Commented
Discography of Carmen
by Olivier (RML’s comments in the white table)
re:opera
1 - Teresa Berganza (Carmen), Ileana Cotrubas (Micaela), Plácido
Domingo (Don José), Sherrill Milnes (Escamillo), London Symphony,
Ambrosian Singers, Claudio Abbado
2 - Victoria de los Angeles (Carmen), Janine Micheau (Micaela), Nicolai
Gedda (Don José), Ernest Blanc (Escamillo), Choeur et Orchestre
de la RTF, Thomas Beecham
3 - Marilyn Horne (Carmen), Adriana Maliponte (Micaela), James McCracken
(Don José), Tom Krause (Escamillo, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
and Choir, Leonard Bernstein
4 - Solange Michel (Carmen), Martha Angelici (Micaela), Raoul Jobin
(Don José), Michel Dens (Escamillo), Choeur et Orchestre de l’Opéra-Comique,
André Cluytens
5 - Grace Bumbry (Carmen), Mirella Freni (Micaela), Jon Vickers (Don
José), Kosta Paskalis (Escamillo), Choeur et Orchestre du Théâtre
National de l’Opéra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
6 - Giulietta Simionato (Carmen), Rosana Carteri (Micaela), Giuseppe
di Stefano (Don José), Michel Roux (Escamillo), La Scala, Herbert
von Karajan
7 - Giulietta Simionato (Carmen), Hilde Güden (Micaela), Nicolai
Gedda (Don José), Michel Roux (Escamillo), Wiener Staatsoper,
Herbert von Karajan
8 - Leontyne Price (Carmen), Mirella Freni (Micaela), Franco Corelli
(Don José), Robert Merrill (Escamillo), Wiener Staatsoper Chor,
Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
9 - Grace Bumbry (Carmen), Mirella Freni (Micaela), Jon Vickers (Don
José), Justino Diaz (Escamillo), Wiener Staatsoper Chor, Wiener
Philharmoniker Herbert von Karajan
10 - Agnes Baltsa (Carmen), Katia Ricciarelli (Micaela), José
Carreras (Don José), José van Dam (Escamillo), Choeur
de l’Opéra de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von
Karajan
11 - Elena Obrastzova (Carmen), Cynthia Buchanan (Micaela), Plácido
Domingo (Don José), Yuri Mazurok (Escamillo), Wiener Staatsopernchor
und orchester, Carlos Kleiber
12 - Agnes Baltsa (Carmen), Leona Mitchell (Micaela), José Carreras
(Don José), Samuel Ramey (Escamillo), Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
and Choir, James Levine
13 - Régine Crespin (Carmen), Jeannette Pilou (Micaela), Gilbert
Py (Don José), José van Dam (Escamillo), Orchestre Philarmonique
de Strasbourg, Alain Lombard
14 - Béatrice Uria-Manzon (Carmen), Leontina Vaduva (Micaela),
Christian Papis (Don José), Vincent Le Texier (Escamillo), Choeur
du Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Orchestre Nationale de Bordeaux
Aquitaine, Alain Lombard
15 - Anna Moffo (Carmen), Helen Donath (Micaela), Franco Corelli (Don
José), Piero Cappuccilli (Escamillo), Deutsche Oper, Lorin Maazel
16 - Julia Migenes Johnson (Carmen), Faith Esham (Micaela), Plácido
Domingo (Don José), Ruggero Rimondi (Escamillo), Choeur de la
RTF, Orchestre Nationale de France, Lorin Maazel
17 - Maria Ewing (Carmen), Leontina Vaduva (Micaela), Luis Lima (Don
José), Gino Quilico (Escamillo), Covent Garden, Zubin Mehta
18 - Angela Gheorgiu (Carmen), Inva Mula (Micaela), Roberto Alagna
(Don José), Thomas Hampson (Escamillo), Orchestre du Capitole
de Tolouse, Michel Plasson
19 - Jessye Norman (Carmen), Mirella Freni (Micaela), Neil Schicoff
(Don José), Simon Estes (Escamillo), Choeur de la RTF, Orchestre
Nationale de France, Seiji Ozawa
20 - Maria Callas (Carmen), Andrea Guiot (Micaela), Nicolai Gedda (Don
José), Robert Massard (Escamillo), Choeur René Duclos,
Orchestre de l’Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre
21 - Risë Stevens (Carmen), Licia Albanese (Micaela), Jan Peerce
(Don José), Robert Merrill (Escamillo), Robert Shaw Chorale,
RCA Victor Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
22 - Regina Resnik (Carmen), Joan Sutherland (Micaela), Mario del Monaco
(Don José), Tom Krause (Escamillo), Choeur de Grand Théâtre
de Genève, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Thomas Schippers
23 - Jennifer Larmore (Carmen), Angela Gheorghiu (Micaela), Thomas
Moser (Don José), Samuel Ramey (Escamillo), Bayerische Staatsoper,
Giuseppe Sinopoli
24 - Tatiana Troyanos (Carmen), Kiri Te Kanawa (Micaela), Plácido
Domingo (Don José), José van Dam (Escamillo), John Alldis
Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Georg Solti
Carmen is probably the most beloved and certainly the most performed
opera in the repertoire. Rancon de la gloire, like we say in French
(which means "the bad consequences of glory") - the universality
found in Prosper Merimée's novel has sometimes transformed the
opera, and especially the psychology of the main character, into something
completely different. What is Carmen about ? It shows four characters,
introducing two potentially harmonious couples the traditional one -
José and Micaela - and the adventurers Carmen and Escamillo.
