BOLD, brilliant and bruising, Welsh National Opera's Don Carlos is more a tangle of passionate soap-opera lives than an historical docu-drama.

Philip marries Elisabeth, unaware that she and his son are already deeply in love; son Carlos is a determined rebel against his father's way of life; Rodriguez a well-meaning go-between and Eboli a poisonous female "friend" with designs on both father and son.

That the key characters are the King of Spain, his heir and the daughter of the King of France and that the tragedy is played out against the Inquisition at its height, adds drama - were it needed - to what is a deeply personal story.

Verdi's music is at its most expressive from the WNO orchestra under the baton of Carlo Rizzi and John Caird's stylish direction ensures that the five-hour staging of this full version doesn't flag.

Nuccia Focile is the gloriously-voiced Elisabeth, Paul Charles Clarke Don Carlos and Andrea Silvestrelli conveys both the heartlessness and the heart of King Philippe.

Guang Yang as the double-crossing Princess Eboli and Scott Hendricks as Rodriguez with a galaxy of other stellar performances ensure a production to remember.

- LIZ GRIFFIN