Friday, August 11, 2006

Santa Fe Opera: Carmen

“Richard, baby? Sid here. The good news is I’ve got you Anne Sofie Von Otter. But you need to know, she wants to sing “Carmen.” Sure, Carmen, just like she did in Glyndebourne in 2002. Richard? Richard? Hello, operator, I think I’ve been cut off…”

Okay, I wasn’t there, but it must have happened that way. I’m a great Anne Sofie fan, but it must be that she gets to sing Carmen only as a deal-maker: I’ll come to Santa Fe if I get to sing what I want to sing. She should remember what Jack Warner: “Ronald Reagan for governor? No, no, Jimmy Stewart for governor, Ronald Reagan for best friend!” When Escamillio says, “Carmen, it is you I love!” you can see with your own eyes that there are a half a dozen popsies in the chorus more likely to attract the lustful advances of your garden-variety toreodor. She’s attractive, of course, but you can’t get by the notion that she is a ski instructor who stopped off here on her wanderjahr. For consistency in casting, she might as well play the bull.

Odd thing though, it works anyway No, she never really gets into character, or even into the show—she always seems to interact with the rest of the cast as if through the wall of an aquarium. But she has a marvelous voice, and she’s such a disciplined pro—every note thought out, always doing just what she feels she is supposed to do. You forgive her this little indulgence and you let her do with what she has. And the Santa Fe company is such a well-oiled repertory machine (more on that infra). Just imagine you’re watching a dual-screen TV, with one really first rate concert recital, side by side with a dandy little potboiler. Two for the price of one.

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