The whims of life and desire («L'amour est enfant de Bohème»)
are to make the relationship between José and Carmen tragic,
because of the unnatural in this union. Somehow, Carmen wants José
to be Escamillo and José wants to transform his Carmen adorée
into a kind of Micaela. When Carmen understands her mistake, she has
the desire to switch her life to new possibilities, something José
cannot understand. Carmen, the character and the opera as well, is l
about freedom. And this is the main problem in the interpretation of
the opera: Carmen is a free woman, not a slut. This is alas not so obvious
for everyone in our Christian culture.
Once this is settled, another point has to be scanned - which is Carmen’s
nationality? Spanish, of course… but is it so certain ? Carmen is a
French opera and the XIXth century French style of interpretation is
quite misunderstood nowadays, since the French themselves have not defended
their own repertoire as well as they should have - at least until Michel
Plasson or Marc Minkowski have begun to rehabilitate it with success.
For example, there's no use of "chest voice" by female singers
in French interpretation and phrasing and text must be clear, without
any exageration in expression (vulgarity and exageration are synonymous
in French). Light and lightness are essential, and the introduction
to act III is a perfect example of what French music is. In whatever
the situation good taste, le bon goût, must be there. Carmen is
French, light and elegant.
Carmen is a modern woman, elegant and spirited, independent and free
in her desire. As we are going to see in this discography, this important
feature is far from being obvious in the analyzed interpretations. I
wonder how such a character has been transformed in its opposite. Is
it an example of the inconscious inability of most men to consider that
such a woman may (or has the right to) exist. Carmen has been for long
mainly considered as a slut. This is definitely not Bizet's character,
but the projection of men’s necessity of sexual domination over
women, which involves labelling any woman not under the control of a
man thus. We have to remember Carmen's first performances were a failure,
due to the subject’s immorality. Don Juan could be considered to
be acceptable, but Carmen couldn’t, right ?
Before the discography, I would like to add a small comment on the
other characters and the orchestra. Don José is a bit one-dimensional,
and the only way to give him life is to provide the character humanity
and tenderness : singing La fleur que tu m'avais jetée like Otello’s
Esultate is nonsense. Here, the character is sensitive, weak behind
the virile appearance. Casting Escamillo is a difficult task. As he
is the male mirror image of Carmen, he must be virile, seductive and
provocative but with the elegance of self-confidence: barkers are not
welcome here. Micaela is such a cliché that it is difficult to
give her life - it requires maturity and feminity if one wants to avoid
the the totally naive and stupid virgin… would she be so, she would
not come in the mountains in act III. Regarding to orchestral performance,
clarity and transparence, along with light and lightness, are needed.
A "verismo" or brucknerian visions of this opera would cause
it to loose its originality and peculiar beauty. Finally, dialogues
are essential, especially in the Oeser edition, as one has to remember
Carmen is an opéra comique and certainly not a grand opéra.
This essential information is, alas, forgotten in most performances
and recordings.
Cluytens' recording is seen by many, and surprisingly mainly outside
France, as a classic. Solange Michel is probably the main explaination.
