Love spits fire in COC’s Carmen: review

By George Bizet. Presented by the Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W., until May 15. coc.ca or 416-363-8231

One of the main obstacles with Bizet’s Carmen is its audience familiarity. The challenge for Joel Ivany, who made his Canadian Opera Company main stage debut Tuesday night, was to somehow pull something new from one of opera’s most travelled paths.

People expect to see a Spanish-styled spectacle with strong characters, fetching melodies, memorable choruses and eye-catching scenes. And for goodness sake, don’t mess with the “Habanera” in Act I.

But Ivany has actually done it. It was subtle at first, but he has created a familiar Carmen with a contemporary taste for interaction between the characters and the audience. As he writes in the program, “This is our Carmen.”

Ivany’s hyperreal plays were found between the expected elements of opéra comique and the accepted realism between the characters. Act IV included an offstage procession leading to the bullfight, with characters selling mock cigars and cigarettes to the audience, who were all too happy to play along.

Ivany puts the action in 1940s Cuba with a traditional set designed by Michael Yeargan peppered with splashes of crimson reds in François St-Aubin’s costumes.

It was hard not to notice the proud, strutting feminism in mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili’s Carmen. She was not overly dark, and the chemistry between her and the naive soldier Don José, played by tenor Russell Thomas, was compelling throughout. In particular, the love-hate relationship between them moved beyond the ne’er do well gypsy clichés.

Thomas’s voice was most intense in moments of heightened drama and his tone nodded toward a young Pavarotti. The smouldering and hot-blooded Rachvelishvili kept her voice as feisty as her personality.

The many highlights included French Canadian bass Alain Coulombe as the Captain, who held court against the crowds of officers and colourful townsfolk. His voice was full and commanding, and his French was noticeably more natural against the non-native French speakers in the cast.

Another shining light was bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, whose Toreador cut a perfect heroic figure and had the audience rooting along with him. Simone Osborne was a sweet Micaela and was countered with her slightly dark soprano in the lower range.

Musically, Carmen was in good hands with Paolo Carignani and he kept Bizet’s winning melodies dependable.

Ivany mentions a quote from Philip Glass in the program notes, “If you don’t need a new technique, then what you’re saying probably isn’t new.”

What we saw Tuesday wasn’t new but had just enough innovation to make Carmen seem new. Jump at your chance to see it.