Great start to the 2024 season
The first Glyndebourne of the 2024 season, and it’s Carmen, starring, and it really is starring, Rihab Chaieb (until August).
Imagined into ‘today’ by Director Diane Paulus this actually works (although perhaps putting it into a Franco scenario might have worked better). The soldiers are modernly crude and brutal – the factory workers recreation area is a chain-linked security enclave – the brigands and smugglers become people smugglers (but looking more like socialist anti-fascists being smuggled out of a Falange enclave).
The emphasis is Liberté (weakly translated in the sur-titles as ‘Freedom’, but very much more the French Revolutionary meaning in this production) - with Carmen seeking a very personal interpretation of this. The production is very full-on.
The full Festival Chorus – and the Glyndebourne Youth Opera and Trinity Boys Choir and 6 dancers – are fully utilised – occupying the bull ring stadium in the last Act but crowding the stage throughout where appropriate, expertly blocked and choreographed and properly directed – they look like real people doing real things.
The music and singing throughout is spot-on – and Chaieb is absolutely made for this part – I can’t imagine it being done better. Dmytro Popov is a fine Don José (again until August) and Dmitry Cheblykov (again till August) as Escamillo gives as fine a rendition of a testosterone enriched ‘Toreador’ as I have heard.
This is a production which makes sense, which is beautifully played and sung – probably the best I have heard. Most of the principals (but not the excellent supporting players) change when the production comes back in August (this element closes mid June) – let’s hope the newbies can match them.
