Carmen

This 2014 performance of Bizet's ever-popular opera about the titular temptress and her besotted lover Don José is huge in scale, which is required of any staging at Verona's cavernous Arena, and it is sumptuous, as one might expect from a production directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The opulence and gorgeously colored period costumes in this traditional mounting all dazzle, but crowd scenes are so large and busy (with horses occasionally tromping in and out) that cameramen often have difficulty holding a shot without some steed or supernumerary blundering into the frame (which is one reason why the visual perspectives shift so frequently). Worse, the musical flaws are considerable. The company orchestra plays well enough for conductor Henrik Nánási, and the chorus sings clearly, but sometimes the two are slightly out of sync. And the lead singers are disappointing: as Carmen, Ekaterina Semenchuk is not physically seductive, but more importantly she often goes off pitch; Carlo Ventre is a beefy Don José with a dry tenor; and as toreador Escamillo, Carlos Álvarez not only looks too old, but his voice is also worn and frayed. Some strong singing in the lesser roles—such as Irina Lungu's Micaëla, despite too much vibrato in loud passages—cannot compensate for the larger flaws. With so many solid versions of Carmen available on disc, this mounting—presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray—is not recommended. (F. Swietek)