Theatre Reviews

Schiller’s Don Carlos is an intensely human drama. It uses as a background the Spanish Court during the reign of Philip II, the same Philip who was co-ruler of England after his marriage to Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII. The drama tells of a love match between his son and heir Carlos, and Elisabeth de Valois, but evidence for it is rather lacking. But let’s not spoil a good drama, and Verdi used it to write his splendid opera Don Carlo. See my review in The Article.