A Big-Name Cast Powers This ‘Don Carlo’ for Sony

VERDI: “Don Carlo.” Aprile Millo, Dolora Zajick, Michael Sylvester, Vladimir Chernov, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Samuel Ramey, Paul Plishka, Kathleen Battle, others; forces of Metropolitan Opera, James Levine, cond. Sony S3K52500. The cast for this latest in Sony’s Verdi/Levine series is about as good as current standards allow, with Zajick and Chernov especially telling. The mezzo’s seamless scale is employed with ease in the coloratura of the Veil Song and a scorchingly dramatic “O don fatale,” while the baritone has the power for the big outbursts, as well as a haunting lyricism for his death scene. Ramey is fine too, although a bass with more weight would be preferable for the Inquisitor.

There is some crudity in Sylvester’s phrasing, and the voice loses quality under pressure, but there is gold when he can mine it, as he proves in the final act. Here too, Millo is at her best, when she banishes the previous wobble, phrasing with sensitivity and spinning some ravishing pianissimo lines. After a few initial pitch problems, Furlanetto manages Filippo with solid, dark tones, but his characterization lacks distinction. Plishka’s grainy Friar is not much help, and Battle as the Celestial Voice sounds as if she’s phoning in her few lines from the Mother of All Echo Chambers. Levine’s conducting has sweeping grandeur and color. From orchestral roars to filed-down pianos, the sound is superlative.