A Royal Opera fixture since 2006, the Francesca Zambello production of Bizet’s Spanish tragedy has never really been a thinking person’s version of the piece; but rehearsed this time around by Duncan Macfarland, it retains a broadly credible narrative, as well as such picturesque if inessential elements as its small onstage menagerie.
Louis the horse makes two significant entrances, each time bearing Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov’s Escamillo, who looks a less nervous equestrian than most of his predecessors in this show. Tracey the donkey has cameo appearances in the first and third acts, both of them impeccably realised. Less prominent in the overall scheme of things, the troupe of performing chickens – not individually credited in the programme – feels relatively sidelined; maybe their agent should have a word.
The actual singers are a mixed bunch. Vinogradov is joined by his compatriot mezzo Elena Maximova as the eponymous Gypsy. Dramatically, hers is an old-fashioned view of the role, her upfront sexuality blatant, not to say crude; there is scarcely a male in the cast to whom she does not offer the pleasures of the flesh with the least ambiguous of gestures at some point or other.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Bryan Hymel’s Don José seems almost more terrified by her than beguiled; it has certainly rarely been more glaringly obvious how much better off he would be with Micaëla instead. The opera’s good girl is sung this time around by Australian debutante Nicole Car, in what is the evening’s most complete performance; her luminous soprano proves ideal for Bizet’s soaring lines and she acts with intelligence and immediacy. Maximova, meanwhile, brings a smoky timbre to Carmen, and her singing possesses a good deal more discipline than her acting, though her French is even more strangely accented than Vinogradov’s.
Hymel, meanwhile, hits all Don José’s high notes fairly and squarely, giving his vocalism strength and solidity even if his physical acting is limited when not actually dull. Vinogradov brings the right sort of macho swagger to his bullfighter rival, though even so he shouldn’t be allowed to extend the final note of the Toreador’s Song in what feels an unmusical and attention-seeking manner.
Bertrand de Billy conducts with verve if not quite enough emphasis, yet the ensemble playing is sometimes surprisingly slack. The innumerable dance routines look more Shaftesbury Avenue than Seville, though the Royal Opera House Youth Opera Company and the acting and tumbling children provide unstoppable energy.
- In rep at the Royal Opera House until 30 November. Box-office: 020-7304 4000.
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