The Metropolitan Opera: Don Carlo

Opera in three acts.

Don Carlo is one of the grandest of all grand operas, a tour-de-force that challenges the resources of even the greatest theaters. Five major roles must be cast, along with a handful of smaller yet singularly crucial ones. Seven separate sets must be designed and constructed and populated with an army of authentically costumed singers - some 200 on stage at once in the spectacular auto-da-fe scene. Verdi's writing for the large orchestra is imaginative and demanding.

The Met has accepted and responded to these challenges in magnificent fashion. The production "