Kulturkompasset | critics of culture events

CARMEN in Pisa, Italy


Georges Bizet: CARMEN

Micaëla, Ilona Mataradze in Carmen, photo by Augusto Bizzi, Livorno

Pisa, Italy, Teatro Verdi, 2014 january 11th

direttore, Carlo Goldstein
regia, Francesco Esposito
scene, Nicola Bruschi
costumi del Teatro Alighieri di Ravenna (costumista Alessandro Lai)
disegnatore luci, Bruno Ciulli

Carmen,  Agata Bienkowska
Don Josè, Mickael Spadaccini
Escamillo, Paolo Pecchioli 
Micaëla, Ilona Mataradze

Zuniga, Franco Rossi
Moralès, Alessandro Calamai 
Le Dancaïre, Alberto Zanetti 
Le Remendado, Murat Can Guvem
Frasquita, Michela Antenucci
Mercédès, Irene Molinari

Orchestra della Toscana
Coro della Toscana
Maestro del Coro, Marco Bargagna
Coro Voci Bianche della Fondazione Teatro Goldoni
Maestro del Coro, Marisol Carballo

coproduzione Teatro Goldoni di Livorno, Teatro di Pisa, Teatro del Giglio di Lucca
in collaborazione con Teatro della Fortuna di Fano

Carmen, photo by Augusto Bizzi, Livorno

PISA/ITALY: We must really praise the collaboration among provincial Opera Houses for staging George Bizet’s Carmen in its original Opera Comique version, which is a really important cultural proposal. Often in Italy even major theatres put in scene other versions of this opera, which has been revised by many musicians apart Bizet himself, but in these cases they don’t give a right idea of one of the most fascinating and problematic opera of the whole repertoire. The success of this operation in Pisa’ Theatre was proved by the audience that filled up the house, after an almost Wagner-style performance, almost four hours of lenght.

Review by Fabio Bardelli.

Let’s start from the end: at curtain calls, the most intense applause was for Ilona Mataradze who was Micaela, and for young conductor Carlo Goldstein; then for tenor Mickael Spadaccini.
Micaela is not specially difficult as a role in itself but has its importance. The singer must perform it with a linear and rounded and compact singing , but not too much affected and rethoric. Ilona Mataradze shows a nice voice, used with intelligence and correctly, delineating her character in a less dumb way as usual (according to director Francesco Esposito, Micaela is an emancipated woman just from the beginning of first act, she also allows the soldiers to… touch her).

Carmen,  Agata Bienkowska and Don Josè, Mickael Spadaccini in Pisa, photos by Silvano Patacca, Pisa

Young outstanding conductor Carlo Goldstein knows very well the score obtaining tragicity and interesting colours. His narrative pace is always evident and pressing, he founds interesting lyric moments, beautiful instrumental introductions to the acts, he always shows to have an interesting general view of the score without falling in many small sketches, what is an easy and dangerous mistake in Carmen. The conductor follows very well the singers on stage, and was very warmly applauded at the end
.

Tenor Mickael Spadaccini is a traditional Don Josè, a generous strong-voice tenor. In some moments of first act he tries to sing stylishly in a more controllate way, with some delicate vocal refinement, but in the rest of the opera is the traditional anonymous and foreseeable Don Josè rather forced and with stentorian voice.

Bass Paolo Pecchioli was on a good level in spite of the texture not too easy for him, depicting a reasonable Escamillo both vocally and scenically.

At last we speak about the protagonist Agata Bienkowska, who has a good voice with an evocative and carnal colour in the middle register. She shows her limits in her interpretation because Carmen is maybe a character too great as personality and too multifaceted for her possibilities, moreover she shows some vocal vagueness and was not always in tune

Miscellaneous drugs (ketoconazole, hyoscine,satisfied Rather How to get viagra.

. Her Carmen is vulgar as it is in the tradition, emphasizing her lustful side, according with the stage director Francesco Esposito. The idea that at the end Carmen pushes the hand of the fearful Don Josè letting him kill her as in a well controlled hara-kiri isn’t original, but interesting. The final duet is really evocative, showing the shadows of Carmen making a “muleta” from a veil, and Don Josè as a bull to pierce: their silhouettes stand out effectively on the wood palisade on stage.

Don Josè, Mickael Spadaccini and Micaëla, Ilona Mataradze Carmen, Pisa, photo by Silvano Patacca, Pisa

Apart these ideas, we don’t find anything new in the dusty setting by Mr. Esposito; the plot is staged about as in the 1940s, with generic and not very accurate costumes. We have almost nothing “Spanish” as we are used to, only the Torero’s costume in last act. For the rest, Esposito leads the characters efficiently, with no damages even if the spoken parts (as said this was the Opera Comique version) could be more accurately refined.


The plot takes place in the one set by Nicola Bruschi, with a wood semicircular palisade delimitating the stage, and works as setting for all the scenes, with few changes: is it a reminiscence of Greek ancient theatre referring to the atemporality of Carmen’s myth, or a virtue of necessity  because of the limited budget?
The other singers in minor parts were on an average level.
Anyhow the success was really warm by the public that filled out the Teatro Verdi in Pisa.

Fabio Bardelli
translation from italian Bruno Tredicine

Tagged as: , , , , , , ,