In contrast to her modesty, Matador, Escamillo has a larger-than-life swagger, sung with magnetic confidence by Aaron Keene. does so with a voice that really touches her moan. Outlining the urban versus rural conflict that pits an innocent Don Jose against Carmen’s entourage of street-smart smugglers, Simone Harkum’s Michaela may represent untainted purity, but she’s also warm, accessible, and a melodious soprano. (On May 14 and 22, the roles of Carmen and Don Jose will be sung by Zoey Reims and Rafael Moraes.) Each aria and duet was sung with power, clarity and subtlety. As portrayed by Maya Lahyani and Won Why Choi, they are clearly passionate people on a collision course between worldliness and naivety, rebellion and convention. Everyone behaved as if they had a story to tell.Īs for the story of Carmen and the soldier she is attracted to, Don Jose, it is delivered with layers of meaning missing from most of the productions. Acting was deeply ingrained, not just the 10 most prominent singing roles. So how has a woman who has sung Carmen in most of the world’s great opera houses made the directorial leap so successfully? OK, he’s probably harvested some of the best staging ideas from those many productions, but each and every member of the ’70s cast creates a complex character. Full of imagery, it’s filled with insanely strong vocals, including depth illustrations, terrifying dance intervals and an Elias Grandi-led orchestra that recreates familiar tunes. This is the most creative, colorful and meticulously crafted “Carmen” out of many I’ve experienced.

If there were, I wouldn’t have caught them. After all, she never directed a professional production. When Graves was enlisted to direct the Georges Bizet opera-three decades after singing the title role in the staged Minnesota Opera that launched him to stardom-it may have seemed a stunt fare.

Leading a team is a gift in itself.īut after watching the Minnesota Opera’s “Carmen,” I can assure you that star soprano Dennis Graves has that gift. There is an old saying in sports that great players are not necessarily great coaches.

Carmen opera mn