Though I still have to properly assess the stunning work that "Don Carlo" evidently is I found myself immediately won over by the charm of Eboli's gentle "Veil Song", a reminder of the work's (and Verdi's) strong belcanto links.
I find that the piece is somehow alien to its' dramatics surroundings, an echo of the old tradition that was slowly dying out during Verdi's lifetime (and moreover with the advent of Verdi's dramatic genius). This can be seen through the use of a rather large amount of coloratura, the easy flow of the melody and the classical couplet structure, favored by the French idiom (this last point seems to me a perfectly viable point to add embellishments to the repeat), making it into a little showpiece for a talented singer. But the piece, with its' dramatically interesting narrative, becomes so much more: Eboli sings a Moorish love song about an encounter between a young veiled woman and the King who has tired of the Queen's attention. It is only at the end of the song that the King finds out the veiled woman is actually the Queen herself which brings a very ironic twist to the whole number giving it a perfect place in the drama.
Magdalena Kozena could be considered rather lightweight vocally for the role of Eboli, and yet I am very much taken by the elegance and ease of her singing here (particularly in the intricate coloratura passages). Hope you'll enjoy :).
