Carmen review — fiery singing but a whiff of school gym

 

Fiery Singing but a Whiff of School Gym

 

From left: Noah Stewart as Don José and Ruby Dibble as Carmen Neil Harrison

A new update of Bizet’s opera by Northern Ireland Opera has a compelling heroine — even if the staging isn’t wholly successful.

The golden albero yellow of Seville sours to shades of toxic lemon, nicotine stain and sodium light in this Carmen, which is updated in Northern Ireland Opera’s ambitious new production from 19th-century Spain to who knows exactly where, who knows when.

The director Cameron Menzies and set designer Niall McKeever argue that setting Bizet’s popular hit everywhere and nowhere allows us to ask what kinds of society produce men like Carmen’s killer, the misogynistic Don José, by letting us concentrate on the underlying, universal conditions.That’s an admirable aim and pertinent too, given that Northern Ireland was recently called “the most dangerous place to be a woman” in the UK. But the problem with ripping out context is that what’s left is often confusion.

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Instead of a backdrop that underscores the plot’s tinderbox blend of sultry seduction, intense passion and possessive jealousy, here the tension is leached out by an anonymous mix of wooden pallets, metal barrels and floodlights.

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Plus, with benches, risers and faded floor markings, there’s more than a whiff of the school gym about it all, even though we’re in Belfast’s splendid Grand Opera House.

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Still, if the big dramatic idea doesn’t come off, there’s plenty to applaud elsewhere. It’s a nice touch to have a quintet of actor-musicians on stage, their music arranged by Greg Arrowsmith, who also whips up colour and excitement in the pit with the NI Opera’s orchestra.

The chorus proves one of the production’s great strengths

Neil Harrison

While Noah Stewart can hardly have been having his best night, audibly pushed to his vocal limits, it felt like the bones of a strong Don José were here. Mary McCabe’s Micaela conveyed touching sincerity and courage, while Thomas Chenhall’s Escamillo gleamed. And the dark hues of Ruby Dibble’s rich mezzo-soprano made her Carmen compelling.

Over the past five years, the indispensable NI Opera has been building its opera chorus. Here they soared. Adding colour and atmosphere as soldiers, cigarette girls, smugglers and citizens, the chorus was in fine voice, giving us one of the production’s most striking moments at the start of Act IV.

Singing at thrilling full throttle, the chorus sported Spanish-flavoured costumes and waved flags, creating a vibrant riot with masks, mantillas and even a motorbike. Into the mêlée entered Carmen in full flamenco garb, all dangerous red and black. If her death appears inevitable, destined by fate, this production reminds us that it is not. Instead, killing her is an active choice by the spurned Don José, the punishment he deems she will pay for her freedom. Centre-stage, he strangles her. This is the final image we are left with, grim and disturbing.

★★★☆☆
180min
Grand Opera House, Belfast, to Sep 19, niopera.com

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