[9/25/2011] In "Don Carlos," can Posa talk King Phillip out of his proto-Cheneyite concept of bringing about peace? (continued)

Ettore Bastianini as Posa confronts Boris Christoff as Phillip at Salzburg in 1960. In a moment we're going to hear their 1961 commercial recording of the scene.

FOUR "HIGHLIGHTS"

Before we hear the whole scene -- or, actually, the first part of the scene (after the political section, Phillip changes the subject) -- I just want to highlight four especially vivid, overlapping chunks.

Nos. 1 and 3 are Posa's big solos within the scene: the first his incredibly vivid, and incredibly horrifying, account of the devastation being inflicted on Flanders and the Flemings, the second his comeback to Phillip's assertion that with the sword he's bringing peace to Flanders. Each builds to an especially impassioned peroration, which in turn bring forth even more appalling rationalizations from the king. Nos. 2 and 4 overlap Nos. 1 and 3, picking up at Posa's big narrative climaxes and carrying through Phillip's responses. (No. 2, by the way, brings us to the chunk we heard last Sunday, which started this whole thing.)

[Note: We've got double performances of Nos. 1 and 3 because I had misplaced the 1950 Met performance with Robert Merrill and as an alternate made audio files of Sherrill Milnes from this 1972 performance -- before stumbling on the 1980 video clip with Milnes and Paul Plishka, where Milnes actually sounds better than he does here. Then I found the 1950 performance and extracted the Merrill excerpts, but since the Milnes ones were already in place, I didn't have the heart to delete them.]

1. Posa, "O Signor, di Fiandra arrivo, quel paese un dì si bel" ("My Lord, I arrive from Flanders, that land once so beautiful")

POSA: Oh, my lord, I have just come from Flanders,
that country once so fair --
now bereft of any gleam of light,
it inspires horror and seems a silent grave!
The homeless orphan
roams the roads in tears;
fire and sword destroy everything,
mercy is banished.
The river's blushing waters
appear to the eye to run with blood;
the mother's cry, for her children
who have died, rings on the air.
[start of HIGHLIGHT 2]
Oh, God be praised,
who hast permitted me
to tell of this cruel agony,
that it should be known to the King!

Robert Merrill (b), Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fritz Stiedry, cond. Live performance, Nov. 11, 1950Sherrill Milnes (b), Marquis of Posa; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, cond. Live performance, Apr. 29, 1972

2. Posa, "Ah! sia benedetto Iddio ("Ah! blessed be God" . . . Phillip, "Col sangue sol potei la pace aver del mondo" ("Only with blood could I have peace for the world")

I'm afraid I haven't been entirely kind to Mario Sereni here, introducing his Posa with him flatting badly on D and then the E-flat at "Ah! sia benedetto Iddio." I might argue, though, that this reminds us that: (a) these things happen in live performances, (b) this is demanding music in the context of an emotionally intense, physically draining scene, and (c) Sereni's baritone is underweight for this music to begin with -- he has to really pile it on to fill the music out. Nevertheless, he gets himself back on track surprisingly, and overall I find an awful lot to like in his performance.

POSA: Oh, God be praised,
who hast permitted me
to tell of this cruel agony,
that it should be known to the King!
PHILLIP: By blood alone could I have
peace in the world;
my sword has crushed
the pride of the innovators,
who delude the people
with lying dreams . . .
Death in my hand
has a teeming future.
POSA: What! You think by sowing death
to plant for the future?
PHILLIP: Cast a glance at Spain!
The worker in the city,
the peasant on the land,
loyal to God and King,
has no complaint.
That same peace I bestow
upon my Netherlands!
POSA: A horrible and horrifying peace!
It is the peace of the grave!
Oh King, may history not have
to say of you:
He was a second Nero!
[start of HIGHLIGHT 3]

Mario Sereni (b), Marquis of Posa; Cesare Siepi (bs), King Phillip; Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Silvio Varviso, cond. Live performance, June 17, 1968

3. Posa, "Quest'è la pace che voi date al mondo?" ("This is the peace you're giving the world?")

POSA: Is this the peace you
give the world?
Such a gift awakens terror
and profound horror!
The priest is a hangman,
a brigand every soldier!
The people suffer and die in silence,
your empire is
a vast, horrific desert;
all are heard
to curse Phillip, yes, curse him!
[start of HIGHLIGHT 4]
Like a god of redemption
you remake the whole world,
soar in lofty flight
above all other kings!
Through you, let the world be made joyful!
Bestow freedom!

