Last Monday, Opera North unveiled their striking new production of Bizet's masterpiece, for the most part in the best sense of the word. Maybe the director, Daniel Kramer, tried too hard with his tasteless horseplay within the soldiers' ranks but in Heather Shipp and Peter Auty he had, as he generously acknowledged, two outstanding leads.
The final scene with Carmen's blood red and Don Jose's drab, defeated khaki was sensationally good. There was, too, little demure in Anne Sophie Duprels' unusually positive Micaela, and Kostas Smoriginas' fine voice voice rang out well, within Escamillo's limited opportunities. Too much of Bizet's score elsewhere was omitted. Perhaps this allowed for long atmospheric silences to reign, giving a nice sense of unease, especially when Keel Watson's Zuniga was around.
Much boisterous support from the chorus and extras made up for occasional lack of tone from the orchestra under Andreas Delfs. A welcome isolated 'bravo' for Auty's Flower Song said it all
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