Two shades dominated the costumes and sets for yesterday's staging of Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlo at Milan's La Scala – gold and black.
The performance, directed by Lluís Pasqual, opened the theatre's season and featured costumes designed by Franca Squarciapino, an Oscar winner for her work in Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Cyrano de Bergerac (1990; her late husband Ezio Frigerio also worked on the production design of this film).
The compelling narrative of Don Carlo revolves around complex relationships, political intrigue and oppressive policies. Don Carlo (Francesco Meli), and Elizabeth of Valois (Anna Netrebko, whose career has been in disarray after Russia invasion or Ukraine because of her ties to Vladimir Putin...) are heirs to the thrones of Spain and France.
Despite being in love, they cannot marry because Elizabeth is promised to Carlo's father, Philip II (Michele Pertusi). Carlo is desperate as Elizabeth becomes his stepmother and he is tasked with defending the Flemish people against his father's oppressive policies. Philip, fearing a love affair between Carlo and Elizabeth, keeps them under surveillance. He even attempts to deceive Carlo by making him believe he is with Elizabeth, while it is actually the Princess Eboli (Elīna Garanča) disguised as the queen.
Carlo, growing increasingly resentful of his father, threatens him with a sword, but his friend Rodrigo intervenes. Both are sentenced to death. Meanwhile, Eboli, rejected by Carlo, tries to convince Philip that there is a real relationship between Carlo and Elizabeth, but later admits her deception. In the meantime, Rodrigo takes full responsibility for the Flemish uprising to save Carlo and Spain's future. As Rodrigo is killed, the people rise up to free Carlo, imprisoned by Philip, whose political decisions are now in the hands of the Grand Inquisitor of the Church.
After his release, Carlo, in front of his grandfather Charles V's tomb, embraces Elizabeth for the last time. They are caught by Philip, who threatens a double revenge. However, from the tomb emerges Charles V, taking away his grandson, stating that "only in heaven can peace be found."
The conflict between father and son, contrasted love, loneliness caused by power, the clash of political ideologies and the struggle between State and Church, form the thematic core of this complex opera.
Verdi masterfully weaves a tale of the defeat of legitimate aspirations by an absolutist power that crushes happiness and the desire for fulfillment. Destiny has a violence of its own against which, no matter how well-intentioned, individuals cannot prevail.
Franca Squarciapino followed the request of the director regarding the two prevailing shades: gold, associated with royalty, and black, symbolizing wealth, play crucial roles in highlighting the drama of each character.
Yet, while the costumes often pointed at paintings, there were moments in which the settings revealed other inspirations, including elaborate altarpieces like the one of the Royal Chapel of Granada partially designed by Felipe Bigarny.
Besides, black and gold are also the main colours of the burial chamber of the Escorial (View this photo), and evoke the two gilt bronze groups for the imperial and royal mausoleum in El Escorial by Leone and Pompeo Leoni (indeed, the three-dimensionality of some of the surfaces of the fabrics seems to point more at sculptures than at paintings) - one with the figures of Emperor Charles V, his wife, the Empress Isabella, and his sisters, Eleonora of France and Mary of Hungary, and his daughter, Mary, wife of the Emperor Maximilian; and the other with Philip II kneeling with his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, and behind, Isabella of Valois and Mary of Portugal, respectively third and first wives of King Philip II, and his son, Don Carlo (View this photo).
The dark blood-red fabric for the cape of the Grand Inquisitor (Ain Anger) added another color to the palette. At the same time, it aligned with the main palette as it produced very dark, almost black reflections under the lights.
Rather than evoking paintings such as Diego Velázquez's Portrait of Innocent X, it pointed at the more dramatic, distorted and bleeding colors in Francis Bacon's studies of this portrait, an effect enhanced also by the tunic underneath the cape that, thin and almost diaphanous, gave the impression the Grand Inquisitor was almost a ghost-like figure.
There was a meticulous attention to detail in the choice of materials: heavy silks portrayed the opulence of the Spanish court and were used for more structured designs or luminous effects and juxtaposed with lighter fabrics for freedom of movement.
Garments also conveyed human aspects: Philip II in a scene wears his dressing gown, so he is shown in a more intimate attire, but this garment is ornate and elaborate and therefore it still emphasizes his royal status.
Don Carlo's practical pepper and salt cape pointed at travelling and moving between Spain and the Flanders while his boots reasserted his masculinity.
