<<  -- 7 --  Roderic Dunnett    MIXED RESULTS

Even more importantly, Lavric's presence -- her aura? her perfume? or is it the known vibes of her fellow-performer as Carmen (Tatiana Busuioc?) -- seems to galvanise Nicolae Busuioc's José (as in life it should). Once José pairs with Carmen, he begins (at last) to sing in tune; their duets takes wing, even where he audibly falters a bit. His vocal flailings early on perhaps point up the fact : José is really a pretty ordinary guy; no wonder a few hours with him and she's bored to tears. Lavric's Carmen seems to infuriate Busuioc into musical precision : in the seduction scene adrenalin takes hold and he is superb. He is vocally strong in the night scene; and he keeps his rag more than most Josés (Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts in English Touring Opera's, for instance) so that when the knives come out at the end -- despite her obvious sense of entrapment -- the actual murder takes her, and us, as much by surprise as Lulu's does. Busuioc stabs Carmen three times, and Lavric's face looks as silently aghast as Edward Munch's 'The Scream'. The final cameo, with Racovita's Escamillo left devastated, was effective, although both orchestra and visuals were ineptly cut short by the curtain.