This is an issue of major importance, which all lovers of Verdi should acquire, since it will enable them to hear about 45 minutes of his most mature music which is otherwise not available… For this production…Bertrand de Billy came as close as possible to presenting Verdi's score as originally written for the Paris Opera... the opera... a work of such grandeur and intimate passion that it carries all before it, and on the whole, apart from some languorous tempos, de Billy's conducting is idiomatic. Don Carlos... is given a high profile by the ardour of Ramón Vargas. The two leading ladies, singing Elisabeth and Eboli respectively, have surprisingly similar voices, guttural and raw, but exciting... Bo Skovhus is Rodrigue, the work's most moving figure, well up to his role.