Her Carmen is delivered in authentic French style, with reserves of
class and elegance, avoiding chest low notes and offering a clear and
warm voice. On the other hand, she does not reach the high level of,
for example, Hélène Bouvier as Dalila. Whereas the recording
of Samson and Delilah took profit of one the most beautiful French tenor
voices ever, José Luccioni, Cluytens counted with the popular
but unsubtle Raoul Jobin. Michel Dens is a distinguished Escamillo and
Cluytens is the excellent conductor we know. This version introduces
a paradox : this is perhaps the most idiomatic version around, but everything
sounds definitely tame. Let's say that, with Bouvier, or at least Thill,
this could have been unforgettable. Regarding Thill, HMV recorded an
abridged version of the opera focused on Don José with Till,
but I am unaware of any digital reissue.
Carmen is Reiner's only operatic studio recording. As ever with Reiner,
the rhythm and color in the score are rendered with incredible precision
and transparence. This is impressive, but I have the feeling the right
colors chosen by Bizet, clear and light, are not exactly the deep ones
painted by Reiner. Anyway, this is an outstanding orchestral rendering
of the work. For this recording, Reiner was lucky enough to find a truly
beautiful Carmen, Risë Stevens. Elegant, beautiful and warm, if
not perfectly idiomatic, she is certainly more interesting than most
of her future rivals. If Merril is only functional as Escamillo, Peerce
and Albanese are rather weak : the former surely has the voice but not
the style and the latter has nothing. In both cases I cannot imagine
voices further from what a French voice is in emission and clarity.
If one is going to have unauthentic singers, one needs a Vickers… and
Peerce and Albanese are definitely not that.
If there has been an award for the most ridiculous opera recording
ever, I guess Schippers' Carmen could run for it. My favorite moment,
for reasons similar to the ones justifying listening to Florence Foster
Jenkins, is the duet «Parle moi de ma mère» where both Del Monaco
and his unbearable bad manners and usual shouting and Sutherland's lack
of naturalness and strange use of the French language (it sounds like
the very same vowel from beginning to the end of opera) is so horrid
that makes one laugh. It is a pity for Resnik and Schippers, both very
interesting but no reference in any way. Such a Micaela, and especially
such a José, plus the lack of naturalness and elegance of the
whole thing, makes this version an absolute nonsense.
Beecham's set is a more serious enterprise. Beecham's orchestra, elegant,
light and enlighted, refined and warm, without excess of anything but
a sumptuous simplicity, is probably the best ever recorded. It is a
real tour de force to obtain such a wonderful orchestral performance
from such a second-level orchestra. After all, quoting Furtwängler,
«there's no weak orchestra, there are only weak conductors». However,
the ORTF orchestra probably has the advantage of being French, something
that could have been decisive for the stylistic spontaneity to be found
here, especially under the aristocratic baton of an elegant conductor
like Beecham. The Spanish Victoria de los Angeles and the Swedish Gedda
are true French artists; they both have an admirable understanding of
the style and of the language (their French is perfect) and clear flexible
voices perfect for the French repertoire. De los Angeles' Carmen is
subtly seductive and elegant, and she understands that the role is one
of a free and free-spirited woman, not the shrew too many singers think
Carmen is. She is is in superlative voice too. Gedda displays all the
lyricism and poetry of José, perfectly weak or heroic according
to the scene. He is outstanding, probably the best José in our
discography. Ernest Blanc’s manly aristocratic voice and style
fits exactly Escamillo - he is unrivalled in this role. Jeanine Micheau
is a bit tame, but she sings in perfect style. All the secondary roles
are taken by excellent French singers, adding to the the naturalness
of this idiomatic performance, clearly recorded in early stereo. This
is definitively the best Carmen and it may remain so for long.
With Karajan, the Wiener Philarmoniker, Price, Corelli, Freni and
Merril, Carmen is transformed in a violent, almost verismo-like opera.
