The Dallas Opera Concludes Its 2025/2026 Mainstage Season With Verdi’s DON CARLO

The Dallas Opera will close its 2025/2026 Season with a brand-new production of one of opera's greatest masterworks, Giuseppe Verdi's DON CARLO, at the Winspear Opera House, in Dallas Texas, beginning February 27.

TDO first presented Don Carlo in 1988. A semi-staged production was planned for March 2020 but was unfortunately cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The company took this time and reimagined this in-demand production. Leading this new, fully realized production is French opera director and designer Louis Désiré. Cinematic and poetic, this abstract production focuses on the political intrigue of Renaissance Spain and the characters' inner mental turmoil rather than the opera's infamous love triangle.

“It may seem strange, but Don Carlo is not a love story,” Désiré says. “Even the impossible longing between the prince and his stepmother is only the trembling surface of a deeper drama.”

Leading the powerhouse cast as Don Carlo is American tenor and 2009 Richard Tucker Award recipient Stephen Costello. Australian soprano Nicole Car returns as Elizabeth of Valois. Car's husband, Canadian baritone Etienne Dupuis, known for his Verdian roles, makes his TDO debut as Rodrigo. Celebrated for his villainous portrayals of opera's greatest anti-heroes, American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn returns as King Philip II. Legendary bass Morris Robinson sings the Grand Inquisitor, and French mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine is Princess Eboli.

Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director Emmanuel Villaume leads more than 140 members of The Dallas Opera Orchestra and Chorus in the 1884 four-act Italian score. English titles will be displayed above the stage. Désiré's creative partner Diego Méndez-Casariego designed the sets and costumes, and Patrick Méeüs created the lighting design. Projections are by Driscoll Otto, who also created the projections of TDO's 2025 Orpheus and Eurydice production.