Up to that point, opera was usually centered around aristocracy or mythological stories - certainly never on gypsy women seducing and playing with men to the point of causing such jealousy and murder. For this reason, Carmen was not by any means an immediate success. Its true success did not start to occur until after Bizet’s untimely death just months after Carmen’s completion. However in the hundred plus years since that night in Paris, Carmen has surpassed many of its popular predecessors and become hugely popular for opera fans and skeptics alike.

Having seen a former production of Carmen at Virginia Opera I was excited to see their latest offering. I had heard rave reviews of the soprano CRISTINIA NASSIF, slated to play the title role, who returns to Virginia Opera after her acclaimed performance in last season’s La Traviata. I had high expectations despite the fact that Carmen is almost always played by a mezzo-soprano because of the sultry low notes that much of the role requires. I went in with an open mind, for surely this singer must hold something special for her to be cast in the famous role. The result however was disappointing. Miss Nassif does have an amazing voice and an incredible presence on stage but for me her voice was affected on the bottom and the break between her low and high voice was very distracting. I will say however her dramatic performance as Carmen was amazing and although her vocal performance was lacking for me, she did embody the role and I hope to hear her in the future - singing a role more suited for her voice.

Another beautiful but, in my opinion, miscast voice was that of Carmen’s lover Don Jose, played by Virginia Opera new comer BRYAN REGISTER. There is no doubt that this singer is a great tenor and, like Miss Nassif, played the role very well dramatically. However the role seemed to be too much for the singer and was sometimes hard to hear over the orchestra. Despite these flaws, the two leads had some magical moments on stage that made of for some of the vocal miscasting.

Two characters that made up for the inadequacies of the leads were Micaela, played by CATHERINE CANGIANO, and Escamillo played by ERIC GREENE. Both singers were very well-cast - singing their roles and emboding their characters well. In fact, Micaela’s aria was the highlight of the evening.

I can not exclude the performances of the supporting cast. They were amazing the roles of Zuniga played by WOJCICH BUKALSKI, Le Dancair played by JASON KAMINSKI, Le Remendado played by AARON PEGRAM, Mercedes played by SARAH AUSTIN, Frasquita played by JAN CORNELIUS, and Morales played by JAMIE KOTMAIR. They were all amazing dramatically as well as vocally and I hope to see them more at Virginia Opera in the future.

Another triumph was the set as well as the stage direction. You truly felt as if you were in Seville and the chaos on stage during the group scenes was hectic but beautifully executed. All in all, this production was not Virginia Opera’s best. However it still made for a magical and sultry evening at the opera. I look forward the rest of the season and Carmen certainly is a fine way to start the season out. Peter Mark should be credited for putting together a great season and I recommend that you make every production you can... perhaps I'll see you there.