English National Opera may have been given a stay of execution but it knows it has to keep fighting to justify its existence, and its latest revival of Bizet\u2019s Carmen throws a well-aimed punch. Calixto Bieito\u2019s staging, first seen here in 2012, has become one of his most enduring at theatres worldwide, and with reason: the Catalan director\u2019s penchant for shocks and violence is right at home in an opera with menace lurking behind every good tune. Alfons Flores\u2019s stark, black set design conjures an imposing atmosphere economically, with a gallows-like flagpole, a phone box you can almost smell, or a huge Osborne bull. When the stage briefly fills up with the smugglers\u2019 messy fleet of 1970s Mercs it seems almost comically crowded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The soldiers in the opening scene set the tone: full of pent-up testosterone, they are not only dangerous but dangerously childish. The women hold their own, however: this staging may have originated pre-Weinstein but, while there\u2019s plenty of casual cruelty, thanks to Jamie Manton\u2019s skilful revival direction it doesn\u2019t feel overly voyeuristic. Manton gets some cracking performances from his cast \u2013 the final scene is fingernail-gnawingly tense even though you know what\u2019s about to happen \u2013 and Christopher Cowell\u2019s English translation comes across clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Returning as Don Jos\u00e9, Sean Panikkar sounds a little lightweight to begin with but grows in vocal stature as his character disintegrates. He\u2019s riveting at the end. Carrie-Ann Williams makes an impressive ENO debut as a late stand-in Mica\u00ebla, her top notes big and radiant, her softest passages slightly too quiet \u2013 as are Nmon Ford\u2019s low notes as Escamillo, though he has a lithe swagger otherwise. There\u2019s vivid support across the cast, especially from Keel Watson\u2019s arrogant Zuniga, and an exuberant children\u2019s chorus drawn from two of the local primary schools ENO works with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But everything revolves around Carmen. Ginger Costa-Jackson, another ENO debutant, is magnetic. She sings in a strong, wine-dark mezzo-soprano and knows how to hold the stage through stillness. In her Habanera and her other big solos she never seems rushed; the world goes at her pace, thanks to the subtle breathing space that Kerem Hasan\u2019s conducting affords her, and the precision of the orchestra\u2019s response. They, the enlarged chorus, and indeed the whole company, are on fighting form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
English National Opera may have been given a stay of execution but it knows it has to keep fighting to justify its existence, and its latest revival of Bizet\u2019s Carmen throws a well-aimed punch. Calixto Bieito\u2019s staging, first seen here in 2012, has become one of his most enduring at theatres worldwide, and with reason: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ld-wp73.template-help.com\/wordpress\/prod_3201\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}