Amazon.ca: Carmen: Barrie Gavin, Maria Ewing, Judith Howarth, Roderick Earle, Luis Lima, Francis Egerton, Bruno Caproni, Gino Quilico, Jean Rigby, Leontina Vaduva, Jean Pierre Blanchard, Christopher Booth-Jones: DVD

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Amazon.com Essential Video
Opera videos come essentially in two categories: movies, such as the 1984 Carmen, directed by Francesco Rosi and starring Julia Migenes and Placido Domingo, and opera house productions filmed for television, such as this 1991 Carmen from London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Carmen is the most popular opera of all, and these two videos are both bestsellers, embodying effectively the values that make Carmen unique. Choosing between them is not easy. Musically, both are excellent. Domingo has more name recognition than Luis Lima, and Rosi's film catches him in top form. But Lima is vocally and visually a precise embodiment of Don José, the soldier seduced and betrayed by Carmen and finally driven to murder her. Migenes (in Rosi's film) gives a superb portrayal of the capricious Gypsy woman, but for my taste Maria Ewing's Carmen is even more vivid, natural, and subtly nuanced. Leontina Vaduva is exactly right as the innocent country girl Micaela, and Gino Quilico swaggers convincingly through the role of the bullfighter Escamillo.

The advantage of the film is presence and realism, particularly outdoor landscapes with plenty of space for the soldiers and smugglers to move around. Escamillo faces a real bull in a three-dimensional Plaza de Toros, something necessarily kept offstage in the Covent Garden production. A danger not always avoided in the film production is overstatement. There is more subtlety in Covent Garden's staging--there has to be--as well as a higher overall level of musicianship. And expert camera work gives the Covent Garden scenery a striking air of three-dimensional realism. If I had to live with only one of these Carmens, I would choose Ewing and Covent Garden. But I would miss many striking moments in Rosi's film. --Joe McLellan

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Ewing is Carmen!, April 15 2004

By	Chaconnesque "chaconnesque" (Singapore, Singapore Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bizet, Georges: Carmen (DVD)

This is the Carmen which I have in my imagination. In spite of the great performance by Migenes and Domingo on the other DVD, I have some reservations about a movie-style Carmen with its lip-synching and the explicit 'realism'. I still prefer a 'live' stage performance where the excitement is all there in the singing.

Of the video recordings of stage performances I've seen, this is the most moving. Baltsa and Berganza might sing the role better, but Ewing's characterization is the best. Baltsa's Carmen (at the Met) sometimes seem to exhibit pre-adolescent playfulness and Berganza's is a sweetie-pie Carmen. None of them are dangerous, as Carmen should be.

I do not agree with a viewer that Ewing's Carmen is Machiavellian. If that's the case, so is Callas' Carmen on EMI. Carmen is a self-assured woman who follows her instinct, and fearlessly. She goes all out to get what she wants. The seguidilla scene is so convincing compared to the others. Ewing's Carmen's character does not change in the course of the opera. She remains steadfastly what she is, from the day she picked up Don Jose to the day she got stabbed by him.

We have here also a very convincing Don Jose in Luis Lima, even though Domingo is a better singer. Just watch the finale scene and compare him with Carerras opposite Baltsa. Neither of them can compare with Lima or Ewing. Just watch Lima's frustration and fury.

Another wonderful point about this production is its faithfulness to the score in putting back those traditional cuts, even in the dialogues. It makes so much more sense.

Vaduva is a pretty Michaela and well-liked by the audience. Quilico is rather cold and self-absorbed as Escamillo. He could have been more flirtatious at least if not passionate. In this respect Samuel Ramey is better, in the Baltsa Carmen.

Overall a wonder production, with beautiful costumes and settings. Mehta conducted wonderfully, better than Levine in the Met production.

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not the best, Sep 22 2004

By	"zhaow" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bizet, Georges: Carmen (DVD)

and not even ewing's best. this covent garden production has an excellent cast. luis lima and leontina vaduva both look and sound like the don jose and micaela you picture in your imagination. only gino quilico is a little dull as escamillo. ewing has the voice and charisma to play carmen, but this production doesn't take advantage of the covent garden stage. there isn't enough motion. for example, in the habanera, she just stands and delivers. yet, she's singing about love as a flighty bird that's here one minute and gone the next. the body language doesn't match the song. with the large stage, she should be dancing, not standing. just compare her habanero with julia migenes' and you'll see what i mean. migenes seduces not only with her voice but with her body. ewing doesn't do this.

the best carmen video is still the domingo/migenes. second place goes to ewing, but not this production: the glyndebourne festival production from '86 has a superior performance from a younger ewing. more energetic, more characterful.

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Skip the Hollywood version....Get this one!!, Jan 19 2004