Princess Eboli is clad in black, again intended as the highest expression of wealth, with a deeper neckline compared to the dresses of the other women. The Dominican friars and cloistered nuns, inspired by Zurbarán's monastic modesty, contributed to the visual richness.
The opening night at La Scala usually juxtaposes two worlds - the affluent elite and ordinary people. In the past, fur clad ladies going to the opening night often attracted the ire of animal rights activists; nowadays social discontent manifests around other themes and there were tensions yesterday night as well.
As the Italian President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella was not able to attend, in his place right wing Ignazio La Russa, the President of the Senate, and Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister, sat in the Royal Box. The day before the event the Cgil trade union and the ANPI (National Association of Italy's Partisans) section of the theater (founded at La Scala in 2016 and promoting anti-fascist values in culture) announced they weren't going to pay customary tribute to those who never openly "condemned fascism, its colonial wars, the alliance and subjection to Nazism that generated racial laws and so much grief and misery for the Italian people."
There was actually further food for thought: regrettably, in Don Carlo, power emerges victorious and this prompts further contemplation if you think that just a few months ago a young woman claimed she had been raped by La Russa's son, a matter that seemingly vanished from the news, almost silenced by a commandingly arrogant authority.
Lluís Pasqual opted for a classic representation in this case, but quite often nowadays directors readapt classic operas to make sure they can resonate with younger audiences.
In November and early December, Gaetano Donizetti's "Il Diluvio Universale," underwent a reinterpretation at the Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo, Italy, directed by the Masbedo duo (Nicolò Massazza and Iacopo Bedogni), who also worked on the costumes, and with sets by the design collective 2050+.
In this opera Noè and his family, prepare the ark just outside the city of Sennàar, doomed to be destroyed together with its sinful inhabitants.
Noè has converted Sela, the wife of Cadmo, the leader of the city, but Cadmo's mercenaries attempt to burn the ark, so Sela, torn between faith and her husband, returns to persuade him to desist. Ada, secretly in love with Cadmo, manipulates him into believing Sela is in love with Noè's son. Cadmo repudiates Sela and sentences Noè and his sons to death, but the flood approaches, chaos ensues, and Noè's ark floats undamaged on the submerged land.
The narrative of jealousy and betrayal was reimagined in this version of the opera to reflect the profound consequences of climate change and social upheaval.
Erratic weather patterns caused the Po River, Italy's longest river, to reach its lowest level ever in April this year, and water levels in Lake Garda plummeted to their lowest point since 1953; in May, floods in Emilia Romagna brought death and destruction. These events prompted a reinterpretation of the opera that was adapted to address the environmental emergency.
Outside the theatre students, attired as climate activists and armed with portable objects crafted by 2050+, staged demonstrations, while inside a cinematic-scale screen continuously projected video material, while mobile LED screens and structures hinted at visual tools tied to control politics and protest.
Central to the stage was a multifunctional metal platform, serving as both an ark and a dinner table where the people of Sennàar seemed to have a never-ending feast.
In this space Noah's Ark combined with the Last Supper and with Marco Ferreri's La Grande Bouffe. Behind them images of animals being prepared for consumption, gutted fish and eviscerated piglets, hurricanes devastating towns, floods tossing houses around, icebergs cracking, and wildfires racing through forests, were projected on the big screen.
The industrial aesthetic of the platform as performative object created an intriguing dichotomy with the classical architecture of the theatre, while the mass scenes with characters in vibrant costumes like simple but vividly colored raincoats, offered great visual impact.
That said, in some cases the screen projecting images by Masbedo, visuals from Sea Shepherd's archives, and contributions by 2050+, proved distracting and overshadowed the performers.
Yet, these two performances showsthat operas can be constantly reinvented, offering traditional or contemporary expressions.
The advice for aspiring fashion students who may want to explore this path as an alternative career? Developing a sound knowledge of art history, a keen eye for detail and quality, and an understanding of the structural elements beneath costumes as they should be adapted to performers with different bodies and shapes (so a little knowledge of anatomy also helps). Rapid problem-solving skills and adaptability to collaborate with various directors are crucial attributes. But all these principles are not exclusive to costume design and are applicable to the production of a fashion collection as well.
In the end, the foundational aspects involved in designing a fashion collection or costumes for an opera - from researching to sketching or exploring with pattern creation - are indeed similar. If there is one thing that distinguishes the two practices is the rhythm: costume design for an opera is a slower process, so it takes longer compared to designing a fashion collection, it is spread over several months rather than contracted into a few weeks and offers its own set of challenges but equally gratifying rewards.
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