In the shadow of the Escurial

David McVicar directs Don Carlo in Frankfurt (****½) [live]

Scene from the 2007 Frankfurt premiere © Monika Rittershaus

David McVicar is a genuine actor's director, a director who knows how to elicit the best from his actors, but he doesn't always show it. I rarely saw his theatrical instincts at work in New York, but I did see them in Glyndebourne and Covent Garden. What conditions must be met for him to throw h…