Carmen - SOH - Jan 24, 2008

Visually remarkable but ultimately lacking in depth by Sarah Noble

Bizet: Carmen Opera Australia Sydney Opera House 24 January 2008

Francesca Zambello's production of Bizet's Carmen, which premiered at the Royal Opera House in 2006 and opened in Sydney on Thursday evening, opens with a striking, Goya-esque tableau of a handcuffed and bloodied Don José - the imprisoned murderer of Carmen. He's led roughly offstage and the opera follows as José's flashback. It's an unconventional start to an otherwise hypertraditional production. Zambello's Carmen bursts with local colour, brilliant detail and the odd surprise: a half-naked village girl, a real live donkey, flamenco dancers and a show-stealing black horse for Escamillo. She has succeeded in breathing vibrant new life into an opera which can easily become cliché. However that vibrancy, which depends largely on production values, only goes so far. With an occasional exception, the opera contains a set of performances which, while engaging enough, could nevertheless come from any less visually imaginative production.. The new life which Zambello has brought doesn't stretch beyond the gorgeous surface, and the result is an attractive but ultimately slightly shallow Carmen. That said, Kirstin Chávez makes a mightily alluring Carmen, an intelligent portrayal which neither descends to outright sluttishness nor exaggerates the character's unconventional virtues. Hers is a voice full of the requisite Bohemian fire and earthy sex appeal, a velvety mezzo in the same black and scarlet tones as her costumes, and she is disarmingly at ease in the role. As Don José, Rosario La Spina displays improving musical sensitivity, his tendency to shout pleasingly curbed in favour of a subtler approach. Some high passages are still pushed too hard but overall his singing here indicates reassuring artistic progress. Unfortunately, his Don José sounds romantic but doesn't particularly look it, his stilted behaviour towards both Carmen and Micaela showing little evidence of devotion or passion for either. Sarah Crane brings sweet, ringing tone to the innocent Micaela, though she's slightly too soubrettish for the role; Micaela is young, but she has a grave, mature soul which is better reflected by a fuller lyric voice. She's best in her early ensemble scenes; later, her "Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante" is touching and pretty, but rather mercilessly exposed. Baritone Michael Todd Simpson is the suave toréador Escamillo, bringing a slender but elegant voice to the part, though he's done no favours by the theatre's poor acoustics. His is an understated Escamillo; at times this appeals but ultimately it makes him slightly difficult to accept as the local celebrity and dashing thief of Carmen's heart.

Carmen's cohorts Frasquita and Mercédès are sung by soprano Amy Wilkinson and mezzo Sian Pendry respectively, both current members of Young Artists programme. They sing with spirit and style; Pendry in particular shows real promise, displaying the sturdy, colourful voice of a Carmen in the making. Andrew Moran shows impressive vocal command as Moralès, while Shane Lowrencev makes an amusingly lecherous Zuniga. Luke Gabbedy and Graeme Macfarlane are the smugglers Dancaïro and Remendado, at their rascally best in the ensemble "Nous avons en tête une affaire". The Opera Australia chorus is characterful and enthusiastic in the opera's many crowd scenes, taking well-deserved pleasure in the famous Toréador Song. The boys of the remarkably small chorus of urchins (only nine or ten) are likewise a credit to the company. The score of Carmen is one of the best known in the repertory. To maintain interest it needs a conductor who can maintain a lively pace without riding roughshod over the detail. Opera Australia has lavished one of the finest conductors in its stable - Music Director Richard Hickox - upon the piece, and he more or less manages this feat. He starts the overture almost the very second he reaches the podium, and continues to conduct a Carmen at once exciting and familiarly jolly - no shocking turns of orchestral phrase, but no slipping into autopilot either. However, on opening night there was quite a tug of war between Hickox and Chávez regarding tempi, particularly in her Habanera - the only blot on an otherwise smoulderingly beautiful rendition. The issue eventually seemed to resolve itself, though it was difficult to tell who was bent to whose will. Carmen has been an audience favourite for a very long time. Productions such as Zambello's ensure it will remain so for years to come, revitalising the opera's beloved aspects without challenging the assumptions which underlie that adored status. Nevertheless this is a visually remarkable Carmen ultimately let down by dramatic superficiality and thus, while impressive, is never genuinely exceptional. Zambello's Carmen preaches to the choir, offering an array of delights guaranteed to please those who adore the opera already, but likely to leave hungry those in search of psychological depth or a dash of revolution.

Text © Sarah Noble Photos © Branco Gaica