Bizet: Carmen ****
Glyndebourne, 23rd May 2015
“The very incarnation of vice” was how one critic described Célestine Galli-Marié’s Carmen at the opera’s 1875 Opéra Comique première. That description could equally be applied to Stéphanie d’Oustrac in Glyndebourne’s revival of David McVicar’s terrific production. Sultry, fiery, coquettish: a mezzo singing Carmen needs to have all these qualities and d’Oustrac scored on each and every point. From her teasing, orange-peeling habanera to her haughty tossing away of Don José’s ring in the finale, this was a compelling reading of the role.
Stéphanie d’Oustrac
© Robert Workman
Read the full review on Bachtrack.