On May 24 and 25, 2025, the Wrocław Opera hosted two evening premieres of Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo – one of the most dramatic and extensive works in the operatic repertoire. The production, prepared since 2021, delighted both with the monumental scale of the staging and the excellent vocal performance.
Grand opera, grand theme, grand production
Verdi’s opera is a four-act drama about love, freedom, politics and betrayal, set in the shadow of the Spanish Inquisition. It is a story about Don Carlos – an infant who faces a tragic tangle of feelings and duties, in a world with no room for happiness. Director Michał Znaniecki reached for a strongly political reading of the work, building the staging around the metaphor of… chess. The main visual axis of the performance was based on the precisely constructed set design by Luigi Scoglio, in which the stage figures played out their fates as during masterful chess games. The stage movement of Oskar Winiarski and the lighting of Dawid Karolak strengthened the drama and introduced the audience to successive tensions – like successive moves leading to an inevitable checkmate.
Two premieres, two casts
The audience had the opportunity to see two equal casts of soloists, which emphasizes the importance of the work and the complexity of the parts. Rafał Siwek and Jerzy Butryn played the role of Philip II, and Norbert Ernst and Dominik Sutowicz played the title role of Don Carla. The parts of Elizabeth de Valois were entrusted to Olena Tokar and Marcelina Román, and the character of Marquis Posa was played by Stanisław Kuflyuk and Łukasz Motkowicz. The roles of Princess Eboli (Jadwiga Postrożna and Barbara Bagińska), the Grand Inquisitor (Aleksander Teliga and Volodymyr Pańkiw) and the mysterious Monk (Jakub Michalski, Filip Rutkowski) provided no less excitement.
Musical precision and emotional depth
The performance was conducted by maestro Paweł Przytocki, who with great care and sensitivity led the orchestra and soloists through the musical labyrinths of the work. As he himself admitted – Don Carlo is a piece that requires from the singers not only vocal artistry, but also enormous emotional expression. Parts such as Elizabeth’s aria Tu che le vanit?, or the dramatic duets of Philip II with the Inquisitor and Posa are among the peak achievements of vocal literature.
A message as relevant as ever
The director emphasized that Verdi’s opera does not lose its relevance – it talks about the entanglement of an individual in systems of power, about the role of ideas and the price of freedom. Therefore, references to the present are not without significance – although the historical costume has been preserved, each of the characters is a figure of a larger order, playing their role on the political chessboard.
The team of producers and artistic synergy
The visual side was also the responsibility of the team: Małgorzata Słoniowska (costumes), Karolina Jacewicz (multimedia projections), and the whole was complemented by the choir prepared by Anna Grabowska-Borys and soloist tutoring by the team of musical assistants. The cooperation of so many creators gave the performance a multidimensionality – not only musical and dramatic, but also visual and symbolic.
It is impossible not to mention the enormous commitment of the Wrocław Opera Orchestra, which, under the baton of Paweł Przytocki, demonstrated precision, sensitivity and excellent craftsmanship, conveying the entire range of emotions of this multi-layered score. An equally important role was played by the technical producers – from the teams responsible for light, sound and multimedia, to stage managers and technicians. Thanks to their work, it was possible to create a coherent show, refined in the smallest details, which will certainly go down in the history of the Wrocław Opera as one of the most spectacular undertakings in recent years.