This is sometimes fascinating, but it is definitely another opera -
not Carmen. If Freni is one of the most beautiful Micaelas (but at that
time her French was far from perfect) and Merril is acceptable, abeit
with less enthusiasm, Price and Corelli are miscast as long as we are
talking about French opera. Leontyne Price is the typically aggressive
"Carmen the slut", extraordinarily sensuous sometimes, but
missing all the subtlety of the rich character Carmen is. Too much exageration
ends on ruining the elegance needed for the role. Corelli's French would
be enough to disqualify him, but is nothing compared to his jerked-off
phrasing and barked high notes: I am Corelli's number one fan in many
operas where his extrordinary dynamics and beauty of voice are without
equal, but in French repertoire he is simply unacceptable. There are
two ways to assess Karajan's work: the first one is to be impressed
by the quality of his reading, colourful and powerful; the second is
to consider it really distant from the clarty and lightness required
by this score.
Prêtre's version was initally planned to be Karajan's, with
Callas and Björling. After Bjorling's death, Karajan recorded the
opera for RCA instead, and Prêtre recorded Callas' Carmen a few
years later when the voice was quite deteriorated. As a matter of fact,
there is no problem with the quality of her voice here: Carmen does
not require a violent upper register - so it works fine. But what does
not work at all is the psychology of the character: the seduction made
to be so exagerated that it is no longer believable - and the insistent
use of chest voice when not needed is a clear violation of French style,
ruining the musical quality of many phrases. This is, in my opinion,
the worst recording by Callas ever, and a Carmen with "lovely moments
but awful quarters of an hour", to quote a famous comment by Rossini
on Wagner. It seems Callas had a bad influence even on Gedda, as he
displays exagerations and vulgarities absent in his wonderful Don José
recorded with Beecham. As Guiot is a tame Micaela, only the excellent
seductive and fierce Escamillo of Robert Massard is really interesting
in the set. The general quality of the secondary roles and of the musical
environment is weaker than with Beecham. And Prêtre, although
he is correct, cannot match Beecham's view. This version is definitely
about Callas - and this is far from being an advantage, but the reason
why it is secondary.
I never risked to listen to Maazel's first recording. Casting Moffo,
Donath, Corelli and Cappuccilli is not really an attractive idea for
such an opera, and I doubt this can be acceptable.
Bernstein's orchestral reading can be fascinating : very slow, with
sumptuous imaginative phrasing, quite seductive indeed in the first
hearing. Later, it may appear a bit too much personal to be really satisfying.
His cast is a disaster. Horne has neither the voice nor the personality
of the clear high French mezzo and her kind of dramatic expression does
not really fit. MacCracken is nonsense as Don José, and Maliponte
is a weak Micaela. But the worst feature of the record definitely is
the horrible dialogues, unbearable and unacceptable, especially for
a French native speaker.
Raphael Frübeck de Burgos has recorded a Carmen which is also
disqualified by dialogues, but for a different reason from the Bernstein
recording's. Here, dialogues are said by actors with perfect French
and the typical clear white French voices. It ruins the credibility
of the whole, as it is obvious that the voices of the actors and those
of the singers are not the sames. This is a pity, as the cast gathered
here is outstanding. Bumbry is a sensual, feline Carmen, but elegant
enough to be believable. Freni had improved her French and is again
a wonderful Micaela, whereas Kostas Paskalis is acceptable as Escamillo.
But the real interest of this version is Vickers' José. He understands
exactly all the aspects of the role: sensitive but rough, moving, weak
but heroic. His humanity is very touching and the quality of the voice,
of the phrasing and the respect of the nuances is outstanding. Of course,
his use of French language is sometimes very frustrating, but it is
not so disturbing. Burgos' conducting is colorful and dynamic, interesting
enough to contribute to the interest of this version. To avoid the problem
of the dialogues, it is interesting to notice Arkadia published a live
recording from Salzburg with Vickers, Bumbry and Freni under the baton
of Karajan (sumptuous) and Justino Diaz instead of Kostas Paskalis.
This live recording is fascinating, and Vickers is even superior to
his studio performance. Strongly recommended for those not scared by
poor recorded sound. By the way, both Karajan live recordings from La
Scala and Vienna in the 50's with Simionato are really interesting too.
She is an excellent Carmen, and both Di Stefano and Gedda as Don José
are very convincing.
