Carmen is the first ever opera I have had the privilege to watch, therefore I was not too sure what to expect and did worry that the libretto being entirely French would make the storyline hard to follow. Fortunately, there were simplified English captions either side of the stage which were easy to glance at whilst also enjoying the performance. I must admit, having my French-speaking friend sat next to me as my own personal translator made the plot much easier to understand too. Once I grasped the portrayal of Carmen's lifestyle I could enjoy the performance as a whole much more, especially when I started to recognise a few of the popular songs. Through song each characters emotions were portrayed with much more clarity than some traditional plays I have seen. For such a long running and internationally known Opera, this production of Carmen had a much more modernistic feel whilst still sticking to the original plot, which made this incredibly enjoyable to watch. The set design definitely aided this, constantly surprised by a shiny new set piece, including the stunning 'GIRLS' structure clearly seen below, which was also able to create an added performance space for some of the actors. I was very pleasantly surprised by this show, my first ever Opera!
Commentaires