Carmen has everything one could wish for in an opera: glorious music with some splendidly familiar arias, a brilliantly dynamic heroine, some snatches of violence and a tragic love affair. Its great popularity, however, often tempts directors to look for some novel way to present it, and that is where I have always had doubts about Calixto Bieito’s production.
The opera was first seen in 1875 and is based on a novel written some 30 years before that, but Bieito moves it to more modern times. Originally set in Seville where Carmen works in a tobacco factory, it has moved to a much more militaristic setting around the time of Franco’s Spain, with neither Seville nor the tobacco factory mentioned.
With highly undisciplined soldiers and increased violence, the action fits less well with the highly tuneful music. Bieito’s opening, in which a drunk stumbles across the stage and performs some sort of magic trick, still mystifies me in its irrelevance. At least Jamie Manton, who directs this revival, modifies some of the extravagances which seem designed solely to shock.
I was unimpressed when a car drove up on stage for little reason other than to emphasize the relative modernity of the production, but when the stage later became cluttered with five cars, I thought it was really overdoing it. Such an idea may have seemed dramatic when first done, but it has become almost standard and seems more a suggestion that the director has run out of good ideas.
The fine features of this Carmen, however, greatly outweigh my reservations. Clelia Cafiero conducted the ENO Orchestra with great vigour and obvious passion for the music throughout. Her enjoyment seemed to infect the players, resulting in a delicious performance of Bizet’s music and maintaining a fine tempo from the overture onwards.
The title role was performed in a delightfully sultry style by Irish mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan, excellently displaying the bravado and independence of the character. She was well matched vocally by British tenor John Findon, who may not look like the sleek romantic type one would expect Carmen to pick as a lover, but whose voice made their duets a delight to listen to. Irish soprano Ava Dodd sang beautifully as Michaela, who pleads with Don José as she brings him messages from his mother, though she portrayed the part as less vulnerable and innocent than is usual for this role. American bass-baritone Cory McGee also played the bullfighter Escamillo with rather less swagger and a less powerful voice than we are used to for the man for whom Carmen ditches Don José. The doomed romance at the heart of the story, however, was depicted perfectly by O’Sullivan and Findon.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the staging is the final act showing the joyous crowd at the bullfight. I do not think I have ever seen so many children on stage clearly enjoying themselves. All in all, this was a four-star performance of a three-star production of a five-star opera.
- Carmen is playing at the London Coliseum on various dates until November 5. Box Office and details eno.org or 020 7845 9300