Lombard's Carmen is today only available as highlights. To be honnest,
this is enough, as this recording suffers from weak Don José
and Micaela, Gilbert Py and Jeannette Pillou. Van Dam’s extremely
well sung Escamillo is not macho enough for the role. By the way, it
is a pity nobody has thought to record Alain Vanzo's José, probably
the best during the period between Gedda and Alagna and certainly superior
to Domingo, recorded three times those days. This version is about Régine
Crespin, perhaps potentially one of the best possible Carmen if better
surrounded. The voice is clear and seductive, and the singer is excellent,
understanding to perfection what kind of woman Carmen is. Crespin has
frequently sung Carmen at the Met, especially with Vickers - I hope
a live radio recording may be published one day.
Abbado's version has been much praised throughout the world and has
appeared as reference version, even in France. I do not share this enthusiastic
view, because, although the orchestral reading is fantastic, there is
very little idiomatic quality going on here. Abbado's performance of
the score is outstanding: light, colorful, subtle, never agressive and
always lyrical. Although it is quite stylish, it doesn’t equal
the elegance and theatrical sense of Beecham, even if the tonal beauty
of the orchestra is unparalelled. This is also true for the choirs,
quite good musicians indeed, but with a permanent English accent quite
difficult to cope with. The casting of secondary roles introduces the
same problem, a bit more serious. They are all English speakers, and
those accents are disturbing both to the understanding of the words
and to the sound of the music. The lack of naturalness, the artifficial
declamation and the collection of bad accents make the dialogues painful
for any French speaker. Nevertheless, the worst accent awards go to
Plácido Domingo. His French is really bad. On the musical side,
his phrasing lacks purity and clarity and he could have more nuance
in his performance. He would be a great Don José later, but he
is definitely not in this set. Teresa Berganza has been said as the
ideal Carmen: it is true that she is the elegant feminist the role requires,
and not the usual slut. On the other hand, in order to avoid vulgarity,
she also suppressed a lot of dramatic acting (which is not necessarily
vulgar). The lack of power in the voice creates sometimes strange sounds,
and she is not as charming or seductive as de los Angeles. I guess the
difference has to do with acquaintance with the language. De los Angeles'
French is perfect, and even a native speaker could hardly guess she
is Spanish; Berganza's accent is more problematic and she has improved
a lot her French since this recording. Sherill Milnes is one of the
best Escamillos: vocally perfect, with more panache than violence in
the voice, in the lineage of the great Escamillo of Robert Massard in
Prêtre's version. However, the truly satisfying performance in
the cast is the wonderful and ideal Micaela sung by Cotrubas : she is
the only one to offer dramatic interest, beauty and dramatic truth ...
not to mention the only perfect French in the cast.
Solti's version is the typical studio production. Everything is of
high quality, but theater is a bit absent. By the way, the dialogues
sounds sometimes more radiophonic than theatrical. Solti's reading is
strong, spectacular and incisive it is impressive, but sometimes counter-productive,
as Carmen needs a more intimate and subtle atmosphere. Somehow, Solti's
view on the score is too much in the grand opéra tradition. The
cast is strong: Domingo still features his idiomatic difficulties, Troyanos
is a powerful, beautiful but unimaginative Carmen (but she is in superlative
voice) and Kiri Te Kanawa is a musical splendor as Micaela, but the
character lacks dramatic truth. Van Dam's Escamillo is elegant and refined,
excellently sung, but the character lacks the arrogance and virility
needed by the role. As the recorded sound is excellent, this version
is quite recommended, but is a bit too much cold on the dramatic side
to be a reference.
Twenty years after his awful first recording of the opera, Karajan
recorded it again for DG. Karajan's more relaxed manners are better
suited to Carmen this time: the sarch for refinement, poetry and beauty
are consistent with French repertoire although this reading is sometimes
too much high-format. The Berliner Philarmoniker is sometimes truly
fascinating, although charm and lightness are definitely absent. Karajan
has found one of the greatest Carmens ever in Agnes Baltsa: full of
life and color, seductive but sober, with wonderful tone colouring and
French. She is perfect and still has something most her rivals don’t:
youth and pure beauty of tone. This is definitely "ma Carmen adorée".
As Carreras is also a charming, both lyric and intense José,
with much better accent and phrasing than Domingo in his two first recording,
as Van Dam is always an excellent Escamillo (with the usual limitations
already underlined), we could have been close to a highly recommanded
version. Alas, if we can admit Ricciarelli's ruined high register, it
is almost impossible to deal with dialogues, said by French actors with
voices too far from the ones of the singers - all the dramatic development
and truth loose all credibility. It is a pity they haven’t recorded
the Guiraud version, always better for singers unidiomatic in French.
