On a knife-edge: Carmen returns to English National Opera

Sean Panikkar (Don José) and Ginger Costa-Jackson (Carmen)

Nmon Ford (Escamillo) and Ginger Costa-Jackson (Carmen)

English National Opera Chorus

Carrie-Ann Williams (MIcaëla) and Sean Panikkar (Don José)

By Dominic Lowe, 03 February 2023

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“the heat gloriously conveyed by Bruno Poet’s lighting”

Reviewed at The London Coliseum, London on 1 February 2023

Bizet, Carmen

English National Opera

Kerem Hasan, Conductor

Calixto Bieito, Director

Alfons Flores, Set Designer

Mercè Paloma, Costume Designer

Bruno Poet, Lighting Designer

English National Opera Orchestra

English National Opera Chorus

Jamie Manton, Revival Director

Martin Doone, Revival Lighting Designer

Ginger Costa-Jackson, Carmen

Sean Panikkar, Don José

Nmon Ford, Escamillo

Carrie-Ann Williams, Micaëla

Keel Watson, Zuniga

Benson Wilson, Moralès

Alexandra Oomens, Frasquita

Niamh O'Sullivan, Mercédès

Seán Boylan, Le Dancaïre

Innocent Masuku, Le Remendado

ENO’s Mahagonny: biting, bleak, brilliantly executed satire

David Karlin, 16th February

Never has Brecht and Weill’s satire on the inhumanity of man to man been render with such utter darkness; Simon O’Neill heads up a superb cast.

*****

Taken for a ride: an energetic revival of Così fan tutte at ENO

Dominic Lowe, 6th February

English National Opera's revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular production is a blend of spectacle with some first-class singing, with Lucy Crowe emphasising her Mozartian credentials.

****1

Cocteau-esque camp: Alden’s Partenope returns to ENO

Mark Valencia, 20th November

Christopher Alden’s Olivier Award-winning production of Handel’s Partenope returns to the Coliseum, but it's the singing that earns the plaudits.

****1

Dead Man Walking at English National Opera: a superb execution

David Karlin, 1st November

Anneliese Miskimmon's ENO production of Jake Heggie and Terence McNally's tale of crime, repentance, compassion and redemption compels from start to finish.

*****

Comedy falls flat in ENO's season opening Cinderella

Mark Valencia, 27th September

Julia Burbach and her designer, Herbert Murauer, are defeated by the wide canyons of the Coliseum stage in their modern-dress Cinderella.

**111

ENO gives Thea Musgrave's Mary, Queen of Scots a worthy performance

Nick Boston, 15th February

Musgrave's powerful depiction of a powerful woman at the mercy of male manipulation receives a strong staging from at ENO.

****1

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Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.

On a knife-edge: Calixto Bieito's Carmen returns to English National Opera