1. Carmen on DVD--Complete Review(EDITED) - Florentine Opera

the original dialogue version is used, exceptionally well acted by the singers who don’t have to
shout to be heard. The musical edition incorporates some of the rediscovered musical elements
from the Fritz Oeser edition but avoids the questionable elements in that version. Musically the
performance seems like the equivalent of a beautifully restored oil painting with vivid colors and
striking clarity of detail. Adrian Noble’s staging is not an antiquarian attempt to recreate the
original production but it does have a freshness of approach and a logic that is compelling and
takes full advantage of the intimacy of the environment. Mark Thompson’s designs have the
warmth and subtlety of a fine painting and his costumes are refreshingly realistic. Details are
highly specific to the text and the drama, when the factory girls come out for their break they are
sweaty and tired, as is <strong>Carmen</strong> when she enters. Anna Caterina Antonacci sings the Habanera
with a languorous sensuality that is intimately seductive and her entire performance is filled with
spontaneity, a sense that things are happening for the first time. Her Don José, Andrew
Richards, matches her spontaneity and traces the gradual decline of this country boy who is in
over his head with moving conviction, in the final scene it is impossible not to feel sorry for him
even as he has descended into homicidal madness. Anne-Catherine Gillet and Nicolas Cavallier
as Micaela and Escamillo share the qualities of spontaneity and dramatic plausibility and the
entire cast sings so well that nothing distracts from the characters and the drama. Conductor
John Eliot Gardiner’s treatment of the score is totally idiomatic and he surely was a prime mover
in obtaining such beautiful and sensitive singing from the fine cast. His Monteverdi Choir, long
identified with early music, once again proves to be an ensemble of fine actors as well as
eloquent singers. The intimate performance space allows for a somewhat smaller chorus than
usual and the director handles the crowd scenes with great fluidity and imagination. Highly
recommended.
Haitink: Ewing, McCauley, McLaughlin, Holloway (Hall)(Glyndebourne, 1985)(Kultur)
(Dialogue version)
Peter Hall’s Glyndebourne production takes a radical approach to Bizet’s opera: he treats
it as a legitimate musical drama with a cohesive and motivated action in which the words are to
be taken as seriously as the music. The spoken dialogue is given complete, a choice which fills
out many elements of character and motivation that are usually missing in the usual recitative or
abridged dialogue versions. As stage director and video director Hall assumes that the audience
will be interested in the words as well as in the music. Gone is all the extraneous pacing and
semaphoring intended to “act out” the meaning of the words and fill the supposed “gaps” in the
flow of the action whenever there is a moment of non-verbal music. The result is a powerful,
realistic drama, which truly does justice to Bizet’s masterpiece. Crucial to its impact is the fine
acting and singing of his cast, headed by his then wife, Maria Ewing, whose <strong>Carmen</strong> is truly
memorable. Ewing’s delivery of the music and the text is vividly characterized and her body
language and expressive face add a further dimension to the portrayal. Ewing has a unique
ability to communicate powerfully when she is completely motionless, and Hall utilizes that skill
to the fullest, and he draws performances from the other cast members in a similar economical
and realistic vein. Musically the performance is excellent and so fully integrated into the whole
of the drama that it never draws attention to the fact that people are singing as well as talking;
there is a dramatic flow that is riveting. As was customary at Glyndebourne at that time, the
recording was made in the theatre but without an audience after a run of public performances,
and the absence of applause for individual numbers greatly enhances the continuity of the flow
for home viewing. Of course, Hall’s approach assumes that the audience can understand the