaged to the French princess Élisabeth of Valois, but just as the two lovebirds meet and strike Love at First Sight, Carlos' father, King Philip, decides to take the girl for himself. There's also Don Carlos' best friend Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa, who tries to get Carlos to help the oppressed region of Flanders, there's the Princess of Eboli stalking Don Carlos, and many other characters with their own issues. Being an opera, it does not end well.
Don Carlo was originally composed for the Paris opera (as Don Carlos) and was translated into Italian later. Now, though, the Italian version is more common. The opera was originally in five acts, with the first act taking place earlier than the rest of the piece and showing how Carlos and Élisabeth meet and begin to fall in love. Some time after the premiere, Verdi revised the opera and created a shorter version in four acts, which was premiered in Italy in 1884. Verdi also authorized performances of the five-act version, and both are still performed, along with other versions that restore material that was cut in the original production or the revision. However, the plot and most of the numbers remain the same in all versions.
Tropes include:
- Afterlife Welcome: When the Protestants are burning at the stake, the Voice from Heaven bids welcome to their souls.
- Anti-Villain: Arguably, King Philip. He's not villainous but stern, bitter and severe towards both his wife and son, and his actions eventually lead to a Downer Ending.
- Arranged Marriage: Élisabeth with Carlos. Takes an unexpected and tragic turn when Philip marries her instead.
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: for Philip. Carlos spoils it big time.
- Betty and Veronica: The gentle Élisabeth and the fiery Eboli.
- BSoD Song:
- Ella giammai m'amò! / Elle ne m'aime pas! (King Philip)
- Tu che la vanità / Toi qui sus le néant (Élisabeth)
- O don fatal (Eboli). Verdi loved this trope.
- Cheater Gets Cheated On: Philip is outraged to learn that his wife Elizabeth has cheated on him with his son Carlos (in fact, it's emotional adultery which both parties try to suppress, and they have barely met since Elizabeth's marriage), while he has cheated on her with Princess Eboli before. Eboli is the one who realizes the hypocrisy of the situation and confesses everything to Elizabeth (not to mention that she doesn't even love Philip either: she loves Carlos as well... things are seriously messed up in this opera).
- Childhood Friends: Carlos and Rodrigo are implied to be this.
- Costume Porn: In traditional productions.
- Crosscast Role: the page Thibault/Tebaldo
- Death Is Dramatic: It's an opera...
- Death Song: After being shot, Rodrigo gets to sing an entire aria before he dies, urging Carlos to escape and continue fighting for Flanders.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: How Rodrigo dies in most productions.
- Deus Angst Machina: All over the place.
- Downer Ending: Rodrigo is killed, Carlos is either killed or dragged into the monastery by his grandad's ghost (or whatever the Monk is), Elisabeth falls unconscious and may also be dead, for all we know.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Carlos is heartbroken when Rodrigo seems to take his father's side against him in the auto-da-fé scene. Subverted: Rodrigo doesn't actually betray Carlos, he does what he does to save him.
- Eyepatch of Power: Eboli in some productions
◊. This is Truth in Television as the real Ana de Mendoza de la Cerda y de Silva Cifuentes, Princess of Eboli, did wear an eyepatch, having lost an eye due to an accident. - Femme Fatale: Eboli.
- Friendship Moment: Dio, che nell'alma infondere / Dieu, tu semas dans nos âmes, the duet between Don Carlo and Rodrigo. Indeed, it's often called simply the Friendship Duet.
- The Fundamentalist: the Grand Inquisitor
- Gorgeous Period Dresses: If the production isn't an avant-garde one.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Philip and Eboli both are very jealous.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Rodrigo
- King Incognito: The mysterious monk in the monastery of Saint-Just is Philip's father, King Charles V.
- Love Triangle: Carlos-Philip-Élisabeth and Carlos-Eboli-Élisabeth.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is the monk the ghost of Carlos's grandfather, or was he Faking the Dead? it's never explained.
- Messianic Archetype: Rodrigo
- My God, What Have I Done?: Philip, after Rodrigo is killed by the Inquisition.
- Offing the Offspring: What the Grand Inquisitor forces Philip to do.
- Old Man Marrying a Child: Philip is much older than Élisabeth.
- Opening Chorus: both in 5 act and 4 act versions.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Carlos will take masked Eboli for the Queen, even if the two ladies are nothing alike. In a scene that is almost always cut,the scene is set as part of a masked ball. Elisabeth asks Eboli to trade masks, since she wants to go pray. So it's not all Carlo's cluelessness, just mostly.
- Parental Issues: Carlos. And how!
- Rebel Prince: Carlos tries to be this, but unsuccessfully.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Rodrigo. He sacrificed himself to free Carlos so that the latter could help Flanders, but Carlos is either dead or missing in the end. Even if he stayed alive, it's highly unlikely that he would have been able to do what Rodrigo wanted.
- Sinister Minister: the Grand Inquisitor.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Carlos and Élisabeth.
- The Spanish Inquisition
- Tenor Boy: Carlos
- The Un-Favourite: Carlos
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Rodrigo
- Yandere: Eboli
- You're Not My Father: Carlos says this almost verbatim after Rodrigo is killed by Philip's tacit consent.
