Review: Calgary Opera caps 50th anniversary with superior performance of dramatic Carmen

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To open its 50th anniversary season, Calgary Opera is presenting Bizet’s Carmen. The idea to do this opera for the anniversary came from former artistic director Bramwell Tovey, a much-appreciated figure on the Calgary musical scene who recently died from cancer. The production, a very fine one, is dedicated to his memory.

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Carmen is one of the most popular operas in the standard repertoire, its story of the tragic love affair between a soldier and a gypsy woman continues to fascinate even as generations and social conventions change. The original production at Paris’s Opera Comique failed, not because of the music, but because of the unhappiness of the audience with the main character, Carmen, who was seen as an amoral seductress and the source of the destruction of an otherwise moral man, don José.

Over the years, however, this view has often been turned on its head. Carmen is now more typically seen through feminist eyes – as an avatar for the view of women repressed by a patriarchal, male-dominated society. In its operatic manifestation this male need to dominate women, to control, leads to the death of Carmen and the moral collapse of Don José, the man who loves her.

It is the strength of this production that it avoids underlining any specific social preaching and lets the inherent moral ambiguity of the original work emerge, forcing the listener to come to his/her understanding of the meaning of the drama. This restraint in the telling of the story is one of the best things about the production. In this regard, a significant moment comes at the end of the second act where Carmen, upon leaving the scene, gives Lieutenant Zuniga, who is temporarily restrained by smugglers, a terrific wallop. Of course, this wallop is not written into the score.

Is this Carmen, the untameable gypsy woman, releasing her annoyance at Zuniga’s unwelcome attentions, or is it a gesture of Carmen as “woman” expressing forcibly the determination not to submit to the presumptions of “man”? However it might be taken, this gesture is a significant moment in the production, one that brings many underlying dramatic issues to a moment of clarity and point.

In the production, considerable effort has been expended upon the integration of dramatic and musical elements, evident from the seamless relationship between the chorus and principals in the action. Throughout the opera, the chorus is fully woven into the storytelling, sometimes part of the juste milieu, and other times, such as the final scene, forming a component of the background. One can only be impressed by the thought and care given to this aspect of the production.

The chorus, also prepared by Mark Morash, sang cleanly and clearly, even in contexts where there was much to do on stage. Only a mature chorus can really do this, and the Calgary Opera Chorus now shows the benefits of its long experience on stages, as well as the benefit of expert stage direction.

Into this mix, there is a significant role for the children’s chorus, directed by Catherine Glaser-Climie, which sang remarkably well and was cleverly costumed, with many comical moments infused into the action to convey the sense of “real life” that is so much a part of the ambience of this opera.

Overall, the production was a triumph for stage director Brenna Corner and her team, a point strongly acknowledged at the final curtain, the production team receiving prolonged and sustained applause from the capacity audience.

The use of the original version of the opera, with dialogue rather than sung recitatives, gave the production an objective quality in the way the story unfolds, one less freighted with romantic pathos. The big scenes in the opera individually all had the character and point needed to be effective: the languid, seemingly inconsequential opening, where the story emerges as out of nothing; the crucial scene in the second act where Don José’s life is changed forever; and the final, dramatic ending of the opera, where Don José kills Carmen. My favourite act, however, was the smuggler’s act, often spotty in other productions. Here, every detail worked and was capped with a stunning account of Micäela’s aria by Tracy Cantin.

The music was directed by house conductor Mark Morash, who led a crisp, energized account of the score. Overall, the tempos, from the prelude to Carmen’s opening songs, to the famous quintet were all quick – perhaps just a bit quicker than is my personal preference. But this lightness and speed are part of the manner of the original operetta-style version of the opera as presented here. The CPO seemed to enjoy itself, with eloquent woodwind solos everywhere (notably the clarinet), and including a very graceful, pure account of the delicious flute solo in the entr’acte to Act 3. On this occasion, the orchestra was given a significant round of applause at the end, its performance clearly one of the production’s major strengths.

Overall, the singing was of a superior quality, especially the singing of Rihab Chaieb, the production’s Carmen. Chaieb is perfect for the role. Slight of build, gracious in her movements, and beautiful, she is one of those women to whom all male eyes seem naturally to turn – in short, just the Carmen that Bizet created. Chaieb is also blessed with the perfect voice for the part – well-carrying without being coarse, and with an effective top and bottom register.

Her opening folk-like songs hit the mark, but there were even better moments later on. These included the important scene in the second act where she effects Don José’s capitulation to the world of the smugglers, and also the final scene, one of the best moments in the production. In all of these scenes, one sensed a woman of forceful personality but in no way a femme fatale as a caricature, too often the way this role is played. This was a nuanced performance, strong where the character is strong, but also at moments vulnerable as well. And in her singing, Chaieb delivered everything the role needs, from folk-like singing to gypsy intonations to vocalism of the highest pathos. The performance is worth attending just for her.

David Pomeroy as Don José provided a strong contrast to Carmen, his transformation from bemused soldier to desperate, out-of-mind lover effectively made across the four acts. Vocally, he has a bigger voice for the part than is sometimes the case, the benefit of which came largely toward the end as the vocal demands increase. Despite the size of his voice, he managed the famous Flower Song remarkably well, a difficult aria to sing well. In general, however, he sang louder than he needed to, sometimes to the loss of some beauty of tone. A famously difficult part to render in dramatic terms, Pomeroy presented with conviction the portrait of a man, initially quite sane, driven to utter distraction by a woman who has captured every fibre of his being.

As mentioned, Tracy Cantin was a marvellous Micaëla, especially in vocal terms. Her voice is clear and strong, but also beautiful, and she has a terrific top register. The first-act duet, one of the best things in the score, was effective in every way, making one wonder why on earth Don José would choose Carmen over her.  But, of course, there is the matter of fate, a point Bizet constantly reminds you of in the famous haunting melodic motive that winds its way through the music.

Just why Carmen would choose the toreador over Don José, however, was not hard to see. In a Hollywood-like star turn, Nmon Ford, the production toreador Escamillo, was every woman’s heartthrob. Brimming with confidence, but also aware of his magnetism to the ladies, Ford fully inhabited the role, the point of focus whenever on stage. And he sang well, too, if not naturally blessed with a sonorous low register. This was the best performance of this role I have seen in many years.

Many of the smaller roles were taken by members of the McPhee Artist Program. This included the smuggler ladies Frasquita (Nicole Leung) and Mercédès (Justine Ledoux), as well as the dragoon Moralès (Branden Olsen) and the smugglers Dancaire (Connor Hoppenbrouwers) and Remendado (Tayte Mitchell). All provided solid accounts of their roles, with an especially well-sung version of the famous quintet, which received strong applause. The secondary roles were rounded out by Dominic Veilleux as Zuniga, the hapless officer who makes a pass at Carmen. It takes a measure of skill to bring off roles such as these since there are only moments to make the character stick in the memory – but this was the case here.

The sets from the Atlanta Opera and costumes from the Sarasota Opera worked well and evoked the requisite 19th-century atmosphere one expects of romantic Spain in operatic clothing. This is an exceptionally fine production of this great opera, one that caps Calgary Opera’s first 50 years and promises further accomplishments as the company heads into its next chapter. Don’t miss Calgary Opera’s Carmen.