by All opera companies, large, small, private, public, urban or out of town, are faced with the same dry equation: how to combine artistic ambition with financial reality. One answer will always be right. Georges Bizet on Carmen. Box office gold, this 1875 French masterpiece is everywhere. The Royal Opera House’s new stage has been extended. The musical will be the main event at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. A new production by the American director Diane Paulus, directed by Robin Ticciati, opened the Glyndebourne festival’s 90th anniversary season, with 21 performances (and a change of cast and director) between now and the end of August. With seat prices ranging from £85 to £285, you may find a fixed £8 ticket, when Glyndebourne makes its annual visit to the Proms (29 August), more attractive.
Paulus presents the heroine as a woman who can shape her own destiny – not a new thing herself, but handled here with nuance in a thoughtful, non-specific update: an army garrison, a low-life nightclub, a drilling rig in a bare landscape (designs by Riccardo Hernández , lighting by Malcolm Rippeth). Carmen, sung charmingly by the Tunisian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, is far from every woman. She is singular: in the middle of any crowd, with a magnetic, erotic hold on others. Women are jealous of her. Men like her. Afraid of her. Don José has none of the equivalent assets dedicated. He is a mother’s boy with a dirty past, a sweet fiance (Sofia Fomina), a flabby character and a red-rage habit of violence. Her long, lyrical, pleading aria is answered by Carmen, whose climax is a high high B flat (the Flower Song), her short, blunt refrain: Bizet at his best, creating the musical equivalent of a fatal chess move. .
Ukrainian tenor Dmytro Popov negotiated the treacherous role of José with conviction, hardened into anger, with a stern voice. By contrast, Escamillo (Russian bass-baritone Dmitry Cheblykov) barely has to say a word or flex a bona fide muscle – of which he has plenty, as shown here shirtless – and Carmen complies. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, especially the woodwinds and the harpsichord, brought out the colors in Bizet’s score, even if the tempo was sometimes too intense, threatening (on the second night, last Sunday ) to destroy the ensemble. With Dingle Yandell as dragoon captain Zuniga, Elisabeth Boudreault as Frasquita and Kezia Bienek as Mercedes, and a first-class chorus, well-drilled children’s choir and excellent dancers, this was a fun and valuable show, with an inspired ending.
The national opera of Great Britain, a powerful voice in the land of song, is irreplaceable. Support him if you can
A public demonstration to celebrate Antonio Papano, as he nears the end of 22 years as music director at Covent Garden, at the Royal Opera House to pay tribute and thank this popular figure. If an opera gala is to make any sense of musicality, as well as an outfit of singers who have to perform vocal acrobatics cold, the temptation to squeeze in a bunch of everything is great. Pappano focused on arias from the Italian repertoire, which can stand alone (not so true of the German or new repertoire, to which he showed an equal commitment). Among these were pre-recorded videos in which all parts of the company expressed their gratitude to the presenter: the words repeated were “generosity”, “humor”, “energy”, “attention to the text”, “preparation ”, “unbelievable. musicality” – as well as references to dinners, Belgian beer and belly laughs.
Among those taking part was a roll call of ROH stars at various stages of their careers, including Aigul Akhmetshina (currently the Royal Opera’s Carmen, soon to transfer to Glyndebourne), Lisette Oropesa, Ermonela Jaho, Sondra Radvanovsky, Gerald Finley, Jonas Kaufmann, Freddie De Tommaso, Bryn Terfel, Huw Montague Rendall.
If anyone stole the show, apart from Pappano, it was the in-house musicians: the chorus, especially in Verdi’s Va, pensiero (better known as the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, from Nabucco), and the orchestra throughout, especially in the Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut. Next month, Pappano has a book out: My Life in Music (Favor). Don’t read it expecting endless anecdotes and personal triumphs, although there are some of those: this is a detailed account of the hardscrabble, and the musical, technical and psychological puzzles that a conductor has to solve. If you are wondering, read it and gasp. It is Pappano’s last conducting date as music director of the Royal Opera Andrea Chénier on June 11 (live in cinemas at 6.45pm, with a repeat from June 16, 2pm).
Related: ‘We’re all here’: Behind the scenes at Death in Venice at Welsh National Opera – in pictures
Pappano’s upbringing – he was born in Essex to Italian immigrant parents and helped his mother as an office cleaner before the school day started – challenges the myth that opera is a product of privilege. The national opera of Great Britain founded by Idloes Owen, a former miner who taught singing in his spare time, in a Methodist church in 1943 in a Cardiff suburb. His students – butchers, bartenders, railway workers – joined him for the love of music. Soon the company was working with leading European directors, operating a A ring cycle and, among other achievements, to lead the world in the operas of Leoš Janáček. Last season he gave one of Britten’s best performances Death in Venice most of us have ever seen. The company serves a nation, reaches out to local communities – in Welsh and English – and achieves standards of excellence.
The future of Wales is now threatened by cuts from the Arts Council of Wales and the Arts Council of England. The Musicians’ Union has asked the management to keep WNO as a full-time company and stop the proposed 15% pay cut. Last week, Equity passed an emergency motion supporting the WNO chorus. On Tuesday, members of the company were singing on the steps of Parliament, as part of a public protest. A campaign to Protect the National Opera of Wales has been launched. WNO, a powerful voice in the land of song, is irreplaceable. Support him if you can.
Star ratings (out of five)
Carmen ★★★★
Celebrating Antonio Pappano 22 Years ★★★★
