'Carmen' by Opera Australia

As posted on the Arts Hub website. By Patricia Maunder. Francesca Zambello's new Carmen is one of the most ambitious productions staged by Opera Australia in recent years, and a dramatic contrast to the sparse, dusty, sun-bleached look of its predecessor. There are live animals (a chicken, donkey and two splendid horses), pyrotechnics, swirling ribbons, dancers, men climbing down a wall from a great height, glittering bullfighters' costumes, tambourines and castanets. There's so much colour and movement at times it's like a big stage musical. Importantly, all this splendour rarely seems gratuitous, and adds tremendously to the excitement of a night at the theatre. First performed in Paris in 1875, Bizet's Carmen tells of the fatally passionate love affair between the title character, a sensual gypsy woman, and Don Jose, who is a sensible young soldier until he falls for Carmen. Despite the pleas of Michaela, his mother's virginal messenger, Jose deserts the army and follows his lover to life among gyspy smugglers. Fickle Carmen soon turns her attention to the charismatic bullfighter Escamillo. This production needs principals whose performances won't be overshadowed by its theatricality, and Joshua Bloom (Escamillo), Rosario La Spina (Don Jose) and Pamela Helen Stephen (Carmen), deliver. Bloom, who makes his entrance on a horse, was every inch the confident, heroic bullfighter, with a deliciously warm baritone to match. La Spina's beautifully fluid tenor enabled the audience to overlook his shortcomings as an actor. In the title role, the English mezzo-soprano was stunning, delivering an utterly convincing portrayal of the seductive gypsy: she danced, played the castanets and generally oozed sexuality, a physical and emotional performance crowned by her confident, lyrical voice. The supporting cast and the busy chorus were uniformly good. Opera Australia's music director Richard Hickox conducted Orchestra Victoria in a lively performance that made the most of the score's seductive passages of Spanish and gypsy rhythms. Bizarrely, the only disappointment of the performance is the finale, the fatal confrontation between Jose and Carmen. Minutes after the visual spectacular reaches its zenith with the entrance of the bullfighters in their finery, followed by an eye-popping altar of the Virgin Mary, the street scene is cleared of all but the estranged lovers. This ought to bring dramatic focus to the emotional duel that follows, but their exchange lacks the raw power required to top all the theatricality that has come before. Carmen has already been rather diminished in this final act by her new costume, the gown of a fine lady, which negates the character's wildness and sexuality. When Jose confronts her she seems more like a cornered cat than the rebellious woman we've seen previously. Having the angelic Michaela passively looking down on the action at this point may be intended to prompt thoughts of what might have been, but is a limp distraction to the main event. The not-so-grand finale aside, this is a very satisfying and exciting production. The music, performances and staging create a complete package that opera aspires to but doesn't often achieve so well.