Nicholas Hytner's Met debut in Don Carlo

Hytner is the artistic director of the National Theatre in London and will now lead the Met's cast of singers, including: Roberto Alagna, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, newcomer Anna Smirnova, and Eric Halfvarson, under Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin's baton.

For Hytner, Verdi's Don Carlo is a sprawling epic of powerful individuals clashing with each other and with destiny in 16th-century Spain, this "ferociously pessimistic drama" is about as dark and somber as Romantic opera gets.

Almost every individual in it fights

"What makes it so attractive is that almost every individual in it fights, with every fibre of their being, against the opposition. Nobody gives in. Tyrannical kings, despairing princes, and innocent young women are not in short supply in the world of opera, but few works of musical theatre boast a dramatis personae of such depth, complexity, and passion as Don Carlo," said Hytner.

Hytner's staging, a co-production of the Met, Covent Garden, and the Norwegian National Opera, was first seen in 2008 at London's Royal Opera House-with Furlanetto, Keenlyside, and Poplavskaya all in the same roles as they'll sing at the Met. The British director is again collaborating with five-time Tony Award-winner Bob Crowley, who designed the sets and costumes, and lighting designer Mark Henderson.

This king was a self-jailer

"I think everybody who approaches Don Carlo starts by going to the Escorial (the royal palace near Madrid built by King Philip). From the outside it looks like a jail, but it's very beautiful in its austere way. Once you get inside, its interiors are surprisingly human in scale, but the sense that you take with you is that this king was a self-jailer. He built a palace on top of a mausoleum for himself, his descendants, and all future kings of Spain.

Based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien ("Don Carlos, Infante of Spain") by Friedrich Schiller, Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry.

Story based on conflicts

The story is based on conflicts in the life of Carlos, Prince of Asturias after his betrothed Elisabeth of Valois was married instead to his father Philip II of Spain as part of the peace treaty ending the Italian War of 1551-1559 between the Houses of Habsburg and Valois.

The opera not only provides ample opportunity for scenic splendor, but also contains magnificent roles for singing actors, some of the greatest arias in the Italian repertory, orchestral writing that achieves symphonic heights, and a strong choral presence.

Tenor Roberto Alagna will tackle the title role, while bass-baritone Feruccio Furlanetto, who last appeared at the Met in 2005, revisits the challenging role of King Phillip.

Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya returns to sing Elisabeth, Simon Keenlyside is Rodrigo, Anna Smirnova debuts as Princess Eboli and Eric Halfvarson takes on the crucial role of the grand inquisitor.

The fourth season of opera

Don Carlos features in the fourth season of opera with Cinema Nouveau. Other operas to be featured include:

• Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (4 February, 2011)
  
• Adams's Nixon in China (4 March, 2011)
  
• Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride (25 March, 2011)
  
• Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (8 April, 2011)
  
• Rossini's Le Comte Ory (6 May, 2011)
  
• Strauss's Capriccio (20 May, 2011)
  
• Verdi's Il Trovatore (27 May, 2011)
  
• Wagner's Die Walküre (10 June, 2011)

For more information on opera with Cinema Nouveau, go to www.sterkinekor.com.