The collection of international accents of the secondary roles ends
on convincing us that in spite of the greatness and seduction of Baltsa,
this version is far from being unforgettable.
Maazel's second recording is the soundtrack for Francesco Rosi's highly
acclaimed film. The recording benefits from the movie the dialogues
are extremely well done, with excellent sonics and are probably the
most believable and interesting in the discagrophy. This is an extraordinary
account to this opera. Added to this outstanding feature, all secondary
roles are taken by native speakers, with some of the most interesting
French singers of our days, like Jean-Philippe Lafont, Gérard
Garino or François Le Roux. As all main roles, including Domingo,
display here good French, as the choir is French (and with high musical
qualities by the way), the whole version benefits from an incredible
dramatic and idiomatic truth. Julia Migenes-Johnson's Carmen is quite
individual: young, never vulgar, but not forgetting she is a gipsy.
Her portrayal is quite interesting and modern, and somewhere more convincing
than Berganza's and de los Angeles': Carmen, after all, is certainly
not vulgar, but she is not an aristocrat. I wrote very bad comments
on the two first Josés by Domingo - I will be complimentary to
this recording. First, his French has dramatically improved in ten years.
It is not perfect, but at least understandable, and there are no longer
exotic sounds to my French ears when he sings. He is helped by a superlative
voice: placed higher than usual (a true tenor) with an incredible golden
beauty and absolute clarity. I have never heard Plácido in such
beautiful voice in any of his other recordings. The incredible sincerity
and truth of the character ended on convincing me. He recorded here
one of the best Josés in the discography. Raimondi's Escamillo
is another great feature of this set: dark-voiced, virile, arrogant,
impressive, he is one of the best Escamillos as well. Faith Esham's
voice is far from being seductive, and the character is not realling
interesting. Ironically, I would say it is somehow the truth of the
role. She is a good singer by the way. Finally, Lorin Maazel conducts
with life and passion the excellent French orchestra and choirs, with
energy but without excess. As a conclusion, this set is probably the
most idiomatic and dramatically true recording in the discography and,
if it does not reach the beauties of Beecham, it is a wonderful close
second and definitely the modern reference version in my opinion.
Jessye Norman as Carmen seemed to be a good idea. Her natural elegance
and mastery of French appeared to be ideal. For some mysterious reasons,
it is not really convincing. First of all, the voice is too heavy (and
she is not helped by Ozawa).Then the interpretation is too refined,
too self-contained in a sophistication more Straussian than Bizetian.
In the end, it remains a strange interpretation, not bad, but not convincing
at all. Her Don José is much better: Neil Shicoff is definitely
one of the best tenors for the French repertoire nowadays. However,
although it is well sung, his José sounds more prosaic than his
usual incarnation, as if there was a lack of inspiration at the time.
Nevertheless, only the late Domingo, Gedda and Vickers will be better
than him in the discography. Mirella Freni had become a bit mature and
overweight for the role, but her singing is lovely. Simon Estes is clearly
miscast it is a question of style and voice (his is too heavy). Ozawa
manipulates the orchestral sound and tempi inconsistently, and does
not succeed in this difficult way where only Bernstein succeded in.
This is definitely a forgettable set.
A made-in-France version has recently appeared in the French market,
conducted by Lombard and featurng the best French Carmen these days,
Béatrice Uria-Manzon, opposed to Christian Papis' José.
To say two words about Uria-Manzon, she is a good mezzo and more specifically
an incredibly beautiful woman and excellent actress. I guess an important
part of her impersonation needs the stage to exist. Nevertheless, I
have never heard this set. French reviewers were fine but not enthusiastic
about it, so I guess it can be forgotten too.
Sinopoli's conducting is excellent, very lyrical and slow, quite refined
and with both lightness and interesting colours. It is one of the best
orchestral readings in the discography, despite the slow tempi. Jennifer
Larmore as Carmen was a good idea - she has good taste, a beautiful
voice and good use of French language. Her Carmen is in the lineage
of Berganza. If she does not impress, she is convincing enough, and
vocally superb. Angela Georghiu is perfect as Micaela, both vocally
and dramatically. She has nevertheless always some troubles with French
pronunciation, mainly due to the darkness of the voice. Thomas Moser
was another excellent idea for José he is lyric, sensitive, with
good dynamic possibilities and can be heroic when needed. The color
of his voice is also well suited to French repertoire and he has very
good taste. Samuel Ramey's Escamillo is disappointing: the voice is
a bit dark for the role, and the character does not really exist. Nevertheless,
this version is definitely quite homogeneous and can be an alternative
for a musical reading of the score, with beauty and serenity and without
the excesses found in other sets. Although not the best (Beecham, Plasson
and Maazel are on the top), a very beautiful version.
