Met Opera Review: Rachvelishvili and Lee give fresh new life to Eyre's production

By Francisco Salazar

(For the September 28, 2012 performance)

The Met revived Carmen on Friday night in an unforgettable fusion of cast and production.

Richard Eyre’s production is one of the better ones to premiere during the Gelb era. The curtain is a black one with one red stripe through it. This red stripe opens up during the first and third acts to reveal ballet dancers that simulate the passion and intensity of Carmen and Jose’s romance. In the opera’s prelude the dance is set against the dark and fateful music, emphasizing the destruction of the main heroine while in the third act, the ballet is set against the tender intermezzo that serves as the cinematic equivalent of montage to show the brief beauty of the romance between Carmen and Jose.

Carmen, like Mozart’s Don Giovanni, is a tragic-comedy. The opera premiered at the Opera Comique and in a sick way (like Don Giovanni) has a happy ending in which the main character, also an anti-hero of sorts, dies. Whereas the happy ending celebrates the death of the Don in Mozart’s masterwork, the “happy” ending in Carmen celebrates the heroine’s independence and liberty until the very end of her days. Even Bizet is content to delight in this double personality of his work. The prelude starts off with the gallant toreador’s march before being taken over by the aforementioned fateful theme. During Act 3, Carmen sings a fateful lament upon reading the fateful hand of cards she has been dealt while Frasquita and Mercedes sing a joyful theme. This same technique is employed in possibly the most incredible display of dramatic counterpoint in the final act when Jose kills Carmen while the crowd cheers Escamillo’s goring of the bull.

Carmen Opens Tomorrow!

Anita Rachvelishvili reprises the role of Carmen with a a rising star cast that includes Yonghoon Lee, Kate Royal, and Kyle Ketelson. Michele Mariotti conducts Richard Eyre's striking production.

For more information check our preview here 

For more information on Yonghoon Lee click on our review of Nabucco.

Carmen Preview 2012-2013

Richard Eyre's Carmen breathes fresh air with a new and youthful cast led by mezzo soprano Anita Rachvelishivili and Tenors Yonghoon Lee and Andrew Richards.

The Production 

Richard Eyre's winning production returns to the Met after two successful runs. The production which premiered in 2009 brought a new and refreshing look to the work which had been plagued with two bland productions in a row. Set in the Franco period, Richard Eyre chose to use a rotating turntable to move the action forward. The turntable easily changes into a town square, a tavern where gypsies mingle, the smugglers hideout and the area outside the bullring. The sets are brought to life by ominous bricks and the lighting design. Eyre also brings a new element to the work using three choreographed dances during the preludes and interludes of each act. These dances depict the tumultuous relationship of Carmen and Don Jose. Some of the other memorable aspects of the production is the dance that starts the second act where Eyre brings together a Flamenco choreograph inspired by Carlo's Saura's movie "Carmen" and  the reveal of the bullring at the end as the Toreador kills the bull emphasizing Carmen and Don Jose's relationship being similar to that of a bullfight. Bringing this production back should be a real treat especially with a brand new cast.