Considering how amazing the opera is and the talent, calling any production of Carmen lacklustre is not a good sign no matter regrettable it is. Despite the overall disappointment, there are high points.
The shining star of the production is Anna Netrebko in her role debut as Micaela. Although her voice may be too heavy and dramatic for a character often perceived as a gentle girl, it still sounds radiant- shimmering when singing quiet- and is used very expressively, Je Dis Que Ne Rien M'Enpouvente was incredibly moving and deservedly warmly received. Her French here is some of the best diction she's ever had, and she brings much more a steely and highly-strung quality to the role as well as the gentleness and pathos, she makes a notoriously flat and passive character much more interesting than she is and any soprano who does that deserves credit. The conducting from Andris Nelsons is another big value, maybe Je Dis Que Ne Rien M'Enpouvente is taken too slow but this is really dynamic and dramatic leadership. The orchestra play beautifully under him, the snappy Spanish rhythms sizzle and flowing legato lines soothe and their tone colour and textural balances sound absolutely fabulous. The chorus have such a vibrancy, tonal beauty and well-judged balance to their singing, and Tae Joong Yang, although Duncairo is a small role, has a great and promising voice.
These good things are not enough to compensate for the things that didn't work so well for the production. While Netrebko is great, the rest of the principals don't come close to matching her. That is including Nadia Krasteva, the high point of her earlier 2005 DVD performance, she has a rich and warm mezzo soprano voice and does have that sultry, sexy quality to her, helps that she has personal beauty. Her acting is rather passionless though, and lacking in anything that was fresh or inspired, and her seductive quality that she had in her earlier performance is nowhere near as natural. Massimo Giordano does have a very nice tone to his voice(beautifully shaped also especially in the Flower Song) that comes through well in his more lyric moments, though underpowered in the last two acts. Dramatically however he is rather stiff and there isn't much of a sense that Don Jose's character grows in this production, his jealousy and anger doesn't come across which really undermines the final scene. Ildebrando D'Archangelo is a handsome man with an equally handsome voice, the way he sings and recites French also is of the kind that you could listen all night to him doing it. It is not matched by his acting though, which was the least compelling I've seen him and lacked swagger, very little of the fearless "look at me" characteristic of Escamillo came across.
It is not a surprise though because the stage direction to sum up in two words is static and stodgy. A lot of the time people stand there and sing and any gesturing or interaction comes across as "been there, done that(and better)". The final scene should be full of fire, drama and intensity in a sense that you could smell the blood, in this production the drama and character interaction is lukewarm at best, Don Jose could have been more desperate, more frenzied and Carmen more defiant. The production values don't give the sense that you are in Spain, instead the backdrops are rather plain and the costumes old-fashioned and dully coloured. The spirit of the opera is there, but not the authenticity or charm. Some of it also seemed too darkly lit, especially Je Dis Que Ne Rien M'Enpouvente. The secondary roles are sung solidly, but in terms of dramatic conviction with the sense of getting the job done and not much more. Overall, lacklustre though with some excellent high points.
5/10 Bethany Cox
The shining star of the production is Anna Netrebko in her role debut as Micaela. Although her voice may be too heavy and dramatic for a character often perceived as a gentle girl, it still sounds radiant- shimmering when singing quiet- and is used very expressively, Je Dis Que Ne Rien M'Enpouvente was incredibly moving and deservedly warmly received. Her French here is some of the best diction she's ever had, and she brings much more a steely and highly-strung quality to the role as well as the gentleness and pathos, she makes a notoriously flat and passive character much more interesting than she is and any soprano who does that deserves credit. The conducting from Andris Nelsons is another big value, maybe Je Dis Que Ne Rien M'Enpouvente is taken too slow but this is really dynamic and dramatic leadership. The orchestra play beautifully under him, the snappy Spanish rhythms sizzle and flowing legato lines soothe and their tone colour and textural balances sound absolutely fabulous. The chorus have such a vibrancy, tonal beauty and well-judged balance to their singing, and Tae Joong Yang, although Duncairo is a small role, has a great and promising voice.
These good things are not enough to compensate for the things that didn't work so well for the production. While Netrebko is great, the rest of the principals don't come close to matching her. That is including Nadia Krasteva, the high point of her earlier 2005 DVD performance, she has a rich and warm mezzo soprano voice and does have that sultry, sexy quality to her, helps that she has personal beauty. Her acting is rather passionless though, and lacking in anything that was fresh or inspired, and her seductive quality that she had in her earlier performance is nowhere near as natural. Massimo Giordano does have a very nice tone to his voice(beautifully shaped also especially in the Flower Song) that comes through well in his more lyric moments, though underpowered in the last two acts. Dramatically however he is rather stiff and there isn't much of a sense that Don Jose's character grows in this production, his jealousy and anger doesn't come across which really undermines the final scene. Ildebrando D'Archangelo is a handsome man with an equally handsome voice, the way he sings and recites French also is of the kind that you could listen all night to him doing it. It is not matched by his acting though, which was the least compelling I've seen him and lacked swagger, very little of the fearless "look at me" characteristic of Escamillo came across.
It is not a surprise though because the stage direction to sum up in two words is static and stodgy. A lot of the time people stand there and sing and any gesturing or interaction comes across as "been there, done that(and better)". The final scene should be full of fire, drama and intensity in a sense that you could smell the blood, in this production the drama and character interaction is lukewarm at best, Don Jose could have been more desperate, more frenzied and Carmen more defiant. The production values don't give the sense that you are in Spain, instead the backdrops are rather plain and the costumes old-fashioned and dully coloured. The spirit of the opera is there, but not the authenticity or charm. Some of it also seemed too darkly lit, especially Je Dis Que Ne Rien M'Enpouvente. The secondary roles are sung solidly, but in terms of dramatic conviction with the sense of getting the job done and not much more. Overall, lacklustre though with some excellent high points.
5/10 Bethany Cox
