On paper, it looked promising. A fourth English National Opera revival of Calixto Bieito’s now classic 1970s-set production of one of the most bankable operas in the repertory. A cast of young British singers on the brink of stardom. A score that the chorus and orchestra could surely perform in their sleep, in the hands of a conductor who made an impressive UK debut at the Coliseum last year.
This Carmen got off to a good start, too. In the pit Clelia Cafiero plunged into Bizet’s overture at an exhilarating gallop, driving the orchestra as if she had hot-wired it. The details remained intact as the Toreador’s theme flashed past, the sound polished, brass gleaming proudly. After such near-reckless momentum, the heavy landing of the overture’s closing section – the strings scrubbing furiously as the opera’s dark side surfaced – was brutally effective orchestral drama.