The long expected Plasson Carmen immediately joins the best recorded
versions of this opera. Michel Plasson conducts wisely, without being
overemphatic but also without true intensity. The wonderful Capitole
orchestras has a clear sound and elegance, but Plasson does not display
the fascinating Beecham's set of light and colors, still the best conductor
of the discography. Idiomatic sounds are to be found everywhere in the
performance: in the orchestra, in the choirs, in all the marvelous second
roles, gathering the best French singers of our days, with a special
mention for Ludovic Tézier as Moralès. The version recorded here is
quite complete, including some cuts and adding the first version foreseen
by Bizet for Carmen's entrance scene. It is a pity to add it as soon
as the Habanera finishes; it would have been better to place it in an
appendix, as it ruins the dramatic intensity following the Habanera.
I also wonder why Guiraud's version has been chosen? With such an idiomatic
cast, dialogues - the most respectful option for Bizet's will and for
opéra comique style - were the obvious choice. For many, this is, above
all, the Alagnas' Carmen, so let's not linger here and see what there
is to be said about the four principals. Georghiu is a beautiful Carmen,
perhaps a bit distant and light, but I have to admit it is always a
pleasure for me to listen to a Carmen who does not sound as Amneris.
Carmen's mezzo is in no way what is commonly understood as a mezzo today,
and a soprano can perfectly fit the role. I like the introversion, almost
shyness of this very musical Carmen. Nevertheless, I also have to admit
Georghiu lacks variety sometimes, and does not display the subtle erotic
charisma of Victoria de los Angeles. No reserves regarding to Alagna
: his Don Jose is the most idiomatic of the discography, and the beauty
of the voice allied to the beauty of his French words is superb. Of
course, he does not display neither the intensity of Domingo is his
latest recordings nor the sublime humanity of Vickers, nor Gedda's sense
of poetry. But he can be considered their equal, for he is the truest
of all in style and in his allegiance to the score and to his character.
Hampson's Escamillo is up and down: the singer is elegant, his French
is almost perfect, but this Mozartian hides his lack of power behind
a permanent subtlety of mezza voce, while we are sometimes expecting
fierce haughty projection. Inva Mula's Micaela is well sung but cannot
make us forget Cotrubas, Te Kanawa… or Georghiu. In conclusion, the
Plasson Carmen is indeed an excellent one, displaying the rare quality
of having no major drawback, but lacking intensity and fascination.
On the other hand, its wonderful idiomatic quality and elegance are
welcome and place it high in the discography. Also, Alagna's Don José
is important enough to give this version all the interest media has
bestowed on it. How to rank this recording ? Looking for a modern version
of Carmen will now involve choosing between Plasson's idiomatic quality,
musicality and sung dialogues and Maazel's intense colourful reading
and spoken dialogues. Chacun à son gout. In my opinion, Beecham is still
unchallenged on the top of the discography, no matter how the 1958 stereophonic
sound is (moreover, it is indeed excellent).
Regarding the already issued and commented versions, the choice is
clear enough : Beecham is on the top of the discography, the most elegant
and idiomatic version of all, and de los Angeles, Gedda and Blanc are
all three unforgettable in style, class, truth and beauty. For those
looking for more modern standards in terms of sound, singers, and edition
(Oeser and not Guiraud), Maazel and Plasson are the best modern reading.
Maazel is the right option for the extraordinary dramatic, idiomatic
and musical level of the enterprise and not only for the pleasant souvenir
from Rosi's film, while Plasson is the more elegant and idiomatic and
he counts with an excellent cast, including Alagna's excellent José.
Sinopoli can be an interesting approach for people looking for something
different and musical, without necessarily looking for a reference version.
