By Julia Loipersberger
For an opera which resoundingly flopped on its opening night in March 1875 at the Parisian Opera Comique, Bizet’s Carmen has come a long way, particularly if the capacity crowd at the Adelaide Festival Theatre for the premiere of 2011’s production season is anything to go by.
The ubiquitous Spanish opera , composed by a Frenchman who never travelled to nearby Spain, is immensely popular largely for its almost Shakespearian themes of unrequited love, obsession, betrayal and ultimately death.
The absolutely divine and breathtakingly seductive Milijana Nikolic completely inhabited the role of the feisty but ultimately doomed Carmen, exhibiting a phenomenal dramatic ability to accompany her thrilling mezzo-soprano and – I must confess – almost making me rival Don Jose’s doomed love during the Habanera aria. Unfortunately Rosario La Spina’s Don Jose, while vocally powerful, failed to completely occupy the role of the charming lover and the infatuated and damned deserting soldier, particularly when contrasted with the absolute pomp and majesty of Simon Thorpe’s toreador Escamillo and the sweet devotion of the magical Antoinette Halloran as Micaela.
Accompanied by an exceptional supporting cast – extra plaudits for Byron Watson as Morales and Pelham Andrews as Zuniga – the austere and simple set design wonderfully complemented the beautiful costumery. I defy any member of the audience to deny having a sudden urge to travel to Seville during the procession at the beginning of Act IV.
As always, the Adelaide State Opera puts on a marvellous show, complete with a charming pre-performance synopsis by CEO and Artistic Director of the State Opera (and Chorus Master) Timothy Sexton, interval drinks and an opportunity to meet with the cast after the performance during a marvellous gala function.
‘Carmen’ is an almost unique production in that it would be equally suitable for operatic aficionados or complete newcomers, and the State Opera’s final production for 2011 was an almost perfectly successful incarnation of that marvellous opera. If those who love Carmen are enjoined to beware, then this reviewer must be very careful.
Brava.
Kryztoff Rating 4.5K
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