One of the most intense and moving pieces in Verdi's operatic repertoire: "Ella giammai m'amò," from the fourth act of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Don Carlo for bass and band. In this poignant aria, King Philip II of Spain, one of the most powerful men in the world, reveals his deepest loneliness. He suffers from the knowledge that his young wife, Elizabeth, has never loved him. It is a moment of profound introspection, in which the sovereign reveals his humanity, the burden of power, and the emotion...