SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL OPERA REVIEW
 

Mediterranean Festival 2010 - Bizet, Carmen: Soloists, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana, Conductor: Zubin Mehta.Palau de les Arts de Valencia. 18 and  20.6.2010 (JMI)

Production Palau de les Arts and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Direction: Carlos Saura.
Sets: Laura Martínez.
Costumes: Pedro Moreno.
Lighting: Paco Belda.

Cast:

Carmen: Elina Garanca/Elena Maximova.

Don José: Marcelo Álvarez/Jorge de León.

Micaela: Marina Rebeka/Angel Blue.

Escamillo: Alexander Vinogradov.

Zúñiga: Nicolas Testé.

Morales: Mario Cassi.

Frasquita: Silvia Vázquez.

Mercedes: Adriana Zabala.

Dancaïre: Fabio Previati.

Remendado: Vicenç Esteve.

Production Picture © Tato Baeza

This production of Carmen is a revival of the original by Carlos Saura premiered three years ago and I reviewed it then for Seen and Heard. My overall feeling about the production has not changed and to my  mind, it remains quite uninteresting. However, there are some alterations to be mentioned. The sets in Act III have changed and there the rocks have been removed. These have been replaces by the panels used in the other acts, something that saves some 10 minutes on the interval between Acts III and IV. In addition, Escamillo does not wear a bullfighter's suit in Act III, which makes a lot of sense, and we have lost the first part of the fight between Don José and Escamillo. Finally, the excellent lighting is now by Paco Belda.

The musical direction, as is usual in Valencia's Mediterranean Festival, was in the hands of Zubin Mehta, whose work I found a little below my expectations. His direction was effective and bright, but without that spark of genius that one might expect from such a prestigious conductor. He was at his best in the second half of the opera, with two great interpretations of the Preludes to Acts III and IV. There can be no question that he is an outstanding maestro, but Lorin Maazel's Carmen seemed to me to be nearer the mark.  Maazel was both soothing and sublime in the same performance, while Mehta was more focused, more brilliant musically, but without the all important touch of genius. He had an excellent orchestra under his baton, the best in Spain without a doubt.

If three years ago the cast was unworthy of a first rank opera house, things have changed for the better now  and we had on stage two of the world's best. Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca was Carmen and proved that she has few rivals – if any at all - in this character. With an enviable figure, unquestionable vocal quality  and superb acting, her voice has all that you might expect from a top-flight Carmen. However, her performance, although excellent, was not what you can takes as a reference, and it would be interesting to see Ms Garanca properly directed, since Carlos Saura's direction was purely routine. In my opinion, there was a certain coldness in her singing, which only thawed in the last two acts and, particularly, in the last. Vocally, her instrument worked to perfection and only fell a little short at the very lowest ranges. She did not inspire the enthusiasm of the audience in the Habanera or the Seguidilla, while the seduction scene was quite good, but I was expecting more from her. In the cards aria she showed what a great singer she is and as I said before, she was great in the final act, both as singer and actress. As a last comment, a top Carmen should be able  to play the castanets herself. (Especially in Spain, maybe. Ed)

The second Carmen was the Russian mezzo Elena Maximova, who had to struggle with the long shadow cast by Elina Garanca two days earlier though comparisons are really pointless given Garanca's status.  Ms Maximova has positive qualities, including her attractive figure and her stage skills, with additional attention to detail such as as  actually playing the castanets. The voice is not outstanding in timbre, although it has good extension and her low register is typical of Slavic mezzos. There is a certain sameness about   her singing too, which means that interest is lost as the performance proceeds.

Another star of the premiere was Argentinian tenor Marcelo Alvarez as Don José but sadly,  I found his performance largely disappointing. His voice is not well suited to this character, since he is a lyric tenor and Don José needs something else. I did not even like his approach to the character, with verismo accents which were totally out of place here. Don José is a character which has to gain the public's sympathy for his ruined life and his weaknesses. Instead, Marcelo Alvarez gave out a bragging and violent character, more worthy of Cavalleria Rusticana. The duet with Micaela was not particularly bright while the eagerly anticipated flower song was also disappointing, with more unsuitable verismo pointing and with the famous high B flat tight and forte.

In the second cast Don José was Canarian tenor Jorge de León, who was back in Valencia after his success as Turiddu three months before. Once past the surprise of his spectacular debut in Andrea Chenier at the Teatro Real and the confirmation of his talent with his interpretation of Turiddu, Jorge de León is now a singer who can be valued with more objectivity. There is no doubt that his voice is important, wide and well projected, a true spinto tenor. In other words, his is a voice that is  not over- abundant today and there can be no doubt that he is better suited to Don José than Marcelo Álvarez was.   He is not too refined as a singer however but he does excel particularly in the dramatic passages. In the first act he was at his least convincing, improving later to end with an excellent Act IV. In sum, this was a Don José with a healthy and powerful voice that can sing in any top opera house. His future will surely be dependent on the decisions he now makes about the roles he accepts.

The young Lithuanian soprano Marina Rebeka was an excellent Micaela. This girl has everything needed to ensure success in opera, provided that her steps are measured and she does not run too fast. Her voice is a little light in the middle, but it gains in roundness  as it moves upwards and has a very well placed and beautiful high register. Today she is a very interesting light-lyric soprano, with an attractive stage presence and good performing skills.

The American soprano Angel Blue was the new Micaela and she was not too convincing in my opinion. This girl is going to have a serious handicap with her height, since she is possibly more than 6 feet tall,  too much for almost all existing tenors. Vocally, she presents what seem to be almost two different voices, lacking at the centre but with a brighter top end, although the voice is also rather too open which leads to what amounts to shouting at certain points.

In all opera Escamillo's character is surely one of the least appealing to singers. On this occasion his interpreter was Russian bass-baritone Alexander Vinogradov and he was better than some others have been in the part, but without much to interest.

 

In the secondary roles Nicolas Testé was a suitable Zúñiga, but was uninteresting vocally. Silvia Vázquez showed an interesting high register as Frasquita, while Adriana Zabala repeated her role as Mercedes once again producing a small sound. Fabio Previati was a coarse Dancaire, while Vicenç Esteve played Remendado with fine accuracy and Mario Cassi made a good Morales.

The house was full for both performances. There was an enthusiastic reception for Zubin Mehta, Elina Garanca and Marina Rebeka in the first cast, while on the second night the success went again to Mr Mehta together with Jorge de León. Angel Blue was much applauded, as was Marcelo Álvarez but Carlos Saura and his team were received with sonorous boos, accompanied by tepid applause.

José M Irurzun