Love it or hate it, this isn't just another Carmen - Royal Opera, Royal Opera House, review

Having first encountered Beecham’s peerless recording in short trousers and reviewed more than 30 productions, I smugly considered myself pretty familiar with every note of Bizet’s Carmen – often ad nauseam, as it tends to be sloppily performed.

One great virtue of Barrie Kosky’s new staging, imported from Frankfurt, is that it has shaken my complacency – it is certainly different. But being different is not quite enough, and I felt increasingly dissatisfied as the evening progressed. 

Things get off to a terrific start. The stage is filled with a wide, steep staircase, used to stunning effect as the chorus cascades down or hares up its steps. There is only minimal indication of anything Hispanic, and none at all of the gipsy or cigarette factory. Instead, the first act is played out like a Parisian floor show in which Carmen is the chic androgynous star, flanked by dazzling showbizzy dance routines.

There is much musical material, excised from the standard editions, that I hadn’t previously heard – notably another entrance aria for Carmen, a comic aria for Moralès, and a much longer duet for José and Micaela. Some of this is delightful, some better left in the library. The spoken dialogue is replaced by an off-stage narration, using French text mostly drawn from the opera’s source in Mérimée’s novella. It’s all electrically alive, fresh, witty, energised and provocative.