DON CARLO (Verdi) “Per me giunto…Io morrò” Death of Rodrigo; Ryan Edwards, Baritone

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“[00:00] Son io, mio Carlo…[02:51] Per me giunto…[08:19] Io morrò” (Act III)
Ryan Edwards, baritone…Rodrigo, marquis of Posa
Piero Visconti, tenor…Carlo, infante of Spain
Emerson Buckley…conductor
Rodrigo visits Carlo in prison. The marquis’ own death is imminent: he has implicated himself in treason in order to save his friend. Roderigo is shot by an assassin, happily giving his life for Carlo, who alone can become the savior of Spain and Flanders.
Greater Miami Opera; live performance recording
Metropolitan Opera baritone Ryan Edwards has appeared in major operatic roles throughout North America and Europe. Eminent in the Verdi repertory, he has been praised as “a superb singer and artist” by the WASHINGTON POST. OPERA NEWS declared his “magnificent instrument is ideally suited for Verdi,” and OPERA (London) hailed him as “a Verdi baritone ‘di prima classe.’” Called “the ideal embodiment of Rodrigo” in DON CARLO by OPERA (London), he has also received international tributes for such portrayals as Germont in LA TRAVIATA with Joan Sutherland and Iago in OTELLO with James McCracken, as well as NABUCCO with Cristina Deutekom and MACBETH with Shirley Verrett. His numerous performances with the Met have included ERNANI with Aprile Millo, DON CARLO conducted by James Levine, and LA FORZA DEL DESTINO with Grace Bumbry and José Carreras. He has won accolades as Amonasro in AIDA, Renato in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, and Ford in FALSTAFF. Plácido Domingo conducted his ATTILA in Barcelona, while OPERA NEWS reported he “brought the house down” as Ezio in London. OPERA CANADA extolled his “riveting Iago” and wrote of his Count di Luna in IL TROVATORE: “Ryan Edwards sang brilliantly, interpolating a high B flat into the final moments of the opera that called to mind the late Leonard Warren.”
Lauded by the NEW YORKER as a “splendid baritone” and by OPERA NEWS as “a baritone with resonance AND style,” he has been an international bel canto favorite. His Metropolitan Opera debut in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR with Beverly Sills was broadcast around the world and released on CD, as was CATERINA CORNARO opposite Montserrat Caballé in Paris. Other bel canto roles have included Manfredo in IL GIURAMENTO at Lincoln Center, Riccardo in I PURITANI with Alfredo Kraus in London, and Figaro in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, where LA PRENSA pronounced him “a triumph as a singer and as a comic actor.”
His gifts as a singing actor have made him particularly sought-after for verismo opera. He has sung CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA with Martina Arroyo, as well as PAGLIACCI with Jon Vickers and Carlo Bergonzi. His performances in CAV-PAG have been heard on multiple Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, and his Tonio has been captured in the film PAGLIACCI, directed by Henry Butler. His Sharpless in MADAMA BUTTERFLY with Renata Scotto was broadcast from the Met and released on CD. OPERA NEWS wrote that his Scarpia in TOSCA “turned in the evening’s knock-out punch,” and he has portrayed the irrepressible Marcello in LA BOHÈME with such stellar colleagues as Giacomo Aragall, José Carreras, Giuseppe di Stefano, Dorothy Kirsten, Lorna Haywood, Anna Moffo, Luciano Pavarotti, Katia Ricciarelli, Renata Scotto, George Shirley, and Teresa Stratas.
A versatile artist, he has sung such Italian rarities as ANDREA CHÉNIER, IL TABARRO, and L’AMORE DEI TRE RE. He has appeared at the San Francisco Opera as Prince Yeletsky in PIQUE DAME, starring Galina Vishnevskaya and conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich. His EUGENE ONEGIN led OPERA NEWS to write: “He has evolved into a dramatic baritone, delivering his music with deep-flowing dignity and grandeur.” He has also taken the leading baritone roles in French operas ranging from WERTHER, conducted by Richard Bonynge at the Met, to LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES with Enrico Di Giuseppe and THAÏS opposite Jeannette Pilou. When his performance with Helga Dernesch in the British premiere of Bloch’s MACBETH was broadcast by the BBC, MUSIC AND MUSICIANS celebrated him as “an ideal Macbeth.”
Called the “consummate soloist” by the MIAMI HERALD for his performance at the International Festival of the Americas with José Serebrier, he has sung with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Erich Leinsdorf, the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with James Levine, and the Atlanta Symphony with Robert Shaw.
Winner of the National Opera Association’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, Ryan Edwards is also the author of THE VERDI BARITONE, as well as VERDI AND PUCCINI HEROINES.