Opera North: Carmen

• Leeds Grand Theatre, Saturday 19th Feb, Tickets from £15
• Written by
• Rating: 3/5
• Sung in French with English titles

: George Bizet

Following its luke warm reception in 1875, Carmen went on to enjoy unparalleled, worldwide success and stands as one of the most popular operas in the current repertoire. It is not difficult to see why: a revolutionary, more accurate representation of the feminine conveyed through a score composed of a lighter, more southern, Mediteranean sound than that which audiences had become accustomed. Opera North have certainly made this a musical success.

In the role of the eponymous heroine Heather Shipp, after some initial cracking in the middle register, brought forth appropriately dark, seductive tones that convinced of a brazen, untamed independence. This was compounded by an acting performance that hinted at the wildness of heart required of the role. Peter Auty’s José, which at first came across as ineffectual, was actually played with great subtlety in conveying a certain innocence and dark naivety. Auty’s voice complimented this impression with a sense of humility, coming from a well-balanced edge and bottom executed with impressive control. In the role of Descamillo, Kostas Smoriginas convinced, not of the machismo one expects of the role, but of a more subtle, worldly masculinity, reinforced by a highly polished and well controlled singing performance that seemed, however, to be too profound for the concept of the production.

The basic concept seemed to try and invoke the world of the modern travelling community in the character of Descamillo, using what appeared to be a caravan for living quarters, sportswear and a fighting dog. This was a pleasing reference to the original libretto wherein Carmen is a Gypsy, and also reveals the reversal of traditional gender roles. This theme is reinforced in the employment of a gauze at the front of the stage on which was printed an old-fashioned tobacco advert (this ties in with Carmen’s inital employment in a cigarette factory) with the tagline ‘Blow in her face and she will follow you anywhere’ the irony here coming from the fact that it is José that follows Carmen through the opera, only to be rejected. Beautifully lit and with a set that evoked a sense of modern-day Seville in the first two acts, there was an apparent conflict between the sense of Spain and the invocation of modern, British Gypsy life (though the latter is topical and current for the keen television viewer). Essentially this was a conflict between costume and set, one which was never resolved, leading this reviewer to a view of general inconsistency in the production, though it was spectacular.

 

words: Dan Potts