Julian Gavin (tenor), Janice Watson (soprano), Clive Bayley\n(bass), William Dazeley (baritone), Alastair Miles (bass), Jane\nDutton (mezzo), Sir John Tomlinson (bass), Orchestra and Chorus of\nOpera North, Richard Farnes

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Based on Schiller’s play, Verdi’s magnificent and arguably\ngreatest opera, Don Carlos, has everything – intense personal\npassion and pain, enmeshed in the web of political and religious\nagendas – utterly relevant to today and superbly expressed in a\nscore of gripping intensity.

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This recording was made in Leeds Town Hall between Opera North’s\nMay/June 2009 production and here receives its first recording in\nEnglish. The performances conducted by their Music Director,\nRichard Farnes, knocked everyone who witnessed them, sideways.

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The Observer thought ‘The work came alive as never before, its\npassionate exchanges between king, son, stepmother and loyal friend\nall the more incandescent, an endorsement for the Peter Moores\nFoundation “Opera in English” series on Chandos, who record this\nDon Carlos for future release.’ York Press wrote ‘This is a drama\ntorrid enough to satisfy the senses on many levels,’ whilst The\nSpectator declared Richard Farnes, ‘the best Verdian of our\ntime.’

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Tenor Julian Gavin takes the lead of Don Carlos and is ably\nassisted by William Dazeley as Rodrigo, Janice Watson as Elizabeth,\nand Alistair Miles as Philip II and Sir John Tomlinson as the Grand\nInquisitor.

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