Carmen, Opéra du Grand Avignon, matinée yesterday June 5th

My only reason to be there on  that very warm afternoon at gallery 3 was Karine Deshayes interpretating Carmen .  By a touch of  the magical wand I would have switched directly to ''l'air des cartes 'which is by far the one I like most in this opera. In fact I am not very fond of Carmen now!
It is perhaps an Opera de  ma jeunesse...  Yet, around the world and here it is  very popular  and each time it is on somewhere, it is sure to sell out. Yesterday It was packed indeed upstairs and there were a few expensive seats left at the parterre certainly because Paris and Northern people had their trains cancelled because of the  strike.
Karine was Carmen at Bastille in Dec 2012 but I missed those renditions. She was successful and blonde just like yesterday ! A blonde Carmen is not in the tradition !!!  It does not bother me really because the  role is in the personality of the singer and her mezzo voice does  it all with Bizet's music of course.
My last Carmen was at Zurich opera house with Vesselina Kasarova in the title role. I loved her portrayal, a more 'intellectualised 'Carmen'. ' L'Air des cartes ' was even more moving than her stabbing. Karine Deshayes built a portrait  which went '' crescendo from a smooth charming girl playing a bit with her  seduction,  less  violent than usual  to a restrained 'vulcano'  on the verge of explosion with  passion  for the handsome Escamillo and fear of fate  written in the cards. In this setting ( the same one done for last year Chorégies d'Orange) the whole tragic love story of passion and jealousy is played on huge cards:  quite right,  Carmen believes in the power of the cards.
Wether it is a deep belief or a tradition, Carmen,  the Gypsy girl who seems to be a modern woman,  claiming to be free,  is in fact dominated by fate, the Greek hasardous black cloud which hovers on our heads.
 Carmen has grabbed the  pack of cards from Mercedes and is throwing them to read the result, then it is the answer : ' La Mort, la Mort'' the setting was gloomy and her black cape eyecatching in the light flashed on her.  It was a fantastic musical moment . Her singing was profound and beautifully phrased,  she was I think deeply moved and gave a stunning rendition of this aria, with a vibrant orchestra too.
I enjoyed the ensembles with the young  group of children, a special juvenile touch in this drama. When the gypsies are packing to go through the mountain, Karine Deshayes was leading the young  group and I have the feeling these little  ones will never forget Carmen  and will become operagoers or singers! Bizet sounded fine and enjoyable yesterday. But my heart goes to Karine Deshayes almost all the matinée with special thoughts for this aria...I came for the mezzo, and she made me shiver during this special aria.... At the curtain calls the productor was booed but smiled and waved, in fact I was not in the mood to see 'espagnolades' for Carmen and I found this setting efficient, with splendid costumes and clever lightings. The young conductor gave a subtle rendition which suited the stylish bare setting. So booing sounded funny to me!The whole cast was young and 'local' mostly. The audience applauded with sheer enthusiasm. It was a success on a rather small stage which has  a long tradition of  beautiful singing.

Opéra-comique en quatre actes
de Georges Bizet
Livret de Henri Meilhac et Ludovic Halévy
(Editions musicales Leduc)

Laurent Campellone
Direction des Chœurs : Aurore Marchand
Etudes musicales : Hélène Blanic

Mise en scène / Décors / Costumes :
Louis Désiré
Lumières : Patrick Méeüs

Carmen : Karine Deshayes
Micaëla : Ludivine Gombert
Frasquita : Clémence Tilquin
Mercédès : Albane Carrère

Don José : Florian Laconi
Escamillo : Christian Helmer
Zuniga : Thomas Dear
Moralès : Philippe-Nicolas Martin
Le Dancaïre : Philippe Ermelier
Le Remendado : Raphaël Brémard

Orchestre Régional Avignon-Provence
Chœur et Maîtrise de l’Opéra Grand Avignon


Nouvelle production des Chorégies d’Orange

Laurent Campellone's interview at the beginning of the rehearsals in Avignon.
He emphasizes the simple reading of the score and gives a special treat to the words because l'opéra français is based on the words, and does not include rubato or change in tempo because of the melody like Italian Opera for instance. The Carmen cast is a french speaking one, so he is pleased  to work more on words.  Pronounciation is  therefore excellent, and that was highly noticeable yesterday with all the singers and performers, chorus and young group.