Carmen

This morning, a conversation in the library regarding the Seattle Opera reminded me that I never blogged about my post-Carmen watching thoughts. I’ve played a fantasia arranged for flute and piano as well, studied this particular opera in music history, read the libretto, even dressed as Carmen twice for past Halloweens… needless to say, I was ecstatic to finally see this opera live. Unsurprisingly, the music, singing, costuming and sets were all fantastic.

Carmen’s outfits through the opera were perfect: striking, bold, saucy. I’ve seen clips of productions with drabber costumes, which is always a large letdown for one who loves costuming and playing dress-up. I was absolutely in love with the chemise, petticoat, spanish scarf tied at the waist and flower-in-hair combination she wears in at her first entrance, extremely bohemian and simple, but playful. (This, in fact, winds up being the basis for my impromptu Halloween costume this year). The ciggerette girls had great outfits as well, white flouncy petticoats and dresses that were both playful and ephemeral. The sets created the illusion of a very gritty, lively Seville that adheres well to the opera’s verissmo style.

It goes without saying that Bizet’s music is gorgeous, and the orchestra played it magnificently. It definitely makes me wish that I had seen a live production -before- I attempted to interpret the themes in my recital freshman year. The “danger” motif sounded far more ominous live than in a recording. Also, my flute-bias led me to hone in to all the flute solos, which McGill played beautifully. My particular favorite was the intermezzo solo: controlled and lush, it seemed to drift out into the concert hall. To my vocally-untrained ears, the singing seemed polished and full of dramatic power. Along with that, the cast’s acting seemed a touch more dramatic than several productions I’d previously attended, which I loved. After spending so much time delving into nuances of the habanera in order to play it convincingly in theme and variation form, I had initially feared that hearing it performed live would be a letdown. From my vantage point at least, it looked and sounded spot-on: powerful, sultry, caviler and technically solid. Similarly, the emotion in the card-reading scene struck me as particularly touching/depressing. I had a few minor staging quibbles; Carmen’s entrance seemed underwhelming and I’m still on the fence about how I feel about the lack of a crowd in the ending.

Though, and this ended up being one letdown to the whole experience, I did wish I sat closer. There have definitely been performances in the past where I sat in the orchestra front and felt cheated of seeing the entire spread of the stage or the full extent of blocking choices. With Carmen, I would liked to have been close enough to see facial expressions and nuances in acting simply because of the large emphasis on character natures and character development in this particular opera. Then again, sitting close enough to see too many details on stage have often ruined the illusion, so I suppose it would have been a toss up either way.

L’amour est un oiseau rebelleque nul ne peut apprivoiser