Customer Reviews

Georges Bizet - Carmen / Peter Hall, Bernard Haitink, Maria Ewing, Barry McCauley, London Philharmonic, Glyndebourne Festival Opera

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is not a "music professional's review". Carmen is theater, Carmen is about human nature, about jealousy, about life. Perhaps the most popular opera ever. It can be presented and performed in many different ways. This performance, this presentation is the best. Not just as an opera, but perhaps one of the best performances in the recorded performing arts.

One does not have to be an opera-lover to enjoy this Carmen. It is like the first Star Wars movie - an instant classic - with one difference. This one has one superb actress in it - Maria Ewing.
She is Carmen from the first appearance to the end. Of course, she can sing, but what really counts is that she can act. She is perfect for the role. To be clear about this: I am not just praising Carmen, Bizet's opera. It can be performed badly, or questionably - just three weeks ago (November 2005) I saw a performance in Denver that was mediocre at best - mostly because of the somewhat weird ideas in directing, trying to be original... But this Carmen is unique: it has everything.

Is this something your children can see? Yes. My daughters, thankfully, have seen over and over this one (in the VHS tape edition) since they were about five.

I probably never recommended anything as a "you should buy this one", but this is it. It is very good news that finally this performance is available on DVD. Even if you never saw an opera, or never want to see one, get this DVD, and you will be glad you got it.

There are marginally better sung Carmens than this production but this performance features all the music Bizet wrote without the added recitatives by another hand. The result is that the motivation of the characters is made clearer and the plotline strengthened. This production was not filmed before an audience but the action is nonetheless limited to a small stage area...a great plus in my estimation. I do not enjoy operas that are "opened up" and later dubbed, no matter how skillfully accomplished. Operas are designed to be sung on a stage to an audience, not in the great outdoors. It is a particular form the limits of which should be respected. The acting in this performance is supurb in every role. I have seen several Carmens in my time but none has struck me as being as effective as this one. I have not seen Ewing's later performance but all things considered, I would not hesitate recommending this version to anyone.

The interpretation is unique.
Other singers portray Carmen as a joyful little creature, like a flower, and the dramatic climax reaches when Jose kills that flower who is so in love with life.
Here Maria Ewing puts on the alternative - her Carmen is depressive. It seems that from the beginning she is in search for the one who will finally kill her, hence replacing the tragedy of her death by the tragedy of Jose who killed her.

Her singing is also unconventional. Her voice is of moderate size (which is appropriate), and gets stronger in the top - the opposite of most mezzo-soprano Carmens.
She actually resembles a soprano. She transposed some notes in the second act an octave higher to reach first the high B natural and then the high C at the act's end.
She makes use of her more than usual high voice (for a Carmen) and sings the middle A flat (first A above the middle C) which apears near the end of her passage in the famous cards-trio with her chest voice.
All can I say about her performance is "BRAVO"!!!
She, the stage-directing, the colorful orchestral playing and the supportive choir are enough to rate this DVD five stars.

The other main roles aren't so terrific though:
McCauley and McLaughlin acts very well, but lack the convenience in the high register so important for their parts. Instead, they sound strained and uneasy.
Great Don Jose and Micaela are to be found in Domingo and Esham in Rosi's film.

Holloway is really bad, both vocally and visually. His bottom is weak and his low B flat fades in his great entrance-aria.
Raimondi in Rosi's film is far superior.

Nevertheless, Carmen is the dominant figure, and for her it's definitely worth the cost.

As unpredictable (and occasionally unsettling) as Maria Ewing has proven to be as a singing actor, her performance as Carmen in this film is unassailable. She owns every inch of it, and from her stunning committment the whole piece blazes like a fire. The results can be unsatisfying when Ewing takes on a role (her Salome comes to mind), but, as a voice teacher and coach, I've yet to find a performance of hers that fails to completely exemplify an unyielding prescription: I tell my students - singing is an act of daring and committment in which you must literally be willing to die. It's that simple - and that profound. Ewing grabs hold of her art in the way Callas did. Like Callas, she has suffered in the voice department - willingly and knowingly, I suspect. Her Carmen misses no opportunity to rebel, to ignite, but Ewing is an actor of magnitude and knows the boundaries; pushes against them, but never at the cost of making real art. She's manifestly a singer of intelligence, breathtaking risk and seduction, always. This particular Carmen strikes me as her finest performance committed to film. I like this version filmed without an audience because it doesnt attempt to become an 'outdoor' film. Bizet's original ideas are thereby showcased to magnificent advantage, musically and dramatically. Kudos to this one-of-a-kind artist for an incomparable Carmen here; it's a take no prisoners performance. McCauley's thick and unwieldy tenor fails to impress, whatever the macho/puppydog presence may provide. An able actor, his singing is generic, if reliable. I've enjoyed Marie McLaughlin at Glyndebourne, and her turn as Micaela is satisfactory, a bit wary - better than tenor McCauley - but I could name a number of memorable Micaelas without mentioning her. Maria Ewing is firepit, kindling, logs, match, and blazing glory from beginning to end in this film, and she alone makes it worth double the price here! On her bewitching account alone, hotly recommended!

Peter Hall's 1985 Glyndebourne production is absolutely amazing. It is ABSOLUTELY true to the libretto. VERY believable. The staging, chracterizations, acting, sets, costumes, etc. all serve the ART of the story and music. I have seen Carmen many times in my life. This is BY FAR the best I have seen. It is CONVINCING because it is what Bizet (and Meilhac, and Halevy) derived from Merimee.