Robert Merrill (b), Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fritz Stiedry, cond. Live performance, Nov. 11, 1950Sherrill Milnes (b), Marquis of Posa; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, cond. Live performance, Apr. 29, 1972

4. Posa, "Come un dio redentor" ("Like a redeeming god") . . . Phillip, "O strano sognator" ("O strange dreamer")

POSA: Like a god of redemption
you remake the whole world,
soar in lofty flight
above all other kings!
Through you, let the world be made joyful!
Bestow freedom!
PHILLIP: Oh, fantastic dreamer!
You will change your way of thinking,
when you know the heart of man
as Phillip knows it!
Now, no more! . . .
The King has heard nothing . . .
have no fear!
[Darkly] But beware of the Grand Inquisitor!

Mario Sereni (b), Marquis of Posa; Cesare Siepi (bs), King Phillip; Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Silvio Varviso, cond. Live performance, June 17, 1968


AND NOW LET'S HEAR THE WHOLE EXCERPT

VERDI: Don Carlos, Act II, Scene 2, Phillip-Posa scene, "Restate!"

PHILLIP: Stay!
why have you not
yet asked to be
admitted to my presence?
I am well able to reward
all my protectors.
You have faithfully served
the Crown, I know.
POSA: What could I hope
from the favor of kings?
Sire, I am well content,
the law is my defense.
PHILLIP: I like a proud spirit,
I pardon boldness . . .
not always . . . You have quit
the profession of arms.
Can a man of your stamp,
a soldier of exalted rank,
remain inactive?
POSA: Wherever for Spain a sword is needed,
an avenging hand,
a custodian of honor,
there full soon will my sword
steeped in blood flash bright.
PHILLIP: I know it well . . . but what
can I do for you?
POSA: Nothing! No . . . nothing for me,
but for others . . .
PHILLIP: What do you mean, for others?
POSA: I will speak, sire, if I do not offend.
PHILLIP: Speak!
[start of HIGHLIGHT 1]
POSA: Oh, my lord, I have just come from Flanders,
that country once so fair --
now bereft of any gleam of light,
it inspires horror and seems a silent grave!
The homeless orphan
roams the roads in tears;
fire and sword destroy everything,
mercy is banished.
The river's blushing waters
appear to the eye to run with blood;
the mother's cry, for her children
who have died, rings on the air.
[start of HIGHLIGHT 2]
Oh, God be praised,
who hast permitted me
to tell of this cruel agony,
that it should be known to the King!
PHILLIP: By blood alone could I have
peace in the world;
my sword has crushed
the pride of the innovators,
who delude the people
with lying dreams . . .
Death in my hand
has a teeming future.
POSA: What! You think by sowing death
to plant for the future?
PHILLIP: Cast a glance at Spain!
The worker in the city,
the peasant on the land,
loyal to God and King,
has no complaint.
That same peace I bestow
upon my Netherlands!
POSA: A horrible and horrifying peace!
It is the peace of the grave!
Oh King, may history not have
to say of you:
He was a second Nero!
[start of HIGHLIGHT 3]
Is this the peace you
give the world?
Such a gift awakens terror
and profound horror!
The priest is a hangman,
a brigand every soldier!
The people suffer and die in silence,
your empire is
a vast, horrific desert;
all are heard
to curse Phillip, yes, curse him!
[start of HIGHLIGHT 4]
Like a god of redemption
you remake the whole world,
soar in lofty flight
above all other kings!
Through you, let the world be made joyful!
Bestow freedom!
PHILLIP: Oh, fantastic dreamer!
You will change your way of thinking,
when you know the heart of man
as Phillip knows it!
Now, no more! . . .
The King has heard nothing . . .
have no fear!
[Darkly] But beware of the Grand Inquisitor!

Boris Christoff (bs), King Phillip; Ettore Bastianini (b), Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Gabriele Santini, cond. DG, recorded 1961
Giorgio Tozzi (bs), King Phillip; Nicolae Herlea (b), Marquis of Posa; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Kurt Adler, cond. Live performance, Mar. 7, 1964

POSTSCRIPT: TRANSLATION NOTE

I kicked around an eventual text-translation note in my head so much that I forgot I never actually wrote it. The translation of the texts of this scene are pretty much straight Peggie Cochrane's for the Decca Record Co., allowing for some Americanization. I think Peggie was usually very good about communicating the sense of the texts she translated, and while I have lots of individual quibbles (like the notion that Posa thinks Phillip could go down in history as "a second Nero"; that's interpretation -- all Posa imagines history saying is: "He was Nero"), for this project I shut down my quibbles in the interest of sanity. (Mine.)

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