At its premiere in Paris in 1875 the French critics thought Georges Bizet’s Carmen, with its prostitution, lust, violence and murder, was scandalous and obscene. They found the music garish. The opera played to half-empty houses. Bizet died three months later, aged only 36, unaware that he had composed one of the world’s most popular operas.
There is nothing picturesque about Calixto Bieito’s brutal and vulgar production, first staged in 2012 and now conducted by Karem Hasan. The action is updated from the 19th century to General Franco’s Spain in the 1970’s. The colour has been drained out of Prosper Mérimée’s colourful story. All is bleak, desolate and dark.
If you are looking for good old-fashioned French melodrama with a sultry gypsy heroine, you will not find her here. Carmen (Ginger Costa-Jackson, making her ENO debut) has been demoted from glamorous vamp with castanets to ordinary everyday street prostitute. A big fiery personality is cut to size and the familiar Carmen we thought we knew is no longer recognisable.
There is not scenery as such. The opening stage is bare except for a flagpole and a telephone booth. An iconic Osborne Black Bull sign is pulled down. The most striking image is six Mercedes on stage at the same time. (For a tiny moment I thought I was Bourne-again and watching Car Man rather than Carmen.) The production is very physical. The soldiers are a randy lot, drooling and molesting the women.
Act IV is the high spot. There is no parade of toreadors, only an exuberant crowd of adults and primary schoolchildren, pretending to watch them, waving their arms, jumping up and down and making a great sound. The final drama is set in a circle of sand. José slaughters Carmen, slitting her throat and then dragging her dead body off stage as if she were a dead bull.
José (as played and sung by Sean Panikkar) is a much more appealing character than bullfighter Escamillo (Nmon Ford), who comes across as a mini-celebrity rather than the star attraction. Micaela, José’s sweetheart (Carrie-Ann Williams also making her ENO debut), is much tougher than expected.
ENO deserves every support. Under 21s can get free opera tickets to all ENO performances at every level of the theatre, and 21–35-year-olds can get discounted opera tickets. Tickets for everyone begin at £10.
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