The perfect balance of accessibility and enchantment, Carmen provides an in-between of West-end theatrics and operatic skill.

Carmen is one of the more renowned operas and this rendition from the Welsh National Opera has been immensely popular, bringing it back for their spring season. Unlike other opera’s I’ve seen, not all the text used was sung but there was a split between spoken moments and song. This blend of familiarity meant that Carmen provided an easily accessible route into opera, especially for those that are already used to seeing musical productions. Carmen bared various resemblances to musicals I’ve seen prior such as Miss Saigon; this was both in setting and the dynamics throughout the show. Therefore, there was more breath and pause from the mixture of song and text which meant that as a whole, the opera felt much shorter to the audience watching (which I’m sure we know from the Harry Potter films is extremely important).

Throughout the whole of the piece, the ensemble were extremely invested in their own roles and their individual plots within the piece. This gave substance to the main storyline and the audience could easily follow that throughout. The children were incredible, taking their roles with maturity and giving true investment into their parts. My only criticism, being that you could notice when they were waiting for prompts which is no fault of their own but due to a lesser understanding and experience of improvising to fill the time.

It was the moments in which the focus was on the ensemble that stay with me from the performance. Examples being: The children, mocking the guards in their barracks, bringing a whirlwind of my life and joy to the stage, The women from the tobacco factory, with their relentless desire and allure, The gun smuggling scene, hiding weapons within various props and what you saw was completely different to that of the person sat next to you due to the variety and depth of what was occurring on stage, And finally, the light-hearted scene outside of the bullring, with street vendors and people haggling for refreshments.

The use of sound coming from the stage during these moments were wonderful. There were made by the ensemble to accompany the orchestra and added a sense of true passion coming from the performers. When they stamped stools, clapped and slapped their body parts, the full stage came alive radiating towards the audience.

I found the main characters struggled with their realism, especially within moments of intimacy. When Carmen kisses Jose, the kiss feels distant as the characters aren’t close enough, I almost desired a real kiss to fulfil those moments. It seems to be these moments between Jose and Carmen that lacked their depth, another example being when Carmen hits Jose with a towel but does it so softly that the anger doesn’t seep through in the way intended. In opposition to this, Escamillo embodies his character wonderfully, portraying himself in such a way that the audience dislikes his arrogance. However, physically, when posing and using stronger gestures, he needed to be more over the top and exaggerated to really stay true to his characters’ aurora.

There were moments of confusion throughout the piece for the audience, especially in regards as to what was being sang by whom. The subtitles didn’t repeat, even when a character did. Also, when two characters were singing a call and response section, this failed due to them both singing both parts combined with the lack of captions above. In order to fix the problems within the call and response between characters, it could require something as simple as just spatial re-alignment. By moving the characters to different parts of the stage, the audience would be forced to look from character to character and therefore, from one side to the other which would ensure the audience understands the conversations being had.

To conclude, I think Carmen is the perfect gateway between a musical and an opera. With song, dance and text, the audience is immersed throughout the performance and is moved alongside the storyline with the characters. However, I feel this rendition needed more work with the small details, those that change a performance into excellence. By working on the physicality of the main characters and fine tuning on key moments, the whole storyline would become easier to follow to the audience.

(4 / 5)

The latest WNO’s production of Carmen is engaging and well executed though still a little too traditional. The excellent cast, choir, and orchestra make this Carmen spirited, colourful, and vibrant. Julia Mintzer as Carmen is pure energy and grit. This is a great improvement from last year’s production, which lacked tension and teeth. Mintzer has stage presence and a voice to match it. She is a credible Carmen who never falls into stereotype. She’s sensual and defiant. She defies her murderer but also fate. Carmen is a woman who does not want to be confined to a role, not even the role of outsider. It is her stubborn individuality that leads her to her death. She does not flee nor does she accept to be under the authority of a man.  She is not a victim.

Elin Pritchard as Micaëla is superb. She has a beautiful tonality and conveys Micaela’s pure love and compassion with dignity. Mintzer and Pritchard complement each other beautifully in their acting and their singing. Peter Auty is an impressive Don José. Giorgio Caoduro seems at ease performing Escamillo and much more convincing than he was in Les Veprês Siciliennes. All the members of the cast give strong performances. The choir is, as ever, powerful. The children, in particular, are formidable. The dance is captivating and well integrated in the scenes.  

I remain unpersuaded by the setting in Brazil’s favelas and the grey brutalist scenario; yet the much improved acting and movement on stage help make this more relevant. The intent is to stress class as well as gender, but it feels too traditionalist and conventional. I would have preferred the production to be bolder. In recent years, there have been women protesting against femicide and rape in Latin America, Europe, and India. They have often used theatre and song to do so. There have been women protests against draconian abortion laws in the US, where women have donned the red cape and white hat from The Handmaiden’s Tale. Yet there is no anger in Jo Davies’ WNO production. It could be objected that opera is for a traditionalist and bourgeois elite, but I sat surrounded by many young women in their early twenties. Carmen can speak to those women. There should be not fear of being over the top. Being over the top is what Carmen is all about.  

(2.5 / 5)

The WNO’s powerful choir and masterful conductor Carlo Rizzi excel in this disappointing production of Verdi’s Les Vêpres Siciliennes. A challenging opera, Les Vêpres, is let down by voices lacking the sufficient power required by Verdi’s music and an ill-judged set design. In contrast, the short but effective dances, choreographed by Caroline Finn of the National Dance Company Wales, add an extra dimension to the unfolding of the story. 

