<< -- 2 -- Roderic Dunnett MIXED RESULTS
Chisinau fields a full-blooded chorus too, which on form -- not so much
in Carmen (Act 3 apart) as in Aida or Turandot -- can
galvanise a whole performance. Production values, a bit ropy and half-cock
in the early days of touring, are improving. Moldovan designer Felix Bessonov's
striking sets for their new Carmen, with their subtle gradations
of Sevillan afternoon shadow -- it looked remarkably like a verdant Extremadura
-- and with an effective starlit night in Act 3 merging into pinky dawn from
lighting director Olga Martovich, rival in quality their recent Cavalleria
Rusticana, and even Butterfly, which was, deservedly, a sell-out
triumph.
I liked the costumes here : guards in brown-blue; the women emphasing
red and white (with Carmen in almost Escorial-quality red for Act IV); the
dancers, red and black -- except that there is a classic error : not only
are the soldiers' outfits immaculate, but the cigarette girls, too, flounce
out from a day's sweaty factory work in pristine flamenco dresses. With
its cosily folksy echoes of East European costume, it looks gorgeous but
faintly ludicrous. The Act I set includes a large factory sign that proclaims
'Tabacos'. Well, ok. The bull ring scene looks superb, as long as Carmen
doesn't walk into it, when the fine Romanesque arch visibly wobbles, diminishing
tension at a key moment. Despite the demands of touring, this kind of technical
hitch (there was one in Turandot too, when a hoist ritual mask lurched,
without collapsing), needs attention : like the occasional backstage noise,
it threatens the quality of Chisinau performances rather too often for comfort.
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Copyright © 11 October 2001
Roderic Dunnett, Coventry, UK
OPERA AND BALLET INTERNATIONAL
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