Love and death in Seville

Opera
Carmen
Aurora Theatre

Bizet’s Carmen is a very tempetsuous woman. She knows no conventions and is not circumscribed by moral obligations.

Carmen is passionate, brazen and loves freedom, very different from Michaela, who is the very image of an innocent girl still believing in ideals and pure love; or from José, the young simple country boy turned soldier torn between his love and longing for Carmen, Michaela’s intentions, loyalty to his country and the Army, or a life of freedom and unbridled eroticism and seduction. Of course he chooses the latter option and eventually leaves the Army to join the smugglers. But nothing ever comes easy. Carmen finds a new love in the arms of Escamillo, the victorious toreador and darling of Seville while José’s dreams are shattered. Disillusioned and hurt, he seeks Carmen who rejects him and throws him back the ring he had given her.

In utter despair he kills his love in a very dramatic scene set against a background of celebrations going on in the arena behind him. Carmen and his own weak character had led him on the road to perdition, changing him from a dependable young man to a deserter, smuggler and assassin. He is as much a victim as the now dead Carmen, fiercely independent to the end!

There is no doubt that a lot of attention and care was given to the production of this opera by the Leone Philharmonic Society on Saturday. Yet, for quite long periods of this four-act opera, there was little audience involvement. This is a thrilling work, but the fervour, zest and excitement were missing at times, although eventually the production did improve. I suspect that this lack of rapport with the audience was due mainly to the lack of understanding of the lyrics which were in French. Could there have been sub-titles projected or was it too expensive? I wonder, but definitely that would have helped the audience understand better. Or was it because important scenes were not emphasised enough? The first and second acts are vital to the opera, but they were the weakest part of the production. Could it be that both the artistic (Novella Tabili) and the music direction were rather heavy-handed? Or was it because there was not much space on the stage to allow for more movement and so provide more joie-de-vivre? And why were patrons allowed to enter the theatre after the intervals were over? Were not the instrumental introductions to the different acts as important as the singing? What I know is that the beautiful Prelude to Act 3, so beautifully played and directed, was spoilt for me because of different groups coming in late with much creaking of seats, dropping of handbags and the ever-present chit-chat.

The title role was sung and interpreted by Georgian mezzo-soprano Tea Demurishvili who last year sang Amneris in Aurora’s production of Aida. Her first entrance on stage was not a very happy one, but she improved as the opera progressed – although she could have been more adventurous and provocative. On the other hand, she interpreted the cool calculating side of her character well, the free person ready to face even death from the hands of her lover who was lyrical but not very dramatic. Tenor Mario Malagnini never managed to portray the young man torn between his duty towards Michaela and his mother who kept him under her wings even when he enrolled as a soldier and his desire for the provoking Carmen. His lower register was not very extensive but his upper one was right on the dot. Although physically quite appealing, he looked out of place as the naïve boy-soldier and it was quite clear that he was miscast.

Andriana Yordanova (soprano) was a very convincing Michaela. She has improved tremendously and her repertoire continues to grow. Her acting was spot-on too and she was a delight to follow. Not so bass Ernesto Morillo Hoyst who had a bad night (can happen to the best of us) but Noel Galea, another bass who played Lieutenant Zuniga was very satisfactory. In fact, he was impressive as the Army man who did not mind turning a blind eye when necessary.

Other parts were sung by Claudia Tabone, Kevin Caruana, Giuseppina Trotta, Stefano Consolini and Andrea Cortese. Both the adult choir and the children’s were good and were coached by Colin Vella, who directed the National Orchestra and whose sections gave a good performance. The oboe, the cellos, the horn, the trumpets and percussion deserve a special mention.