ENO/Carmen review: Toxic male meets free-spirited outsider in contemporary production

Provocative: Sean Panikkar and Justina Gringyté in Carmen
Nick Kimberley30 January 2020

A working-class woman on the fringes of criminal society is murdered by a jealous former lover: it could be the storyline of any contemporary drama, although Georges Bizet’s Carmen had its first performance in 1875. Calixto Bieito’s English National Opera production (first seen in 2012) sets out to turn it into precisely that.

Forget the faux Spanishry that so many stagings present as local colour; the set is mostly bare, which only adds to its powerful evocation of a hot, sweaty and dirty country. This is Spain on the verge of the post-Franco era. Toxic masculinity seeps out of every perspiring male pore, and there is no room for a free spirit such as Carmen.

It’s a thoughtful, sometimes provocative production; at its centre are two powerful performances. Sean Panikkar’s Don José is a seething cauldron of simmering violence, which eventually boils over. Justina Gringyté makes Carmen wilful, demanding, sexually voracious, ultimately doomed.

Her English is clear but accented, which underlines the character’s outsider status. Yet, while the staging wants to shock us out of our opera-going complacency, last night, the depravity and degradation felt a little like fancy dress, worn for show. No doubt as the run continues, they will eventually fit better.

Until February 22 (020 7845 9300, eno.org)

The best opera and classical to see in 2020

1/7

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