OPERA REVIEW
Review by Tamsin Flower
ENO Carmen 2020, Justina Gringyté, © Richard Hubert Smith
Carmen, English National Opera Composer - Georges Bizet Director - Calixto Bieto Conductor - Valentina Peleggi
W
ith design that channells Franco’s Spain and images of colourful choruses haunting the underground, I eagerly anticipated Calixto Bieto’s production of Carmen at the ENO. It was therefore surprising that before Valentina Peleggi had picked up her baton, the reviewer to my right announced how much he ‘hated’ the production, having seen it three times. I took this as a sure sign of a rewarding evening. What sticks out as strongly as passion and guile in this version of Bizet’s 1875 classic is community - and a vision of mob-culture within community to boot. We are first
introduced to the guard in a Spanish square as a mass of mid-twentieth century soldiers accustomed to grey uniformity, toil and dubious authority figures. Indeed, the first image of the production is a skinny man in pants sprint-circling the stage with a gun in his hand. We are introduced to a mercenary and energetic reality. As guard, José, his hometown sweetheart, Micaëla, and Carmen pop out of the mass with gusto, we are offered an impression of rebellious individualism within the ranks of the crowd. Nardus Williams’ ENO debut as Micaëla offers subtle characterisation paired with a powerful, velvetine voice as she pleads with José (played articulately and sublimely by Sean Pannikar) to return to his mother. By the time Carmen delivers her provocative ‘Love is a rebellious bird’ we have been treated to the athletic strutting and tumbling of the guard.
“This is an urban landscape of muscle, effort and joy grabbed with both hands. Justina Gringyté’s Carmen is the perfect siren to this macho display.”
www.thefrankmagazine.com