The cast overall lacks voices that can match and rise above Verdi’s score, with the exception of Jung Soo Yun, who interprets Henri and has sufficient presence throughout the opera. The soprano Anush Hovhannisyan, interpreting La Duchesse Hélène, underperforms in the first part of the opera. She lacks coloratura, but her more spinto voice excels in the second part. The WNO have a strong Verdi repertoire. The choir is as strong as ever and so is the orchestra, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. The production is let down by the self-indulgent aestheticism of the set design by Raimund Bauer that falls for misogynistic forms. 

Les Vêpres Siciliennes refers to the massacre in 1282 by Sicilians of the Angioine lords who had taken possession of Sicily from the Spanish Aragonese. Sicilians rise up in response to the rape of ‘their’ women. One need not be an anthropologist to know that women and their bodies have always been taken as the symbolic and spatial boundaries of the nation. Rape continues to be a weapon of war because of its symbolism. Women are owned by men. The enemy takes possession of land and power through rape. This includes the raping of men who are, in this instance, feminised.  

In this production, the rape is conveyed by parading a dinner table displaying lavish food and naked women. This is followed by a woman with red marks on her naked back strapped sensuously to red strings. It is disturbing that in this day and age, one should remind directors that the glamorisation of violence against women is misogynistic. It is the same aesthetic indulgence seen in the film Nocturnal Animals by Tom Ford. Directors should stop making women into beautiful objects and beautiful victims. In contrast, the dance telling the story of the rape of Henri’s mother and his birth is powerful and tasteful. It is choreographed with subtlety and a touch of humour. 

In Verdi’s opera, Sicilians rising up to the foreign conquerors is more than a nod to the Italian Risorgimento but also to the popular sentiment against despotic landowners. Yet the nationalistic references to dying for one’s country feel uncomfortable today, at a time of nationalistic nostalgia. The libretto cannot be changed but the set consisting of a series of black frames and an over indulgence in silhouettes makes for an oppressive atmosphere. The aestheticism of this production fails to grapple with the issues and to support the interpretation on stage. 

(3 / 5)

Produced by the Welsh National Opera, Les Vepres Siciliennes,
stands as one part of the trilogy released this spring term. This was my first
experience of an opera, only previously dabbling my toes in with WNO’s
collaboration with National Dance Company Wales in Parade. I felt like
something which utilised dance in which I’m more familiar would act as a great entry
to the world of opera. And in that, I was correct.

Before the performance began, both at the very beginning and
after the interval, the orchestra gave an instrumental opening. This
transcended us into the themes of the piece, providing context and a gateway for
what we were being propelled into. These were incredible and whisked you in and
out of your own thoughts, trying to make sense and pre-empt what was to come.

As the curtains raised, a simple, stripped back set emerged.
A rectangular frame which was lit with a box light, formed a storyboard
backdrop in which the piece would take place. The set remained as one of my
favourite components within the piece, it really made the performance more
modern and with the constant re-arranging of various frames, kept the audience’s
attention focussed. The frames allowed the audience to see difference upon the
stage and engage in different perspectives, that of memories of the past and
the difference of location in the present. However, one concern from the set is
that due to its’ abstract nature, it reduces the accessibility of the piece.
For those with hearing difficulties, the lack of a definitive nature within the
background provides no context and makes the plot hard to follow. Also due to
the thickness of the frames, your view is restricted regardless of positioning
of seat which means at times you can’t see key moments of what’s occurring on
stage.

Also, along the terms of accessibility, the placement and structuring with the subtitles was problematic. It was severely difficult to see the stage and read the subtitles at the same time so often important moments of the plot were missed (both in context from the subtitles and in performance on the stage). It also became confusing when two characters were holding a conversation as there was no way to see difference within the text as to who was stating what and whether the text was in time with the vocals or not. I would propose maybe matching a colour to a performer and from there more of an understanding could be built.

The imagery throughout the piece was beautiful in its
simplicity. It played with shadows and outlines and how people fell into and
out of the light using silhouettes to make powerful, thought provoking
statements. The use of darkness created the ambience for the work but was
broken by bright coloured costumes which created contrast from the otherwise
black costumes.

A piece of imagery that still resonates with me now is that of a gold table being dragged around the stage with the dancers limp and naked, draped over the table like meat at a banquet dinner. This embodiment from the dancers really added depth to the performance throughout and I often found the moments in which the dancers were included provided the much-needed breath for the performance, often bringing a sense of lightness to what would be an otherwise dark stage. The involvement of such an abundance of dance within the opera was a brilliant decision as added the much needed movement and transitions onto the stage. This also provided light-heartedness and a more intense context for what was happening within the storyline.

I felt the performers, both ensemble and main cast, otherwise lacked the embodiment of their characters which was needed. They sang and performed beautifully but the small details such as the realism of touch and emotion seemed absent. For example, at times of compassion, hands were resistant from those whom they were compassionate towards. These moments were both when the performers were acting and responding to what was being sang. This intention would normally provide clarity into the storyline of the piece and without investment from the characters, the emotional plot of the story became difficult to follow.

In Summary Les Vepres Siciliennes provided a perfect gateway
for me into the world of opera. The mixture of dance, choreographed by Caroline
Finn, and opera made it a lot more accessible for me and with such beautiful
imagery throughout I was enchanted and engaged.