10 November, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Recently, I went to see Carmen performed at the London Coliseum, a production of the English National Opera. This is only the second time I’ve been to the opera in my life. The first time was in Sydney — I was there on holiday and couldn’t resist seeing something in the famous opera house, so I saw Cinderella. I enjoyed the performance, but for some reason I never returned to the opera, perhaps because, let’s face it, opera seems like something for stuffy rich people. After reading Ann Patchett’s novel Bel Canto, I bought a book on opera and vowed to learn more about it, but never did.
This production of Carmen piqued my interested because it is directed by Sally Potter, the film director who brought Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando to the big screen. I imagined she would do something fabulous with it. I bought my ticket and then as the performance approached, Potter’s Carmen got pretty bad reviews. I thought perhaps this was because she was doing something unconventional with it, which offended the critics. I went with an open mind; given that I’d never seen Carmen before, I had no idea what to expect. As it turns out, I agree with the critics that Potter’s production is deeply flawed, but that’s not the issue for me — I’ve been horrified to discover the story of one of the world’s most beloved and performed operas. I’m haunted by it, but not in a good way.
I should point out first that although this production of Carmen leaves much to be desired, I agree with the critical consensus that the music and singing is outstanding. There is also fantastic tango dancing by a famous Argentine dancer. As for the music, for a newbie it’s nice that much of it is instantly recognizable — though this is because it’s played in Volkswagen commercials and the like. BTW, the English National Opera sings in English. It’s a bit strange.
This version of Carmen is set in modern times and Potter has recast this opera in a more political and feminist light. José works as a security guard and we see lots of CCTV footage, which has lead some people to say this new version is set in England, rather than Spain. I can understand the confusion, given the British passion for CCTV, but I’ve never seen a bullfight in England. Carmen and her crew are sex workers and drug dealers. Aside from the fact that this production is framed a bit differently, the story seems to be the traditional one, with perhaps a few lyrical tweaks.
For those who don’t know, Carmen is the ultimate “other” — a woman, a gypsy, a “dark continent,” which is to say that she’s viewed as irrational, dirty and a threat. Carmen is not submissive and she won’t be put into a box. As such, in most productions the sexually liberated Carmen is cast as a dangerous “femme fatale” (read: slut). She bewitches José and drives him mad with lust. Carmen is a devil woman and José refers to her repeatedly as a demon. Though José has a virginal fiancée back home, the poor guy is no match for Carmen’s animalistic powers. He is seduced by Carmen (as if there was ever any doubt) and his passion for her even results in a prison sentence. But José gets the last word — when Carmen dumps him at the end, he stabs her to death.
I have read that José is normally considered to be the hero of this piece. I think he was most famously played in our time by Placido Domingo. It’s horrifying to think that José could be considered the hero. He murders in cold blood a woman who spurned him. But since this woman is wild and a “slut,” she deserved it? The opera ends right after the killing, but the killing is all about José — he’s crying and carrying on and acting like he had no choice or that anyone would have acted the same way. It was really quite stunning. This opera has been performed all over the world for more than a century and I imagine most people just take this story at face value. It says so much about how male violence towards women is normalized and how women who step outside the bounds of what is considered socially acceptable behavior must be punished.
There are many ways this story could be presented and interpreted. I’m sure many people in the audience viewed Carmen in the way I did and felt there is much to be learned from this story in terms of how women are presented in literature and art, but this is the result of enlightened modern sensibilities, not anything to do with the production itself, which was a bit of a disconnected mess, so I can’t give Potter much credit there.
One review I read called the production “muted” and I agree with that. For an opera about passion, obsession and tragedy, it was very restrained until the final act. What I really didn’t like was the staging — it was gray and white with fluorescent lighting — in a word: ugly. The costumes were ugly too. Who wants to see an opera with bland sets and crappy costumes? I realize the sets and costumes are a reflection of Potter’s political vision of the story, but I don’t care. I wanted something sumptuous and I’m not ashamed to admit it. [The glamorous poster, shown above, is like nothing in the actual opera.] This isn’t just me being picky — I heard three different people comment on this during the interval.
Though I felt the opera was flawed and could have been much better, I enjoyed the spectacle of it. I did not feel out of place either. There were people in tuxedos and evening gowns, but there were others in denim jackets. It was a bit of an eclectic crowd. I saw one old lady with pink dreds. I also loved the music — very haunting with a Spanish flavor — and want to put it on my iPod. I want to see more opera now, so overall it was an educational experience.
Links:
Feminist review from the f-word
Anglofille said @ 9:48 pm | arts & leisure |
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Rebecca Says:
November 10th, 2007 at 11:07 pmI am really amused that you managed to give a retelling of the basics in such a way that I was viewing the story in my head on an episode of Maury. You are NOT the father!
