| An unexpected treat |
Welsh National Opera |
| Welsh National Opera- Carmen , Wales Millennium Centre , March 8, 2007 |
SOMETIMES an unexpected treat is far more enjoyable than the big present eagerly anticipated.So it is with Welsh National Opera’s revival of the 1997 production of Carmen, by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser, which has proved a sound investment by both the company and its joint financier Scottish Opera. The big hitter of the season, Khovanshchina, turned out to be rather an acquired taste that took the audience for granted, replacing intellectual cleverness with any tangible attempt to communicate. Like Madama Butterfly that opened the season, this Carmen threatened to be a bums on seats revival, but also like Butterfly proved a far more satisfying night of musical theatre. What for me made this performance special were the quite outstanding dramatic interpretations of our two key players, the gypsy femme fatale Carmen and her victim Don José. Here revived by Robin Tebbutt the production remains an earthy, gritty take on Andalucia with the very first scene being hot and disheveled soldiers in the square in Seville with grimy, tobacco smoke stained walls. When those cigarette girls appear they are not a fiesta of colourful flamenco dancers but real women in working clothes having a fag break, their skirts hoisted up to their knees, their clothes hanging off them. In Scotland apparently the smoking of cigarettes on stage has been banned under the new no smoking regulations so this could be the last WNO season we see our puffing singers. Ridiculous of course as in this production firstly smoking is integral to the story and there is actually nothing but repulsion to see everyone puffing away including the little children who ape their elders. If ever there was an anti-smoking statement this is it. Sara Fulgoni reprises the leading role as a sneering, wine swigging Carmen. She is given animal characteristics making her a proud bull that plays out her own deadly game with the men she encounters. She scratches the earth with her feet like a bull, she fairly snarls at people, she paces the stage like an agitated animal and rubs herself against people (admittedly this is more of a cat or dog trait but I am not a specialist in bulls). Her voice is deep and rich, at times seductively intense and always gutsy and compelling if not pretty. When the protective barrier drops for a moment and she sings of actually being in love with Don José the contrast is all the more palpable. A revelation was the Mexican tenor Rafael Rojas returning to sing Don José, a role that so often comes over as a wet blanket who needs a good slap. I remember his acting was a little flat last time round but here we have a powerhouse of a performance; one of the most wracked and disturbing Don Josés I can remember. This collapse into madness is tracked superbly until the final stabbing scene is carried out with complete dispassionate coldness. Another joy was soprano Elizabeth Atherton as a beautifully voiced Micaëla, the good girl from Don José’s home town and a role that can become sickly sweet. Charlotte Ellett and Antonia Sotgiu were equally fiery, strong women, very much like real Andalucian women who make the flamenco dancers we see on our stages often appear like Barbie dolls. Stephen Gadd coped well with the demands of Escamillo, not your usual toreador representation but given space to deliver that aria and appearing at least once in his bullring finery. David Soar was just right as the lieutenant Zuniga who balances his military responsibilities with being one of the lecherous lads while Alun Rhys Jenkins and David Stout made for a fine pair of smugglers. This is, however, very much an ensemble piece and come into its own when the WNO chorus is used to its full, impressive potential. Our producers use the audience and offstage extensively to point the audience’s imagination to unseen events. For example, the soldiers in the square face the audience to talk about the people they are watching passing by, the boys look off stage to ridicule the soldiers. This idea of an invisible wall comes into its own for the opening of Act Four when the chorus rushes to a cordon at the front of stage and point to the procession making its way into the bullring. It is in these chorus scenes that conductor Michal Klauza switches pace and allows Bizet’s score to fairly explode into life. Make the most of this Carmen when it returns in the summer as it is the only fully-staged conventional opera in the company’s mishmash of a season. There is a further performance on March 2, May 11, 23, 31 and at the Grand Theatre, Swansea April 4. |
Reviewed by: Mike Smith |
This review has been read 3000 times There are 111 other reviews of productions with this title in our database:
|