Abbado and Solti are safe choices, but only for listeners indifferent
to French language in the case of Abbado and for those insensitive to
theater in the case of Solti. All Vickers admirers will want to listen
to his José and they will be impressed by his humanity, poetry,
and emotive power. All Callas admirers will want to listen to her Carmen,
and they will be mostly disappointed with the result. All Reiner admirers
will want to listen to his only opera studio recording, and will find
an extraordinary orchestral reading, seconded by a good Carmen, but
surrounded by awful singers. The Met goers from 50s and 60s will appreciate
Schippers' version, but they cannot rely on me to second this abomination.
All Karajan fanatics will not admit the obvious, so let's say if you
are not a Karajan fanatic keep away from his recordings. All people
liking antics will have pleasure with Cluytens, but others will be disappointed
by the age of set (and not only because of sound). Finally, there are
so many interpretations of the opera because of its popularity that
everybody may find his ideal choice. But for Bizet's Carmen, and for
any French speaker, native or not, Beecham is definitely the right first
choice.
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Carmen has also been lucky on video. To start with, there is
Karajan’s film with the Vienna Philharmonic based on his
Salzburg production. Although there are some kitsch sceneries
and costumes, the singers are perfectly cast. Bumbry is a natural
charmer and displays a Carmen with lust for life. Mirella Freni
is in wonderful voice and looks like a believable ingénue.
Vickers also is 100% commitment and sings the Flower Song for
posterity. Justino Diaz is not in the vocal level of his colleagues,
but acts convincingly as Escamillo.
Francisco Rosi’s film has already been commented by Olivier
and remains the reference for most opera video fans - although
Julia Migenes’ Carmen has been considered a bit vulgar in
her acting by some people.
Levine’s video was recorded live at the Met. It is a traditional
production, not particularly beautiful or creative, but acceptable
all the way. Agnes Baltsa is in less crystalline voice than in
Karajan’s CD, but remains a compelling Carmen, although her
acting makes the role to be more aggressive than seductive. Leona
Mitchell is not an obvious idea for Micaela - her looks and voice
doesn’t exactly portrait the character, but it is a decent
performance. Carreras again is not in the healthy voice he was
in Karajan’s recording, but it is still a nicest portrayal
of Don José, made to look and sound more vulnerable than
heroic. Samuel Ramey, on the other hand, is in excellent voice
and makes a good show as Escamillo. Levine’s conducting is
not necessarily French in its brilliance and animation.
The Covent Garden video is quite gloomy in its sceneries and
costumes and Mehta, although he does not anything wrong stylistically
speaking, does nothing impressive either. The real interest of
the video is the acting of the four soloists, which is very very
nice. Even if you don’t agree with the "Carmen the slut"
approach of Maria Ewing, it is a fully committed performance.
Vocally speaking, her performance is rather rough and ill guided.
Leontina Vaduva is lovely all the way as Micaela and sounds and
looks convincingly young. Luis Lima is amazingly overparted, but
sings and acts as if his life depended on it. Gino Quilico is
also vocally unimpressive as Escamillo. They all have good French
and manage to produce interesting dialogues.
Carlos Kleiber's Carmen at the Vienna State Opera is due to be
released on DVD. Zefirelli's production is unexceptional and the
acting is rather hammy, especially Obrastzova's who goes for the
"laughing" approach to the role. She displays a powerful
metallic mezzo, but her performance not only lacks charm, but
is entirely out of style. Her vowels are overdark and her abuse
of chest voice - formidable as it might be - may make some French
opera fans' eyebrows raise more than once. Cynthia Buchanan is
the typical British lyric soprano (think Margaret Marshall) -
the tone is entirely devoid of sensuousness, but it fits somehow
the role and she is the singer in the cast who is close to pull
out a plausible performance of her/his role. Plácido Domingo
(in a blond wig) is in heroic voice and produces a far more acceptable
French than in Solti's recording. It is not necessarily elegant,
but compelling enough. Yuri Mazurok is similarly heroic, but his
voice is not really beautiful and there is some lack of imagination
there. Predictably, the raison d'être of this release is
Carlos Kleiber's conducting, which is above all animated. His
tempi are fast (what causes problems for the choir now and then)
and the rhythms are cleanly built. Sometimes, it lacks some repose
- and the atmosphere is more German than French (or Spanish),
but few conductors in the discography plays his sections of the
orchestra as masterly as Kleiber, Jr, does - his highlighting
of instrumental effects is truly amazing.
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