Every opera company, large, small, private, public, urban or beyond, is concerned with the same dry equation: how to combine artistic ambition with financial reality. One answer will always be right. Georges Bizet Carmen. Box-office gold, this 1875 French masterpiece is everywhere. The Royal Opera's new staging has a longer run. The opera will be a main event at this year's Edinburgh International Festival. A new production from American director Diane Paulus, conducted by Robin Ticciati, has opened the Glyndebourne festival's 90th anniversary season, with 21 performances (and a change of cast and conductor) between now and the end of August. With remaining seat prices between £85 and £285, an £8 standing ticket may be more tempting when Glyndebourne makes its annual visit to the Proms (August 29).
Paulus presents the heroine as a woman who can shape her own destiny - not a novelty in itself, but here treated with nuance in a thoughtful, non-specific updating: army garrison, lowlife nightclub, oil rig in a barren landscape (designs by Riccardo Hernández, lighting by Malcolm Rippeth). Carmen, resonantly sung by the Tunisian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, is far from an everyday woman. She is unique: the center of every crowd, with a magnetic, erotic hold on others. Women are jealous of her. Men desire her. Everyone is afraid of her. The enamored Don José has none of the equivalent possessions. He's a mama's boy with a dodgy past, a sweet fiancée (Sofia Fomina), a weak character and an infuriating habit of violence. His long, lyrical, pleading aria for Carmen, the climax of which is a rising B flat (the Flower Song), is answered by her short, blunt rejection: Bizet at his most brilliant, creating the musical equivalent of a deadly chess move. .
The Ukrainian tenor Dmytro Popov negotiated the difficult role of José with conviction, hardening in anger, with a voice of steely intensity. By contrast, Escamillo (Russian bass-baritone Dmitry Cheblykov) barely has to say a word or flex a well-exercised muscle - of which, as shown shirtless here, he has plenty - and Carmen succumbs. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, especially the woodwinds and harp, brought out the colors in Bizet's score, even if the tempo was sometimes unnecessarily fast, threatening to destroy the ensemble (on the second evening, last Sunday). Featuring Dingle Yandell as dragon captain Zuniga, Elisabeth Boudreault as Frasquita and Kezia Bienek as Mercedes, and a first-rate choir, well-trained children's choir and stylish dancers, this was a compelling and dramatically rewarding show, with an inspired ending.
Welsh National Opera, a powerful voice in the land of song, is irreplaceable. Support it if you can
A public gala to celebrate Antonio Pappano, as he nears the end of 22 years as music director at Covent Garden, was held at the Royal Opera House to praise and thank this hugely popular figure. If opera galas are to be musically meaningful, but also suitable for singers who have to perform vocal acrobatics cold, the temptation to squeeze in a drop of everything must be avoided. Pappano concentrated on arias from the Italian repertoire, which can stand alone well (this is not so true of German or new repertoire, for which he has shown equal commitment). These were interspersed with pre-recorded videos in which all sections of the company expressed their gratitude to the conductor: repeated words were 'generosity', 'humor', 'energy', 'attention to text', 'preparation', 'incomparable'. musicality" - but also references to dinners, Belgian beer and belly laughs.
The participants were a roll call of ROH stars at various stages of their careers, including Aigul Akhmetshina (currently Carmen of the Royal Opera, soon to transfer to Glyndebourne), Lisette Oropesa, Ermonela Jaho, Sondra Radvanovsky, Gerald Finley, Jonas Kaufmann, Freddie De Tommaso, Bryn Terfel, Huw Montague Rendall.
If anyone stole the show, besides Pappano, it was the house musicians: the chorus, especially in Verdi's Va, pensiero (better known as the Choir of the Hebrew Slavs, from Nabucco), and the orchestra throughout, especially in the ferociously played Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut. Next month Pappano has a book out: My life in music (Faber). Don't read it hoping for endless anecdotes and personal triumphs, even if there are some of those: this is a detailed account of the hard work and musical, technical and psychological puzzles a conductor must solve. If you've been wondering, read it and gasp. Pappano's last conducting date as music director of the Royal Opera is Andrea Chenier on June 11 (live in theaters at 6:45 p.m., with repeat screenings starting June 16, 2 p.m.).
Related: 'We're all excited': behind the scenes at the death of the Welsh National Opera in Venice - in photos
Pappano's upbringing - he was born in Essex to Italian immigrant parents and helped his mother as an office cleaner before the school day started - debunks the myth that opera is the product of privilege. Welsh National Opera was founded in 1943 in a Methodist chapel on the outskirts of Cardiff by Idloes Owen, a former miner who taught singing in his spare time. His students - a butcher, a tax collector, railway workers - joined forces with him out of their love of music. The company soon collaborated with leading European directors and performed a Ring cycle and, among other things, the world leader in the operas of Leoš Janáček. Last season it put on one of Britten's best productions Death in Venice most of us have seen it at some point. The company serves a country, reaches local communities - in both Welsh and English - and achieves extraordinary standards of excellence.
Now its future is threatened by cuts to the Arts Council of Wales and Arts Council England. The Musicians' Union has called on management to retain WNO as a full-time company and halt the proposed 15% pay cut. Last week, Equity passed an emergency motion in support of the WNO choir. On Tuesday, company members sang on the steps of the Senedd, part of a public protest. A Protect Welsh National Opera campaign has been launched. WNO, a powerful voice in the land of song, is irreplaceable. Support it if you can.
Star ratings (out of five)
Carmen ★★★★
Celebrating 22 years of Antonio Pappano ★★★★
