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Strong vocal and orchestral performances and a tour-de-force staging of Act II light up Grange Park's production of Verdi's political thriller of the dark days of the Spanish inquisition.

The visual results are stunning, though an uneven cast made this a performance with clear weaknesses as well as strengths. Aquiles Machado's Cavaradossi, on the other hand, was an indubitable revelation.

Albert Boadella queda lejos de revitalizar el Don Carlo de Verdi en esta representación de El Escorial, despejando muy levemente la consabida leyenda negra que lo rodea desde su origen y que sigue resplandeciendo. Un compacto equipo vocal salva los muebles de una representación un tanto pretenciosa.