A good end to the season for 'Carmen'

Mirna Lacambra can rest easy, because those currently in charge of her successor at the Catalan Opera Foundation assure her of a promising future. This new production of Carmen which closes the season and has been excellent in every sense. Starting with the stage show by Rita Cosentino, which neither strays from clichés nor breaks the mold, setting Bizet's tragedy in 1940s Spain. And with the image of Don José's execution in the opera's prelude, evoking Mérimée's novel that inspired the score. All of this is framed within an efficiently functional stage space designed by Jordi Galobart, reminiscent of a hemicycle. Something resonates in Calixto Bieito's magnificent staging, without falling into sterile plagiarism. The narrative realism (reinforced by Gabriela Hilario's costumes) is counterpointed by Aarón Martín's resolute choreography, which also eschews the commonplaces associated with this masterpiece of French opera.

In the title role, Ukrainian Olga Syniakova displays a velvety bass that didn't always serve the inherent sensuality of the cigarette-making gypsy, but the overall result was convincing. Tenor Joan Laínez's nasality didn't prevent his Don José from being well-spoken and sung, intensely expressive.

Once again, soprano Tina Gorina delivered her performance. In this case, she delivered a perfect Micaëla in the duet with Don José in the first act and, above all, in the aria in the third. Good taste and immaculate phrasing are two hallmarks of this great artist. Baritone Pau Armengol is clearly on the rise in his career. He deserves it, and his Escamillo had the necessary arrogance, although his delivery was occasionally a bit harsh, especially in the upper register. The supporting cast was very good, especially Helena Ressureiçâo (Mercédès), Rosa Maria Abella (Frasquita), and Juan Carlos Esteve (Zuñiga).

Good performance by the Vallès Symphony Orchestra and the heart of the house (in addition to the boys and girls who are part of the heart of the Municipal Music School and the Conservatory of Sabadell), in front of the unimaginative baton of Daniel Gil de Tejada, more attentive to the agreement than to extracting the right colors that make up the palette of Carmen, an opera premiered at the Opéra Comique in Paris on March 3, 1875, is now exactly 150 years old. Happy anniversary!

[The functions of the opera Carmen continue this month of May at the Kursaal Theater in Manresa (day 4), the Theater-Auditorium of Sant Cugat del Vallés (9), the Palace of Music in Barcelona (10 and 17), the L'Atlàntida Theater in Vic (11), the Cornellà Auditorium (14), the Municipal Theater of Gerona (16), the Municipal Theater of Girona (16), the Municipal Theater of Girona (16), the Lleida (21), the Tarragona Theater (23) and the Fortuny Theater in Reus (27)]