The Metropolitan Opera's 2025-26 season of Saturday matinee broadcasts continues on May 16 with this year's Listeners' Choice. Met radio listeners voted and chose Verdi's "Don Carlo," in a historic performance from 1950.
The revered Swedish tenor Jussi Björling stars in the title role of the Spanish prince. The cast also features soprano Delia Rigal as Carlo's beloved, Elisabeth of Valois, who's married to his father the king; bass Cesare Siepi as King Philip II of Spain; mezzo-soprano Fedora Barbieri as Princess Eboli; baritone Robert Merrill as Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa and bass Jerome Hines as the Grand Inquisitor. Maestro Fritz Stiedry led the Met Orchestra and Chorus in this momentous performance that marked the company's broadcast premiere of "Don Carlo," and its first broadcast under General Manager Rudolf Bing.
Listen to the broadcast of "Don Carlo" on Classical IPR at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, 2026.
Read the synopsis from the Metropolitan Opera.
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
CAST
Don Carlo: Jussi Björling
Elisabeth of Valois: Delia Rigal
Rodrigo: Robert Merrill
Princess Eboli: Fedora Barbieri
Philip II: Cesare Siepi
Grand Inquisitor: Jerome Hines
Celestial Voice: Lucine Amara
Friar: Luben Vichey
Tebaldo: Anne Bollinger
Count of Lerma: Paul Franke
Countess of Aremberg: Tilda Morse
Herald: Emery Darcy
