A Senbla production of an Ellen Kent Opera featuring the Opera International, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(4.5 / 5)
On tour nationwide until May
Take a beautiful, enticing, manipulative woman, add a soldier in his finery and then a virile toreador and then stand back to watch the sparks fly. That is the premise behind Georges Bizet opera, Carmen.
The character of Carmen is ebullient and vivacious and she is not above using her charm to get what she wants. Her story involves a love triangle between herself and two suitors, a soldier and a bullfighter. The soldier, Don Jose succumbs to her wiles and is forced to leave his regiment after falling out with his commanding officer. In the meantime, Carmen has met with the toreador between which there is an instant, mutual attraction. Don Jose goes returns with a childhood sweetheart to see his ailing mother but then the power of Carmens seduction draws him back to her. Consumed by jealousy when Carmen taunts his love compared to her bullfighter, he kills her.
To play Carmen well, good acting skills and a great voice are needed and Mariia Davydova exhibits these in abundance. The opera is famous for its sultry and seductive songs, such as Habanera and Seguidilla that ignite passion and you could not help warm to Davydovas presence on stage. Opposite her, Iurie Gisca played Escamillo, the toreador with strength and confidence and Oleksii Srebnytskyi played Don Jose. While Srebnytskyi did not have the stature of many soldiers his voice was striking, clear and impassioned. Together with Davydova, they captured the mood of the opera really well.
The supporting cast attack their role with enthusiasm, accentuating the devil may care attitudes inherent in the opera, however the fight scenes need some attention. In the denouement, Carmen practically walks onto the knife in Don Jose’s hand and in the conflict between Don Jose and his superior officer they seemed to flap at each other ineffectively. One nice comic touch was to see soldiers being beaten into submission by factory girls wielding bouquets of flowers. The scenery and costumes bring the environment in southern Spain to the fore and add a dramatic backdrop to the action.
The story has elements that come across as odd in a modern age, describing cigarette smoke as “sweet smelling, rising up to heaven” and equating it with love. I’m sure the anti-smoking lobby would disapprove of those lyrics. The opera also illustrates how limited the choices were for women and people of a labouring class. Carmen’s character has an untrammelled joy at times, describing love as a bird that can not be tamed, or a gypsy child that knows no laws. This illustrates an intriguing theme within the opera, the desire for freedom which conflicts with duty and obedience to the law for the sake of avoiding chaos.
In many respects, this is a stirring show. There is plenty of humour, some playful optimism yet with a tragic ending filled with pathos. It is definitely a show to pull on the heartstrings. Alongside La Traviata and Madame Butterfly, this is part of Ellen Kents ballet and opera international farewell tour and they have certainly picked out some action packed operas to present. These three shows should be high up on the ‘must see’ list of anyone with even a vague interest in opera.