The Edinburgh International Festival has only previously given us one staging of Carmen, that being the wonderfully memorable Piero Faggioni production first seen in 1977 and revived the following year. Claudio Abbado conducted Teresa Berganza in the title role, with Plácido Domingo as José first time round, followed the second year by Pedro Lavirgen. The Scottish Opera Chorus and London Symphony Orchestra were on excellent form.
There have been times when very frequently heard works have appeared in stagings of relative mediocrity that really did not justify their inclusion in a major international festival. Such a popular opera as Carmen should only take up Festival space when there is a very good reason for it. It must be said right away that this event most certainly justified its inclusion. This new production is perhaps not as starry as the 1977 one, but the opera received its premiere at the hands of the Opéra-Comique in 1875, so that already makes it interesting.
We were promised a staging, by Andreas Homoki (German of Hungarian extraction), that would give the work a concept very different from any seen before. This was indeed true, but it was far better than might have been expected. The setting was a stage-within-a-stage dominated by an extravagant looking theatre curtain of late 19th century style. The opening chorus did not have a uniform in sight - the men were in belle époque evening dress, complete with top hats. They were partnered by ladies (silent of course) equally fashionably attired, though largely in pale grey rather than anything garish. The first soloist, Corporal Moralès, was a modishly dressed young man about town. The programme notes drew our attention to other French composers of the time - Berlioz, Gounod, Massenet and others, but avoided mention of the most obvious one, Offenbach, who was, of course, German.
The chorus dispersed so that the 'cigarette girls' could return in underwear (still of higher quality than usual) and the other soldiers, including Zuniga and José, were much as one might expect. For the second act there was little reference to the inn, just a few seats. There was no innkeeper and minimal dialogue. Escamillo was in his usual toreador outfit. The smugglers were again smarter than usual, the men as jolly boulevardiers, almost out of La vie parisenne. The solo performers, none at all familiar in this country, were uniformly excellent. Saimir Pirgu, the José, has an established international career in dramatic roles, and was a good actor, well worth hearing. The Carmen, Gaëlle Arquez, made the character rather more sophisticated than usual.
It may be that the Parisian orchestra was left at home initially as an economy measure. However their musical director Louis Langrée is a familiar visitor to Scotland, having conducted the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on a number of occasions in previous years. Certainly the SCO's musical performance was delightful, drawing out all sorts of beguiling detail that more routine performances conceal. The chorus was also full of fresh voices that sounded as if they were tackling the piece for the first time.
From here further comment becomes problematic due to previously unheard of difficulties with public transport during Festival time. For many decades the last train from Edinburgh to Dundee has left Waverley at 11.00pm or even later. However Scotrail, now once more a nationalised industry, has become increasingly unreliable due to staffing issues resulting in frequent late-running and short-notice cancellations. Presumably to save on the cost of replacement buses and taxis, Scotrail management have now decided to introduce a revised timetable. The final train to Cupar, Leuchars (for St Andrews) and Dundee therefore leaves Waverley at 9.29, forcing the OperaScotland writers to leave the Festival Theatre at the interval in order to avoid being stranded.
Fortunately we are only in the habit of acquiring tickets for a small number of Festival events much in advance - this year Figaro and Capriccio may also be affected - a significant financial outlay. There was a time (in younger days) when the Festival would see us at the Queen's Hall in the morning, a play, fringe show or exhibition in the afternoon and a concert or opera at night. We now attend only one or at most two events on any day, deciding at a relatively late stage. Fortunately we had not made the substantial further financial outlay on tickets that used to be customary. The usual eight or ten visits to the city will inevitably this year be much reduced - Usher Hall concerts for instance were much curtailed, though we did manage to get to the Verdi Requiem.
But anyone who believes that the arts must be accessible - and available not just to those living in Edinburgh or to car owners - cannot be happy at the present situation. Hugely frustrating for all concerned.
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