Bizet, Carmen: Soloists, chorus & orchestra of San Francisco Opera, George Cleve (cond), War Memorial Opera House 02.12.06 (PJB)

 

 

Carmen: Kate Aldrich

Don Jose: Stuart Skelton

Escamillo: Kristopher Irmiter

Micaela: Adrienne Danrich

Zuniga: Ricardo Herrera

 

 

Conductor: Sebastian Lang-Lessing/George Cleve

Production Designer: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle

Stage Director: Laurie Feldman Santoliquido

Lighting Designer: Christopher Maravich

 

 

For all the neo-con political nonsense one hears today about “San Francisco values,” it’s important to note that our opera company has taken few chances this past season on anything that could be construed as libertine or “edgy.” Indeed, it’s been a supremely conservative season, culminating in the reliable old warhorse, Carmen.

This production was the swan song for SFO’s former General Director Pamela Rosenberg, and while it has not been particularly well received by critics, every performance has been sold out.

Granted, this may have been because the dynamic diva, Marina Domashenko, was to have played the principal role in the first cast. As audiences here will recall, Domashenko made Carmen her signature role when it was staged here four years ago. When she cancelled suddenly due to illness, SFO scrambled to elevate Israeli mezzo-soprano Hadar Halévy to the first cast, and came up with another very capable substitute in Kate Aldrich. Both were making their SFO debuts.

Halévy apparently acquitted herself well on opening night as Carmen. And the performance given by Aldrich certainly lived up to expectations. She had, after all, been given lavish praise for her performances with the New York City Opera, Portland Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre. Most recently, she was lauded for her MET debut as Maddalena in Rigoletto. San Francisco Symphony subscribers became acquainted with Aldrich when she performed in Zemlinsky’s “Florentine Tragedy” last June. That too, was a job she took on “off-the-bench” as a substitute.

Alas, she’s no Domashenko. Her singing was pitch perfect, and she can move well, but it was difficult to imagine her as the seductive object of murderous desire.

Stuart Skelton as Don Jose, was sufficiently passionate, but had a few tonal breakdowns that diminished his overall performance. A former Adler Fellow and Merola Opera alumnus, the big strapping Australian is an energetic actor with enough charm to win any audience. His vocal hiccups during “The Flower Song” may have been an incidental aberration. Nonetheless, it made him smaller dramatically. He was vanquished, so to speak, before he fall.

Symphony goers know conductor George Cleve quite well, and it was gratifying to see him finally conduct the SFO orchestra. He lived up to his legendary status, masterfully controlling the pit and the stage with aplomb.

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle created the production and stages sets for Carmen back in 1981. As many of us from that era recall, the new variations in place now are distracting. A single stone wall, for example, is simply redecorated for changes between acts.

A special note of praise should be reserved for the SFO chorus. Joined by the San Francisco Boys Chorus and San Francisco Girls Chorus, the collective ensemble made the stage come to life with the animated sights and sounds of 19th century Seville.

For many SFO faithful, the important factor here was that this seasonal finale was a genuine crowd pleaser. Less enthusiasm was generated by Rigolleto and Manon Lescaut – two sublime and far more polished productions. Part of David Gockley’s challenge as general director in 2007 will be to build anticipation for Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride and other rarely-performed operas.

 

 

Patrick Burnson