About the work
Grand opera in five acts by Giuseppe Verdi after Friedrich Schiller's dramatic poem "Don Carlos, Infante of Spain" (1787), first performed on 11 March 1867 at the Paris Opera to a French libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle. Verdi later revised and shortened the work several times, including a four-act Italian version for Milan's La Scala in 1884.
Plot
The Spanish crown prince Don Carlos loves Elisabeth of Valois, who instead must marry his father, King Philip II, for reasons of state. Caught between them are Carlos's friend Rodrigue, Marquis of Posa, who champions freedom for the Netherlands, and Princess Eboli, whose unrequited love for Carlos hastens the catastrophe. In the end the Inquisition intervenes, forcing Philip to choose between fatherly duty and reasons of state.
Cultural significance
Combining an intimate family drama with political critique and the confrontation between king and Grand Inquisitor, Don Carlos is considered one of Verdi's most musically and dramatically ambitious works. Because of its complicated genesis, existing in several versions of differing length and language, no single authoritative stage version has ever established itself.