'Carmen' review — this passionate revival proves the opera’s dangerous allure is as potent as ever

Read our review of Carmen, starring Ginger Costa-Jackson, now in performances at the Royal Opera House to 21 November.

Summary

• Damiano Michieletto’s production of Carmen returns to the Royal Opera House
• Ginger Costa-Jackson is a rivetingly sultry Carmen
• Russell Thomas is just as compelling as the unravelling Don José
• The powerful production features seductive movement and a clever revolving set

As one of the world’s most famous and frequently performed operas, Carmen occupies the enviable position of being loved by both opera fanatics and newcomers, and the second revival of director Damiano Michieletto’s production caters to both audiences with style.

This dynamic, sensual staging, revived once more by Dan Dooner at the Royal Opera House, tells the story of passionate love and bitter jealousy as the free-willed Carmen (Ginger Costa-Jackson) and naïve Don José (Russell Thomas) fall in love, with tragic consequences. Georges Bizet’s original opera is set in Seville near the bullring, but this production takes the audience to a dusty, rural corner of Spain, where warm light bathes the singular, washed-out building that acts as variously police headquarters, a nightclub, and a smugglers’ warehouse as the plot progresses.

When mezzo-soprano Costa-Jackson enters as a sultry, enchanting Carmen, she is a delight to watch, cavorting through the drooling men and trailing cigarette smoke in her wake. Her vocal interpretation of the famous "Habanera" is consciously fickle, and her bolshy act is perfectly balanced with moments of fragility, particularly when Don José reveals his reticence to join her band of smugglers in "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée".

Thomas is a compelling partner for her, and is equally powerful during his duet with Micaëla (Adriana González), his former love interest and paragon of virtue, when she urges him to come home and see his mother. Looking down the barrel of Carmen’s threats to pursue her new lover, the matador Escamillo (Alexander Vinogradov), Thomas allows his tenor to reach a point of quivering vulnerability, barely concealing a temperamental rage that comes to fruition in the denouement.

The power of seduction runs throughout, blending traditional flamenco elements with contemporary dance moves, including slut drops and grinding (movement direction by Denni Sayers), perhaps in pursuit of the scandal of original reviews of the opera in 1875, one of which described “gestures that ooze vice”.

Paolo Fantin’s set incorporates a clever revolving element, which enables subtle reveals as the opera progresses. Meanwhile, the lighting (design by Alessandro Carletti) plays a show-stealing role: during the final tragic moments, the rig descends on a rake to dramatically highlight the showdown between Carmen and Don José.

The vision of sun-bleached, lawless Spain is well thought through, and the large chorus, dressed in 70s-style suits and dresses (costumes by Carla Teti) move around with impressive naturalism. While there’s no obvious explanation for why everyone is hanging around the police station in the first act, it doesn’t matter, and the children sing their own chorus playfully, dressed as cowboys with toy guns. Between acts, they troop on with signs to denote how much time has passed, though the humour attempted here is not needed in an otherwise compelling production. The plot speeds along, and the inclusion of the spoken dialogue adds extra depth to Carmen and José’s tumultuous affair.

Michieletto’s most innovative motif is that of the silent old lady in a high-combed black mantilla, who haunts Carmen as a vision of mortality with the death card from a tarot deck. She walks on during the overture as it takes a more sinister tone, and bears her card at its tragic climax, though as someone next to me pointed out, it may as well have been the three of clubs for all you could see beyond the first three rows.

Still, this Carmen oozes confidence and brims with star casting. The intense psychological focus sits perfectly alongside Bizet’s iconic score, while Costa-Jackson is as captivating to the audience as the men in the opera find her. Playful, seductive and ultimately devastating, this Carmen is a passionate revival that proves the opera’s dangerous allure is as potent as ever.

Carmen is at the Royal Opera House to 21 November. Book Carmen tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Carmen (Photos by Mihaela Bodlovic)