Choreographer Ruins Carmen
With Carmen, the iconic opera by Georges Bizet (1838-1875) which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year, choreographer Wim Vandekeybus makes his first opera production. It was therefore exciting to see what his approach and vision would be.
To get straight to the point: it was a profound disappointment. Wim Vandekeybus is known as an inspired and original choreographer and that remains beyond question even after this production. Yet it has become abundantly clear that this does not make for good opera direction.
Rock formations and bales of tobacco
The set is dominated by large black rock formations and on the other side tan-coloured blocks as walls of the cigarette factory: the story of passionate love and jealousy must find its place within this. Bales of tobacco dominate the entire opera's set, since Carmen is after all a worker in the cigarette factory.
Before the prelude there is far too much hewing in the rocks, which is tedious from the start. That a savage then storms out of those rocks is meant to – if I understand correctly – embody the archaic and instinctive force of the opera and especially of the protagonist Carmen. This wild figure crops up appropriately and especially inappropriately and tediously throughout the production. It does absolutely nothing to enhance Carmen's presence. Moreover, Rhaeann Bryce Davis fails to express the subtle seductive play, nor the fatal love of Carmen. For that she is portrayed far too crudely and without nuance. An absolute missed opportunity, especially since she barely manages her role through her vocal performance either. Usually marred by an ugly vibrato (an evil that also afflicts Escamillo badly!) and especially very poor French diction. An absolute miscast then. And yes, what do you do with an opera like Carmen with a poorly sung lead? One who in the final scene exhibits a kind of identification with the already much-performed "beast" of the bull symbol?
It is clear that the local atmosphere of both "sur la place, chacun passe" and the arena scene at the end ("A dos cuartos") comes across little. Pity. The more intimate passages also barely shine, such as Michaela's first aria or her confrontation with José in the third act with the smugglers. Maeve Höglund is drawn too weakly to move as Michaela.
The choreography dominates too many passages on stage and usually in far too violent a manner. Fortunately, the chorus passages here and there can still save the atmosphere somewhat – also thanks to the as always beautiful performance of the chorus and children's chorus of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.
Conductor Keren Kagarlitsky brings the orchestra to an altogether impressive performance, but had too little control over the vocal performance of the soloists.
