A 1985 performance of Luchino Visconti's 1958 staging for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Bernard Haitink memorably directs a superb cast that includes Ileana Cotrubas at the height of her powers and Luis Lima, unequalled in his tortured introspection, in the title role. (5-act version, sung in Italian)

Luis Lima
as Don Carlo

Ileana Cotrubas
as Elisabetta di Valois

Giorgio Zancanaro
as Rodrigo

Robert Lloyd
as Filippo II

Bruna Baglioni
as Princess Eboli

Joseph Rouleau
as Grand Inquisitor

Matthew Best
as A monk

Patricia Parker
as Tebaldo

John Dobson
as Count of Lerma

Lola Biagioni
as A voice from heaven