Don Carlo: 5-Act Restauration with Notations for an Alternative 4-Act Version (Dover Opera Scores)

An American reviewer thinks I should understand "Dover's Mission". I would have had no complaints if in 2011 when they brought this out, they had found space on the cover for a correct description of what is offered here. Any CD store - even Amazon, could have told them how. "Five Act Modena Version" might just have done it, though the Modena version was only a revision of the last four acts. But in fact even the back cover blurb doesn't confess the whole truth - nothing in this score reflects the recovery of the French material cut at the time of the premiere and these days even available in sound as an appendix on CD in the not very recent Abbado version. You have to go inside to discover that this is not even "Don Carlos", but "Don Carlo", and the "Don Carlo" of Verdi's revised 1886 version, close on 130 years ago. Dover's sources did them much better service with "Tannhauser". Clearly Dover's "mission", however it conceives it, deserves a bit of explanation. I'm not saying this version is useless, but it's not the whole story. (And the blurb has the brass face to include the word "unabridged", with no additional qualification). If you can use it, get a pre-owned version.

The Italian version of Don Carlo of 4 or 5 acts, as approved by Verdi himself, is considered in this Dover print full score - however, more and more of todays performances and recordings are based on the French orginal - Don Carlos - with all or most cuts reopened, thus allowing Verdi lovers to enjoy the complete wonderful music on French language and prosody. Is it hoping too much to print the full French version of 1867, or, at least, to add the French text to the score, as the Dover full score is named according to the Don Carlos French version?

Fine new edition of Verdi's great masterpiece, incorporating both the four and five act versions of the opera in full score.