Don Carlo at Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa, Moniuszko Auditorium

The tomb of history. In it, as if in a mirror of times past, are repeated and processed the fates of bygone rulers, in which we might seek a familiar countenance. Willy Decker’s staging (transferred from the Nederlandse
Opera) is like a historical fresco enclosed in moving images. The coldness of this vision is transformed by the exaltation of the music, whose temperature can warm up more than just the cold hearts of the puppet-like characters. The spectator gives in to the magic of this theatre
whose strength comes from the minimalism of the stage movement, from focusing on what is essential, individual, and universal. “You have to constantly be there, once in heaven, once in hell; there is no centre”, wrote Adam Mickiewicz about Schiller’s plays. Decker has situated the space of this hell/heaven, filled with Verdi’s beautiful music, in a grave.