Before seeing this production, somehow I felt the opera to be filled with much good music, but with characterization less than clearly defined. With the spoken dialogue, all characters are now belivable in every way. I feel that the experience of the drama is now complete. Seeing this performance makes me realize what a true MASTERPIECE Carmen is.

The day-to-day life of Seville is SO convincing in Act 1. The children's chorus has never been more effective. The sets, and especially the costumes are WONDERFUL throughout.

All principal voices are incredible. The highlights for me are the powerful and resonant tone of tenor Barry McCauley and the delicate pianissimos of Marie McLaughlin. Amazingly sensitive singing.

Maria Ewing IS Carmen. She's got the look, the voice, and her acting is always what it should be.

In a way the ultimate moment in any performance of Carmen is the loss of sanity of Don Jose in the final scene. It has never been more powerful than in this performance. Barry McCauley has the look and passion of an insanely jealous lover. YOU HAVE TO SEE IT !!!

The smaller roles were also very well performed. I particularly enjoyed the performance of Malcolm Walker as Morales. The chorus was also very effective, and exceptional in terms of acting and giving the overall effect of realism.

Too often, in fact usually, the acting and characterization in performances of Carmen seem contrived and caricatured. NOT HERE. The current world of opera DESPERATELY needs directors like Peter Hall. I shudder at the atrocities regularly commited in opera houses today.

My ONLY observation that I personally can critique - and I emphasize - this is my personal taste - at times I prefer the often brisker tempi of the legendary Fritz Reiner performance (available on CD). At times, for me the tempos here could have been a little freer, with perhaps a little more abandon. At other times, however, the tempos were for me PERFECT, and perhaps even better than my expectations. This production includes what seems the COMPLETE duet between Don Jose and Escamillo. THANK YOU maestro Haitink.

THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED IN THIS FIRST RATE PERFORMANCE !

Maria Ewing is, to me, the perfect Carmen. Too often, I have seen Carmen portrayed flatly, as a haughty, contemptuous, disdainful manipulator of men. Ms. Ewing, using the same songs and dialogue as others who have aspired to the role, manages through her expressive acting and nuance, to convey a rounded character, as much a victim of circumstances as a player in manipulating the circumstances she finds herself in. Sometimes shy, coquettish, charming, and resigned to her fate, she also shows warmth and dignity when it fits, giving Carmen a full range of human qualities. There is good in the bad; bad in the good. Maria Ewing's Carmen is a character you may not love in the end, but one who you will understand as being as much a victim as a manipulator. She makes Carmen believable; not an easy task with most opera characters.

I can only echo the praise for Maria Ewing...she is astonishing...as one reviewer said, not coquettish at all, but obviously a woman with a strong death wish...what an actress she is. I bought this DVD because I have her in Salome and the Coronation of Poppaea, in both of which she is amazing too. But this is the best...she's riveting. She's not really attractive at all...rather scary, in fact, and one wonders why Don Jose falls for her...he must have death wish too. The rest of the cast is forgettable, but because of Ewing, this is a must buy. Wow.

Back in 1967, I plunked down the then-outrageous price of $12.99 for a 3-lp boxed set of Carmen with Maria Callas (you may remember it, the red one with the little booklets inside). Most opera albums were selling for $9.99 in those days, but this one was special and all the "operatzzi" were buzzing about it. I now have a remastered cd from the same album which is the only other Carmen I have, but it's enough.

On this DVD, Ewing has adopted the same vocal style that I remember so fondly from the famous earlier lp. She really seems to be channeling Callas. The other singers are also good. Mccauley`s Don Jose and Mclaughlin`s Michaela are strong and satisfying.

The sound quality is mixed. Apparently, the arias and duets are lip-synced; they are strong and fulfilling. But the choruses are apparently recorded live on stage with a few ill-placed microphones. This leads to a disappointing imbalance of chorus and orchestra in comparison with the old recording. The children's choruses in particular are washed out by the orchestra. (See my review of La Boheme for a long technical discussion of this issue.)

The video quality is just ok. I certainly wouldn't rush out to buy a HDTV just to watch this opera. The staging likewise is just ok. I've often wondered why an opera dvd couldn't have real locations like a movie, such as a real cigarette factory and a real bull ring.

Maria Ewing as 'La Carmen' is superb. Not only does she have a magnificent voice but she is such a tremendous actress that, by facial gestures and body movements alone, she passes through phases of temptress, seductress, harlot and more. Like a black widow in its web she draws foolish males into her lethal embrace. Her gestures and glances, at time, approach pure evil. Wonderful.

All this in the backdrop of Bizet's wonderful music and opera. The orchestra, sets and costumes are excellent and the other singers vary from good to superb but none of them approach Ewing's combination of singing and poise. She is 'La Carmen'.

Let me suggest to those who read this review that they might like to pick up Carlos Saura's 'Carmen'. No, it isn't Bizet's opera but it is a fascinating, wonderful and gruesome tale of his trying to find the 'perfect' La Carmen and the terrible tragedy that ensues. It's a film of flamenco and fiery dance.

Ron Braithwaite author of the novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on Spanish Conquest of Mexico

Maria Ewing is the quintessential Carmen: she has the looks, the acting skills, and the voice to totally capture the complexity of our gypsy cigarette girl. The DVD is an exact match of the performance originally released on Betamax tape. There are no extras or frills, but the performance is worth the investment. Bary McCauley is a fine Don Jose.