The technical effects proved to be the only serious deficiency. The surtitles, for one thing, were placed too high up so that those in the balcony could not see the first line of each paragraph, causing them to lose much important information regarding the plot line and the narrative. Another problem was the spotlight operators, who seemed to miss their targets (the soloists) almost every single time the spotlights were on. Then there was always a scramble for the spotlights to follow the soloists, which made the stage look very messy and was quite distracting to the audience.

Another defect, though not as irritating as the previous, was the insufficiency of spoken dialogue. I have no bone to pick with the fact that the dialogue was translated into English, since that helped a large number of viewers who are not exactly opera maniacs get much more out of the show. What I do mind is that the spoken parts were kept as short as possible, allowing less room for the characters to be developed. The result was that the audience was unable to fully savour Carmen’s flirtatiousness and subsequent defiance, Don Jose’s jealousy and desperation, Micaela’s mortal fear, and a lot of the other emotional dynamics of the plot.

Of course, the music is supposed to fill in the gaps in the emotional expression, but I felt that if more attention had been paid to developing the dialog, the distinctive flavour and emotional power of the opera could have been more fully communicated. The language of the sung parts of the opera was in French, after all, which is not widely understood by a Singapore audience despite the use of surtitles, so there was a need to make up for this by making maximum use of the communicative power of dialogue in English.

Such minor problems aside, this production had so many good things about that it is hard to enumerate them all. The performance, directed by Hugh Halliday, was a colourful production high in performance energy. The chorus, featuring both chorus and soloist imports from the Philippines, gave a spirited performance, laughing at Micaela’s search for Don José near the beginning of Act 1, cheering as Escamillo the toreador tells his tales of glory in the ring, and showing their dislike of Don José, the idealistic outsider, throughout. Each member played their parts with great gusto. The male voices performed especially well, providing a very solid foundation to the music. The children’s chorus was surprisingly in tune for, well, a bunch of kids. Their youthful enthusiasm lent much to the show’s brightness!

The stage set was kept simple, a sloping six-sided wooden platform with a circular platform in the middle. This simple structure was cleverly transformed, using changes of lighting and furniture and a great white silk draping (for the mountains), from a street scene near the tobacco factory frequented by soldiers, passersby and street urchins; to a morally loose tavern where the soldiers are entertained by sexy flamenco dancers, flowing beer, and women of loose morals; to a snow-covered mountain range traversed by the gypsy outlaws as they pursue their treasure to be gained by smuggling; and then back to the original street scene.

And then there were the principals. American-born mezzo-soprano Jessie Raven (of Italian parentage with some Dutch blood that accounts for her height), in her maiden Singapore production, dazzled the audience with her warm and sexy voice, impeccable acting technique, and, above all, her very firm grasp of the role. She has performed Carmen numerous times and it certainly showed – she seemed to know the character inside-out, making full use of her singing and speaking voice, posturing and body language to give a masterful interpretation of this classic and challenging role. Jessie fully lived up to her position as the show’s central attraction, and in my opinion she was the best performer in the troupe.

Making his return from last year's Il Trovatore was tenor Warren Mok, as the Prozac-deprived Don José. He started out with the sort of ham-acting common among opera singers, but he soon brings out the inner turmoil that Don José is suffering. His voice sounded a little darker than in Il Trovatore, and his top notes seemed to have lost a little of that bright panache. (Perhaps he was coming down with the flu). Still, after warming up a few moments into the show, he filled the role of Don José with all the anger, passion and pathos that the character deserves. For once, the Flower Song that Don José sings in Act 2 was performed with intense frustration and pain instead of the usual self-pity/cry for attention that fans of the opera are accustomed to.

The popular soprano, Rachelle Gerodias, sang with a beautiful lyrical voice that fit the character Micaela like a glove. Her singing of Micaela’s Act 3 aria, though a little fast in tempo, made every member of the audience experience Micaela’s fear as well as her bravery in her building confrontation with the tempestuous Carmen. I had never liked that particular aria that much, as I think it is lacking in melody, but I was entranced by her performance. Her voice was smooth and even throughout the show, making full use of the limited stage time she was granted in which to impress the audience.

The American baritone, Victor Benedetti, also in his first Singapore performance, made a handsome and suave Escamillo. His baritone voice is sensual and dark, thick and resonant, though at times a little thin at the top. However, the overall power of his voice, plus his captivating interpretation of the much-loved bull-fighter, more than made up for whatever minor shortfalls he may have had. He gave a near-perfect interpretation of the role, and his spirited performance of the popular Toreador Song was one of the highlights of the evening.

The orchestra was limited in number to a bit over 30, the original size when the opera premiered (unsuccessfully) at the Opera Comique in Paris. Under the masterful baton of Polish conductor Vladimir Kamirski (who now resides in Sydney), they served up the music in a performance that was crisp in texture, bright in colours, clear in tone and, most importantly, effectively brought out the emotional tension of the characters that words cannot describe.

All in all, this show was one of the best performances I have seen in Singapore to date. While not as good as Il Trovatore, which left me with many fond memories, it was still a success in its own right. I dare say I had a better time here than I did at Kiri te Kanawa’s concert a week earlier, which I felt was seriously lacking in gusto and effort. Hopefully, as the economy turns for the better, especially with our new world-class performing arts centre at the Esplanade, we may be able to see shows of this standard more often in the future.

Steven Ang did not receive any bribes or threats from any chorus members who edited this article.

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