Sultry, fiery, coquettish: d’Oustrac’s Carmen

By Mark Pullinger, 24 May 2015

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“d’Oustrac’s Carmen mesmerised and beguiled”

Reviewed at Glyndebourne Opera House, Glyndebourne on 23 May 2015

Bizet, Carmen

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Jakub Hrůša, Conductor

Sir David McVicar, Director

Michael Vale, Set Designer

Sue Blane, Costume Designer

Lucy Crowe, Micaëla

Stéphanie d'Oustrac, Carmen

Pavel Černoch, Don José

David Soar, Escamillo

Eliana Pretorian, Frasquita

Rihab Chaieb, Mercédès

Loïc Félix, Le Remendado

Christophe Gay, Le Dancaïre

Gavan Ring, Moralès

Simon Lim, Zuniga

Anthony Wise, Lillas Pastia

Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, Revival Director

London Philharmonic Orchestra

The Glyndebourne Chorus

A deli-cious revival of Rossini’s Il turco in Italia at Glyndebourne

Dominic Lowe, 23rd May

Mariame Clément’s production of Rossini's meta comedy is tightly revived with some excellent singing. Come for the writing tips, stay for the cured meats.

****1

Glyndebourne’s first Tosca: vocally strong but imperfect

David Karlin, 21st May

Ted Huffman brings some interesting ideas to his first Glyndebourne production. Excellent singing is let down by indifferent physical acting.

***11

Glyndebourne revives Michieletto’s Kátya Kabanová

Mark Valencia, 3rd August

Damiano Michieletto’s production of Janáček’s opera breaks a key tenet of high-concept opera: where it should reveal, it obfuscates.

***11

All the world’s a jest: Falstaff returns to Glyndebourne

Mark Pullinger, 23rd July

Richard Jones' 2009 production returns to Glyndebourne after a long absence, but the 1940s comedy scrubs up fresh.

***11

A strong new Figaro opens at Glyndebourne

Dominic Lowe, 29th June

Mariame Clément is a popular director at Glyndebourne, and her new production of Figaro shows her trademark approach to hardhitting comedy.

****1

Glyndebourne's Saul still packs a punch 10 years on

Nick Boston, 8th June

Returning from the original run, Christopher Purves and Iestyn Davies were joined by a strong cast and chorus for a revival of Barrie Kosky's striking production.

*****

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Sultry, fiery, coquettish: Stéphanie d’Oustrac’s Carmen at Glyndebourne has it all