Carmen would rather die than give up her freedom to have affairs. Brazen, cruel and dangerous, she has the castanets and warns Don José that he will be in trouble if she loves him.
At its Paris première in 1875, the French critics and the bourgeois audience thought the story of sex and murder scandalous and obscene and dismissed Bizet’s music as garish. It played to poor houses. Bizet died three months later, aged 36, unaware that he had composed one of the world’s greatest and most popular operas.
Opera de Rouen Normandie’s production, directed by Romain Gilbert and conducted by Ben Glassberg, recreates the scenery, the costumes and the staging that Carmen had in 1875. The result is pretty and the opera at times looks and feels more like an operetta. The performance is less gritty, less bullish, less erotic than we are used to today. The tragic power is diminished.
Deepa Johnny is Carmen. Stanislas de Barbeyrac is the besotted Don José, and his high spot, musically and dramatically, is when he is on his knees, degrading himself, begging Carmen to stay with him, wanting to be her chattel.
Iulia Maria Dan is Micaëla, the girl Jose loves and should have married. Nicolas Courjal is miscast as Escamillo, lacking the toreador’s charisma.
The overture, as always, gets the opera off to an exhilarating start. The juxtaposition of Don José murdering Carmen at the very same moment that Escamillo is killing a bull is a thrilling climax, one of the great moments in opera and infinitely superior to Prosper Mérimée’s novel’s finale.
Opera de Rouen’s Carmen can be watched free online on the OperaVision channel.
NB Since we published this review, OperaVision has put the following note on the page for this production: "OperaVision is sorry to announce that, to our surprise, the producers of this video-recording of Carmen have had to withdraw temporarily the global streaming rights. We are working to find a solution to allow our viewers around the world to enjoy this show again."