Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” is the perfect opera for people new
to the art form: It’s a fast-paced, lively crime drama with captivating
characters, irresistible rhythms, and indelible melodies for days. But the
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s Thursday performance of the operatic classic
— a semi-staged production directed by Sara Widzer — also
provided more than enough substance for those already familiar with the story.
Set in 19th century Spain, the opera is about the free-spirited
Romani woman Carmen and the fatal, romantic sway she holds over a wayward
military man named Don Josรฉ.
RPO Music Director Ward Stare is an ideal conductor for
Bizet’s lyrical, dance-like sensibilities, rousing choruses, and intuition for
musical momentum. Stare and his orchestra didn’t disappoint here, achieving a
balance that never overshadowed the singers, but instead heightened the
dramatic truth of the characters in the moment.
As characters go, Carmen (performed by a mezzo-soprano) is
arguably the most infamous femme fatale in the operatic canon. Sandra Piques
Eddy was more than up to portraying the seductive anti-heroine. An unstoppable
force in the title role, Eddy sang with a fiery and alluring tone, akin to
burnt honey. Her charisma and gravitas carried the opera.
That said, if the singer playing Carmen’s scorned lover, Don
Josรฉ, hadn’t matched well with Eddy, the entire performance would have been
irreparably compromised. But tenor Dinyar Vania
pulled off the delicate balancing act of Josรฉ without a hitch.
Josรฉ is a man of contradictions: a seemingly disciplined
soldier who quickly crumbles under the weight of his own impulses, he can be both explosive and tender, stubborn yet sensitive, quietly
brooding one moment and erratic the next. These paradoxes of human frailty are
what make his character impossible to ignore — and all of these qualities must
be evident in the voice. To that end, Vania was believable without being histrionic, and honest without being cloying.
Soprano Jacqueline Echols returned to the RPO as Josรฉ’s
hometown sweetheart Micaela, following up her portrayal of Musetta
in last season’s “La Bohรจme.” Echols was astonishing.
With an effortlessly pure and melodious timbre, her earnest and idealistic
Micaela provided the compelling counterpoint to the impetuous and precarious
Carmen. The piercing sweetness of Echols’s aria in Act III was show-stealing.
Baritone Alexander Elliot — who also performed in “La Bohรจme” — gamely took on the role of the bullfighter Escamillo. As a whole, the cast was impressive, comprised
of incisive singers who were just as adept at conveying covert emotions as they
were at making grand overtures of love and desperation. This is important in
“Carmen.” For all the tumultuous action on the surface, it is internally where
the character’s passions run the hottest, and the moments between the melodies are
where the secrets of the heart are revealed and sabotaged.
Despite the title, Bizet’s opera hinges on Josรฉ’s story. He
is a man who abandons his identity — and what he once valued in life — for
love. Once love abandons him, there is nothing left for him but madness.
The RPO’s “Carmen” has a seasoned polish to it, in no small
part due to Stare’s smart and savvy musical direction, with support from Cary
Ratcliff’s Madrigalia Festival Chorus and Karla
Krogstad’s Bach Children’s Chorus of Nazareth College. The strong cast of
singers helps to seal the production as one of the best opera presentations of
Stare’s tenure here in Rochester.
This article appears in May 23-29, 2018.
