“Carmen,” an opera in four acts by French composer Georges Bizet closed the season for Opera Philadelphia on Sunday at the Academy of Music.
First performed in Paris in 1875, “Carmen” continues to hold up well, pleasing opera lovers well into the 21st century with its music performed with panache by the orchestra under the direction of Yves Abel.
Bizet’s opera has become one of the most popular and frequently performed operas in the classical form. The story centers on the beautiful gypsy woman Carmen (Mezzo soprano Daniela Mack) whose heart is filled with lust as she is totally self-absorbed and only cares about herself.
A tempting siren who can have any man she wants, Mack plays her character well and quite effectively as she sings the seductive “Habenera” and the castanet-accompanied dance “Je vais danser en votre honneur ... La la la.”
With her eye suddenly fixed on Corporal Don Jose (Tenor Evan Leroy Johnson) Carmen decides to taunt, tease and eventually win the heart of the man who tries to resist her but eventually is lost under her spell.
In truth, however, her heart does belong to the handsome star of the bullring, Escamillo (Baritone Adrian Timpau). His boldly sung “Toreador Song” captures the audiences’ attention and produces not a little bit of humming along.
As the leader of the guard, Zuniga (South-African transplant bass-baritone Musa Ngqungwana) cannot be denied as his big, booming voice almost shakes the rafters as he calls out orders to his men and others who crowd the stage.
There are a number of other cast members who inhabit the stage but none more delightful than the children’s chorus who, while acting like little soldiers, sing and march to “Avec la garde montante.”
Kudos must also go to set designer Gary McCann for his imaginative and colorful sets that almost bring the audience in contact with a little Spanish town surely inhabited by Carmen and her townsfolk.
Being a classic opera, someone must die in the last act, but I won’t tell you who. You’ll just have to experience it all for yourself.
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Led by local ministers, prayers for guidance over city leaders and protection against youth gun violence took place in the courtyard of Philadelphia's City Hall Thursday, April 26.
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