The popularity of a play or opera is no guide as to how it will be treated in performance. Thinking back on the various productions of Bizet's Carmen I've seen over the years, it wouldn't be difficult to present a case that the opera's phenomenal popularity has been sustained in spite of the way it's regularly treated on stage.
The pleasure of the Carmen produced for Welsh National Opera by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser and revived by Robin Tebbutt is that, with an undemonstrative assurance, it sidesteps many familiar Carmen cliches.
The freshness is there from the start, in the handling of the soldiers, urchins and cigarette girls in the spare set created by Christian Fenouillat. An extra dimension has been found, emphasising the individual and the personal within the group. This is matched by a lightness of touch from the orchestra under Gareth Jones, which sets the scene for Beth Clayton to portray a Carmen distinctly opposed to the overblown sexual monsters that have been regrettably prevalent in the past.
The musical transparency, and the avoidance of the grandiose, lightens the vocal task of Carmen's lovers, Don Jose (John Hudson) and Escamillo (Robert Hayward), both of whom gain in plausibility as a result. On the other hand, the Michaela of Geraldine McGreevy, darkly clad by costume designer Agostino Cavalca, rather loses out in the re-drawing of balances, and McGreevy's occasional shrillness in the upper register deprives the homely good girl of further sympathy.
On Tuesday, the opening night of the short run in Belfast, there were elements in the detailed conception that did not fall into place in execution. There were lapses of ensemble between stage and pit, the chorus and some of the principals experienced pitching problems, and Don Jose didn't quite avoid an overdose of melodrama in the final act. But, for all that, if you think you've become tired of Carmen, this production, using the version with French dialogue, is just the thing to give you a fillip.
Further performances on Thursday and Saturday, November 16th and 18th (booking at 048-9024 1919).
