Customer Reviews

Bizet: Carmen

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I stopped listening to "Carmen" years and years ago because I was, quite frankly, totally sick of it. Owning the famous recordings by Rise Stevens, Solange Michel, Leontyne Price, Maria Callas, Titiana Troyanos, etc, I gave most of them away, keeping only the wonderful de los Angeles EMI version (now available on EMI's Great Recordings of the Century). I was perfectly content to live with this single recording. I mean - after forty years of opera going and record buying, what could "Carmen" ever do for ME? Nothing, I thought, and I just left it alone.
I received this recording of "Carmen" for my birthday, and reluctantly, I opened it and put it on. I was immediately stunned by Abado's tempi and the sheer sound of the orchestra. The French dialogue was crisp and peppy, and the choral work was stunning. Placido Domingo's Don Jose was known to me, as I heard him do the role with Lyric Opera of Chicago years ago, but I didn't remember him sounding quite this wonderful. His Flower Song would melt a stone, and his singing throughout is sympathetic and very moving. Sherrill Milnes does not really have a very big role here -- he sings his Torreador Song well, and sings with sufficient ardor to arouse Carmen, which is basically what he's there for. Micaela is sensitively sung by Cotrubas, and she blends beautifully with Domingo in their first act duet ---- also, she sounds genuinely terrified in her third act aria.
Now to the sublime Teresa Berganza. Quite plainly, I have never heard the role of Carmen sung so beautifully. The sheer sound of Berganza's magnificent voice is truly something to experience. It cannot be described. She is a patrician Carmen ----eschewing all of the traditional gypsy spitfire teeth gnashing -- and creating a beautiful portrait of a free spirit whose voice is as beautiful as she is. No Carmen I have ever heard --- the great Victoria de los Angeles included -- has ever sounded like this. Berganza is a great artist, and not even her beautiful work in Rossini and Mozart prepared me for the sheer beauty of her Carmen. Aided and supported by Abbado, who shapes the score in a completely new way, Berganza has made me completely re-evaluate this opera ---- and that is no small feat.
This is a recording to own, cherish, and play --- over and over again. It's a jewel of a recording.

I agree with those who love this recording. Those few who don't, I can't understand. La Berganza sings a ravishingly beautiful Carmen and certainly no one does it better. Not Callas, not Price, not Baltsa and certainly not Resnik. Domingo as Don Jose is outstanding, and Abbado conducts with white-hot passion. This recording made in 1977 has aged extremely well, the sound is far better than the cavernous Karajan set.

"Carmen" has become one of the most popular operas in the repertoire since its premier in Paris in 1875. It was received coolly at first, but Bizet had received a nice payment for the publishing rights and it received 37 performances (the composer, however, died after the 31st performance at 36 years old). This opera has an interesting performance history as well as a very unusual plot and musical treatment.

First of all, do not be deceived by its classification as opera comique. This is a stylistic category because there is some spoken dialogue rather than using recitative. However, for performances outside France, it was supplied with recitative (not by Bizet, because he had died). This performance uses a "restored" score and does not use recitative for those passages.

How should the role of Carmen be played? First, think about whom she is playing against. The male protagonist, Don Jose, is not a hero. Once he becomes enflamed by Carmen, he spirals into worse and worse behavior. These two never become of one heart or even genuinely in love. This is not a traditional love story. There are no heroes or even a clearly defined bad guy. Well, Don Jose is a bad guy, but he is also the male lead and doesn't really fill the role of a villain in the traditional sense.

The issue for playing Carmen is what kind of gypsy do you believe her to be? She is certainly flirtatious, fierce, and will not be possessed. Nowadays, we tend to admire her fierce independence rather than being shocked by it. Her casualness towards love and sex can still shock and trouble those who believe in more traditional values. Still, this Carmen, Teresa Berganza, sees a certain dignity and propriety in her and plays her with a national pride. She is Spanish and refused to play Carmen as a French caricature of a Spanish gypsy. This is not how Carmen is often seen. It is easier to excite the audience with a more erotic (lurid) performance.

The singing here is very fine with Berganza as Carmen, Placido Domingo as Don Jose, and Sherrill Milnes as Escamillo. This recording was made after this cast (largely) performed the opera as part of the 1977 Edinburgh Festival. It sounds great. The notes are helpful and the libretto is provided in the original French with an English translation by its side.

This is Bizet's masterpiece, has many familiar tunes, and much other fine music. "Carmen" is an opera that anyone can enjoy and for a variety of good reasons.

