The weakest part of her performance comes in the card scene, where Carmen foretells her own death in a vocal line that dips into the lower part of the mezzo range. If there is something missing from her portrayal it's her failure to plumb the depths of Carmen's fatalism. For instance, she begins her opening number, the "Habanera," not by slinking around the stage and striking seductive poses, but by washing her shirt, and then her feet, in a bucket of water. Under Eyre's shrewd direction, she dispenses with much of the tired, traditional stage action associated with the character. Garanca, a tall, strikingly beautiful and fast-rising star from Latvia, sings with alluring tone and captures the gypsy Carmen's sexual swagger and self-confidence. Of course it would be hard to turn one's attention anywhere else when the two leads are performed by singers as compelling as mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca and tenor Roberto Alagna. With help from the Met's turntable, he and set and costume designer Rob Howell create a fluid, unglamorous production that keeps our attention focused on the principals as their tragic story unfolds. And it shows up again on the elegant dress Carmen wears in the final scene.Įyre, a celebrated British stage director, has updated this "Carmen" by a century to 1930s Seville during the Spanish Civil War, explaining in a program note that he wanted to emphasize the characters' rebellion against a society that was sexually and politically repressive. That disturbing image carries over into a narrow opening between sliding panels that move to reveal the sets. In fact, the first image we see in a striking new production by Richard Eyre that premiered on New Year's Eve is a jagged red streak running down the middle of a black curtain. 28, 2009.īlood is in evidence on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera long before a desperate and rejected Don Jose stabs Carmen to death at the conclusion of Georges Bizet's tale of sex and violence. Soprano Elina Garanca as Carmen sits as dancers perform in director Richard Eyre's new production of George Bizet's Carmen during the final dress rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Monday, Dec.
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