There's been a murder! Or ha habido un asesinato, as they say in Andalusia. Scottish Opera's new production of Bizet's Carmen would slot easily into the tv schedules as a four-parter, the overture to each of the acts lacking only the opening credits. You know the sort of thing - episodes (acts) 1 and 2 on consecutive nights, 3 and 4 ditto the following week.

*SPOILER ALERT* - it starts with a male voice confessing to murder and the curtain rises on a police interview room, with the Investigator (Carmen Pieraccini) sorting through the collected evidence on a table - filmed and projected on the back wall of the room. The suspect sits opposite. Then the back wall rises, to reveal the parade of the guards, who 'invade' the interview room. The operatic bits are going to be flashbacks, as the Investigator teases out the sequence of events, in a nod to its origins in Prosper Mérimée's novel.

The first impression is how conversational the singing of the chorus is. Judging from the behaviour of this shift, the Guard is institutionally sexist and misogynist, waiting for and leering at the women factory workers coming out on their break, and behaving quite unacceptably when Micaela arrives, looking for Don José.

Micaela has to be the frumpiest role in opera, even without the frock inflicted upon her by costume designer Christina Cunningham, but Hye-Youn Lee imbues it with sincerity and emotional power. Don José really should have taken his mother's advice but, by then, it was too late. He had already been bewitched by Carmen.

What makes this production stand out is that it is fully adult. Often, Carmen is played almost as a teenager, testing out her power over men, or as a sexually liberated kidult, not to be shackled by domesticity. Alok Kumar (Don José) and Justina Gringyté (Carmen) are grown-ups, caught up in a sudden passion which initially overwhelms them. And yes, Don José is the victim - of emotions he has never experienced before and which are beyond his control. Carmen - well-played by Gringyté - still comes across as cheap and trashy and Micaela sees right through her. She is confident in her power over men (one wonders how long Escamillo would have lasted) while misunderstanding, misbelieving the strength of Don José's emotions.

Kumar is vocally strong as well. In fact, the singing is impressive throughout. The quintet when Dancairo (Colin Murray) and Remendado (Osian Wyn Bowen) talk Carmen and her friends Frasquita (Zoe Drummond) and Mercédès (Lea Shaw) into joining their exploit is very well done. One question lingers; given the modern dress of this production, why are they running guns, and to where?

Philip Rhodes' Escamillo is full of himself when he has an audience, but is much less arrogant and more man-to-man in his conversation with Don José, for all it ends in a fight.

In director John Fulljames' opera-as-tv-mini-series, the orchestral playing almost feels like a soundtrack, but conductor Dane Lam keeps the tempo going, a good balance between stage and pit, and a nice contrast between the conversational chorus and ensemble pieces and the emotional arias from the leads.

The exuberance of the crowd at the corrida behind the unsuccessful communications of Don José and Carmen in the denouement encapsulates the emotional power of this performance.