The Princess Elisabetta, the daughter of the French King, was betrothed to Don Carlos, the son of the Spanish King, Philip II. Affairs of state make Elisabetta the wife of the Spanish monarch, to the despair of Carlos. James Levine conducts, and the principal singers are Placido Domingo, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Grace Bumbry and Louis Quilico. The production, in its fifth year, is by John Dexter, and even on the small screen one can sense its dark, massive and ominous character. Telecast from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in a performance taped on March 26, 1983. (This was never televised; it was a radio broadcast.)