Anna Burnside reviews a 'brilliantly judged' production filled with clever staging.
The story of the salty chick from the cigarette factory has been delighting audiences since 1875. This is good and bad. Good because Bizet’s masterwork is clearly a classic for the ages. But bad because there is an expectation that a major production will bring something new to the work without messing with its essential charm.
Paris’s Opera-Comique’s response to this dilemma is brilliantly judged. Their version starts off as a lavish top hat production, complete with extensive chorus and a gaggle of weans for the early comedy number.
It then moves through the ages, with the second half opening in flat caps and trilbys. By the finale, the cast are in what looks like their civvies. Clever stuff.
Devices like this are annoying if the music is not immaculate, and it’s hard to fault Louis Langre’s conducting of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Gaelle Arquez is a fruity Carmen, commanding and capricious. Jean-Fernand Setti is an imposing Escamillo, the physical opposite of the wiry wee bullfighter but completely convincing in his magnificent montera and pink socks.
The company where Carmen was first performed still has it.
Carmen is part of this year's Edinburgh International Festival. It performs at the Festival Theatre until August 8, 2024.
Photo by Andrew Perry.
RSS