"In a wrenching duet with Carlos – who was first her fiancé, then, sigh, her stepson – Élisabeth, the miserable queen of Spain, begs him to know her heart is not indifferent, to understand her silence. In Italian the word is "silenzio," capped with a broad, extroverted "oh" sound. But in French, it’s "silence," with a soft, gentle "eh" at the end.
Language becomes emotion in the voice of an artist like the soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who sings Élisabeth, for her first time in either language, in a starry yet sober new production of "Don Carlos" that had its premiere at the Opéra Bastille on Tuesday. While Ms. Yoncheva didn’t dwell on that not-quite-syllable at the end of "silence," she used it – to create a brief aura of melancholy, a puff of dark cloud.
[…]
When the brutal, conflicted King Philippe II (Ildar Abdrazakov) sighs that his wife doesn’t love him, the line "Ella giammai m’amò" is more declamatory – say it out loud – than the veiled, introspective "Elle ne m’aime pas." In Italian, it’s a public moment, even as a soliloquy. In French, it’s the murmur of a tortured soul."
"A starry 'Don Carlos' in Paris", The New York Times, 17/10/17