This recording stars Placido Domingo as Don Jose, Teresa Berganza as Carmen, Sherill Milnes as Escamillo and Ileana Contrubas as Micaela. With a cast like that and with conductor Claudio Abbado, you can't go wrong. It is indeed a very well-executed Carmen. My favorite and first choice is, however, Grace Bumbry in the title role and Jon Vickers as Escamillo, Mirella Freni as Micaela and the lesser known Kostas Paskalis as Escamillo in a 1970 recording. That one is the authentic Opera-Comique version that Georges Bizet produced in Paris in 1875. It is supposed to have dialogue and not recitative, which most productions of Carmen use today, which I believe is the Choudens version. There have been many Carmens in the operatic jungle- among them even sopranos who take on this role written for mezzo-soprano- Maria Callas, Leontine Price, Shirley Verrett Grace Bumbry and most recently at the LA Opera I saw Catherine Malfitano in the role. But the role is better suited for mezzo-sopranos like Teresa Berganza in this recording. Or in the very least flexible mezzos turned sopranos such as Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verrett which I've already mentioned. Berganza has a charm and wit which makes her a very enjoyable Carmen. Her voice is light but secure, and she has all the right intonation for many of the key moments- the Habanera, Seguidilla, Gypsy Dance, the moment when she learns of her inevitable death through the tarot cards and of course the finale.

Opposite Teresa Berganza is Placido Domingo who is sensational as Don Jose. The role fits him like a glove, especially because the character is so passionate. The fact that Domingo and Berganza are Spanish and are in a sense playing Spanish characters makes it even more delicious. Ileana Contrubas, who has been acclaimed as a fine Violetta in Traviata makes a very touching performance as the anguished and innocent Micaela. Micaela was apparently a part thrown in at the last minute to provide the dark opera with some light and romance. Only her feelings are pure and untouched by adult machinations. Her arias are noble and beautiful (Je Dis Que Rien" is like a prayer) while the others seem to express conflict and verisomo forces of passions, sex, violence and vulgarity. Baritone Sherill Milnes had a Heaven-blessed baritone voice that is perfect for the macho part of Escamillo the bullfighter. Everything he did is pure gold, from his Scarpia in Tosca to his Count Di Luna in Verdi's Trovatore to his Rigoletto. Carmen is an opera about passions and fatal attraction. The liberated and undefeated Carmen is so free-willed that even her death seems to have been embraced by her. Living a criminal and reckless life, she was certain her death would come some day. She never dreamed it to come from an otherwise naive and infatuated young soldier.

Don't believe everything you read. Teresa Berganza's portrayal of Carmen is peerless. Her carefully considered interpretation lacks nothing in fire, it's just that Berganza gives a "French" reading rather than an italianate one. This is as stylish and beautiful a Carmen as you will ever get.

The problem with Carmen is that it can be produced like a "Grand Opera" or a more intimate "Opera-Comique". Teresa Berganza and Claudio Abbado clearly opted to go to its roots. I laugh at those who find Berganza "too aristocratic" in the title role, she just doesn't sing Carmen as a cheap woman, and all the better for it. Her warm, sexy mezzo is just perfect for this role. Domingo is just as good as Don Jose, wisely he scales down his "grand" italianate performance to fit the Opera-Comique conception and it works equally well. Abbado and the London Symphony milk the score for all its worth, every detail is there, and it is ravishingly beautiful. There aren't many great recordings of Carmen, besides Abbado's I can only recommend Beecham, Solti and Cluytens. All others have major drawbacks. Stay away from Maazel's (both of them), Ozawa's, Schipper's and Bernstein's.

Of the 7 recordings of Carmen I own, this is by far the best. I just can't understand the people who say that Abbado is incompetent and Berganza bloodless. Make no mistake> this IS the library choice for Bizet's masterpiece.

The voice of Teresa Berganza is one of the wonders of the age, if forced to choose, I would say it's the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. But the great Spanish mezzo is far more than just beautiful sounds, she goes deep into the characters she sings, and brings magic to her Carmen. She was wise to wait until she was 40 to sing and record this role, the voice was at its very best in the mid 70's, and she sings even the more dramatic passages with ease and conviction. In my book there is no better Carmen than she, Victoria de los Angeles would come in second place, but of course, her portrayal wouldn't have been possible on stage. Placido Domingo was born to sing Don Jose, and Sherrill Milnes is a very good and sonorous Escamillo. But it is the magnificent conducting of Claudio Abbado which leaves me speechless. He understands better than anyone else this miraculous score, he draws gorgeous sounds from the LSO and builds the drama inexorably. This is one of the truly GREAT opera recordings of the century

I can't believe a couple of reviewers prefer the Karajan recording to this superlative version. In his digital version (DG) Karajan unwisely uses actors instead of the actual singers for the dialogues, this sounds fake and stupid, I just can't stand it. Carreras just before his illness (1983) was going through a patchy period, his singing just can't compare to Domingo's. But it is of course Carmen who makes or breakes a recording, and Teresa Berganza is a musical miracle. It is true she makes a different Carmen, but all the more believable for it. Do try this recording, it is a classic.

Having listened to recordings featuring Callas, Troyanos, Los Angeles, Baltsa, this one, featuring Teresa Berganza outperforms them all. Her interpretation brings some humanity to the character of Carmen who is otherwise portrayed without any complexity. But above all, it is her technique and tone which is simply outstanding - it is a beauty which is at once, both joyful and awesome. A feeling of terror hits one for a few moments.

Of course there is Domingo, Cotrubas, Milnes and Abbado who bring their class to the recording.