Thinking of an opera made me picture a bunch of old people in tuxedos and gowns watching some lady in a fancy dress with a piercing voice singing along to music. Not anymore. This production of Carmen created a captivating portrayal of a love triangle and all the turmoil that one is composed of. After watching Carmen, my perception of opera has completely changed. It is no longer something I believe is neither only for a certain age group, nor for a certain socioeconomic class. I am not affluent, and barely eighteen, and I was thoroughly captivated by the entire performance. Another thing I was concerned with was how I would be able to understand the plot while not understanding a single word they spoke, but even that dilemma was resolved with the subtitles being timed very well with the performance.
One of the most intriguing features of the performance of Carmen was that it seemed as if you were watching a movie. The way that the lighting, the scenery, and the people looked gave the feeling of watching a motion picture. This is one of the strongest reasons why the set was so incredible. The façade of the broken down building looked so realistic that I would not be surprised if it was composed of real stone. The lighting, in some spectacular way, made you feel like you were in that time period, which is why I felt like it was a movie; I have never experienced that with lighting in a live performance.
The clothing was the next part that also changed my view of how a stereotypical opera should look. For example, Carmen was not wearing the typical gown I had in mind when thinking of an opera. Of course she is a gypsy and, therefore, her costume had to match her character. Her clothing was very impressing because of the flow they gave to all her movements. The clothing reflected her charmingly smooth personality.
The director made really great use of the stage he had and of all the actors. There were moments that there must have been fifty actors on stage and they all simultaneously had a task to accomplish. All of their parts have no actual dialogue, and I presume they also did not have very detailed stage directions. I am not sure if they were given mini dialogues to actually carry out, or it was based on improvisation off of a certain topic, but even for improvisation, so much detailed work has to go into directing them so that they can all work together cohesively. Therefore, the director’s use of the stage and the placement of the actors were carried out very effectively.
As the name of the opera hints, the main character is Carmen and she is truly the star of the show. From the moment she comes out from under the stage, until she is stabbed by Don José, not a glance is taken away from her. Her talent is impeccable from the obvious singing to the dancing to the acting. Her empowering character comes out with every movement she makes. A really significant aspect of her opera singing, as Professor Healey pointed out, was that she was able to sing as she bent over to wash her legs. Compressing your diaphragm in that way makes hard to sing, yet when listening to her vocals there was not a falter in how she sang a single note. After watching this performance and being taken on a journey to a different time and place, I gladly await my next trip to the opera!
