Verdi: Don Carlos - Savoie/Tremblay/Matheson (Opera Rara)

There are so many different versions of the opera that it is both all and none of a number of scores performed and sanctioned by Verdi at various points in his lifetime.

The final release in Opera Rara's Verdi Originals series is the BBC's 1973 broadcast of the most complete version of the opera to be performed in recent times.

In the late '60s and early '70s the scholars David Rosen and Andrew Porter pieced together various parts of the score abandoned or cut during rehearsals and early performances of the opera in 1867. Julian Budden, now famous for his three-volume work on Verdi but then the Chief Opera Producer of Radio 3, conceived a concert performance to incorporate the new discoveries, recorded live in Camden in front of an invited audience.

It was evidently something of a revelation to hear passages once thought of as lost, and even now to hear the entire work in its original conception is sometimes overwhelmingly powerful.

The opening scene is extended with a large chorus and prelude; a scene for Posa and Philippe reveals new tensions in that relationship; and most striking to me is the duet for Élisabeth and Eboli only seconds before 'O don fatal'. The two women are joined in a reflection on their frustrated love for Don Carlos, only to be shattered when Eboli confesses that she has seduced Élisabeth's husband, the king (whereupon she is banished from the court).

Also interesting is a duet between Carlos and Philippe, in which the two are united for the only time in the opera, in mourning for the dead Posa. This music later became the theme of the Lacrimosa in the composer's setting of the Requiem Mass.

I have a couple of reservations about the quality of one or two performers, but first things first: this new release could hardly be more lavishly packaged. Opera Rara leads the field in this respect; the explanatory note by Andrew Porter is brief but helpful, and the libretto is more clearly laid out than most rivals' efforts.

Occasionally more thrust would be desirable in John Matheson's conducting, especially in the ballet music (presented complete and in context for the first time), but his love of the score is always evident. The BBC Singers resound from the rafters in the auto-da-fe, and acquit themselves well generally.

However, the BBC Concert Orchestra could do with more heft and sturdiness in this music. They do well in a brisk take on the Act 3 finale, but in more lyrical passages sound bland. Furthermore, the downside of this live performance is that the orchestra in particular takes a good hour to warm up properly.

Similarly, the men are under strain during the first couple of acts. The Rodrigue of Robert Savoie is the chief problem, sounding stretched to his limits in the Carlos/Posa duet that closes Act 2 Scene 1. It's a shame that his baritone is past its best, as he is a blot on the recording through most of its duration – listen to him murdering the scene following the Veil Song, for instance.

Don't be put off by this one excruciating moment, however: at least he's part of a cast that is largely Francophone, which is a welcome contrast to the mainly Italian/Spanish singers in the Claudio Abbado recording of 1985 (not 1995, as the Opera Rara booklet claims).

Abbado has bigger names but less passion than here; he also fails to integrate the rediscovered passages into their original contexts. So Opera Rara's more dedicated approach serves the opera somewhat better than its chief rival.

The role lies too high for him at times, but André Turp is otherwise more than passable as Carlos. Indeed, considering the length of the role and the fact that the recording is based on a single live performance, his emotional portrayal of the title character is quite impressive. The Fontainebleau aria is sung with long phrases, and the final duet with Élisabeth is done with more poignancy than many a more famous singer on other recordings.

Élisabeth herself, Edith Tremblay, is excellent, the strongest member of the cast in fact. Fans of the French Don Carlos will want to own the recording for Tremblay's rendition of the Act 5 aria, if nothing else. Impassioned, it reaches into the heart of the character more than any other singer since Callas. She also brings nobility to the King's Study Scene (in which her part is much expanded in this original version).

The Eboli of Michelle Vilma is almost her equal. The Veil Song has a wobble or two and is taken at a rather random tempo, but this is compensated for by the rest of the performance. The seminal Act 3, Scene 1 trio is dominated by her powerful mezzo and 'O don fatal' is a brilliant apotheosis to the character's contribution.

Joseph Rouleau is a ponderous Philippe, and it's a shame that Robert Lloyd is only given the role of the Monk, though he does it brilliantly.

Richard Van Allan is a menacing Inquisitor; Prudence Lloyd a sweet Voice from Heaven; and the young Gillian Knight excels in the trouser role of Thibault.

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