As my regular readers may recall, this blog started with a DVD review of the very same production starring Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Caterina Antonacci, so I was especially pleased to see the return of the Anna Caterina who replaced the originally scheduled Elina Garanca, who withdrew when she became pregnant. The initial attraction for me was actually the chance to catch up with Roberto Alagna who I have not seen perform live for quite some time. A chance to see him in last year's L'Elisir d'Amore had to be abandoned so I was even more keen to see how the passage of time had treated him...or more specifically his voice.
I'll preface my review by saying that I actually like Roberto Alagna quite a lot. I remember being overwhelmed by his performance in Romeo et Juliette at Covent Garden way back in 1994 and thinking that this was definitely a star in the making. And so it proved although I think it would be fair to say that there have been some ups and downs along the way.
Luckily, Don Jose is I think, one of his most congenial roles and it was for the most part well sung and reasonably acted. I wouldn't say it was one of the most dramatically intense performances I have ever seen, but within his limits he creates a believable character and carries it through to the end. I would say that his portrayal of Jose here is of the more conventional 'romantic hero' type but whether that is down to choice, or lack of rehearsal time I don't really know. His Jose, is the good guy led astray by a 'wicked' woman who then tires of him, leading him to the final desperate act of this opera. Actually the final act duo was very well done as it slowly built from Jose's low key remorse and desperation up to his final terrible act of violence.
Anna Caterina Antonacci's Carmen is well known from the DVD and she didn't disappoint here, with her very earthy, sensual, sexual portrayal of Carmen. The voice is an unusual one, seemingly lacking the obvious dark sultry chest tones of a 'typical' mezzo and yet still utterly convincing. The chemistry with Alagna also worked well...I'm not sure how much rehearsal time they had together but they gave a game, professional performance. Carmen can be many things to many people, but once again I came away with the slightly disconcerting feeling that I didn't really know who Carmen was. One thing I did pick up on was the fact that (at least in this performance) Carmen did still seem to harbour some real affection for Jose even in the final act. That fitted in well with Alagna's more restrained, less demented portrayal of Jose.
The rest of the cast were acceptable but probably that's the most that can be said. Veronica Cangemi as Micaela managed not to annoy too much (more the character's fault than hers) but Escamillo as played by Vito Priante was a charisma-free zone both in characterisation and voice. Would it hurt to get actually get someone in to play Escamillo who can actually act and/or sing? Doesn't have to be a big name (although I wouldn't say no) just someone who can inject a bit of life into the part.
I'm not going to say that much about the actual production itself as it was pretty standard stuff. I have to say though that it looks a lot better in close-up on DVD. And while having Escamillo enter on horseback sounds like a good idea - it very rarely is.
So, all in in all, it was an enjoyable experience, even though in many ways this was a routine performance of a repertory standard. Alagna is still in pretty good voice - even if he does lapse into some tenorial showing off. Anna Caterina totally convinces as Carmen and brought the whole production to life - as every good Carmen should.
For those wondering what Alagna might be like in a less conventional production of Carmen, I see that Sky Arts2 are showing the Bieto production on Monday 6th January at 8pm, which also features Beatrice Uria-Monzon as Carmen and Marina Poplavskya as Micaela. Should be interesting
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