Carmen, as an opera that is sure to please audiences, keeps setting records. And so, it is again the DVD of the Month at My Classical Notes.
Bizet: Carmen
Performed by Elina Garanča (Carmen), Roberto Alagna (Don José), Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Escamillo), Barbara Frittoli (Micaela), Keith Miller (Zuniga), Elizabeth Caballero (Frasquita), Sandra Piques Eddy (Mercedes), Earle Patriarco (Dancaire), Keith Jameson (Remandado), Trevor Scheunemann (Morales), with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting.
After her triumphant success as Carmen in Riga, London, and Munich, Elîna Garanča, “the Carmen of our day” (News, Austria), took the Met by storm when this filmed.
Every generation has its “go to” Carmen. And currently it is enriched by the performances of Elîna Garanča.
The Wiener Zeitung said it all when it observed of Garanča’s Carmen that “the role and the singer are perfectly matched”.
This production was also seen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2009 with Garanča and Alagna in the lead roles.
The Times wrote:
“This is a calculating Carmen, who knows the worth of her assets. Some of her wily intelligence is reflected in the voice — strong in all reaches, flaming at the top…”
Here is Elina Garanca, singing the Habanera from Carmen:
