(Photo credit: Lennart Sjöberg)

Göteborg Opera is celebrating its 30th season with an exciting lineup of favorites, beginning with Sir David McVicar’s production of Bizet’s “Carmen,” with libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on a novella by Proper Mérimée. This production was originally presented at Glyndebourne in 2002, and like most McVicar productions, it gets to the point in very real and intimate ways, making it the perfect season opener.

Göteborg Opera’s Recipe for Sustainability

Göteborg (Gothenburg) is a major city in Sweden, and the opera house is located right next to the Göta älv river with access to the ferry and beautiful views of Sweden’s west coast. The city makes for a perfect holiday getaway and the local community is warm and embracing towards the arts and culture scene. 

Göteborg Opera won the award for Sustainability at the International Opera Awards 2022 Gala at Teatro Real in Madrid, and continues to maintain its focus on being a Green Opera House. The efforts it takes to manage and process everything in order to keep this status, in addition to doing better each year, requires building upon what makes sustainability “sustainable” and communicating what that actually is along the way. 

Before the evening’s production of “Carmen” began, OperaWire had the opportunity to speak in person with Artistic Director Henning Ruhe about this process and learn more about what makes opera resonate most with its audience and why sustainability is an important focus. 

Is it about the production or the people? 

It seems that their recipe for attracting new and familiar opera goers is a healthy balance of both, however what stood out the most, to me, is how their recipe for success remains the same – it’s all about keeping it real and simple.

‘Carmen’ is Consciousness Personified

It’s interesting how many “Carmen” productions have recently been produced. It’s also telling about what the choices of each production reveal, and how the purpose for producing is, a lot of times, more than meets the eye. When looking back at some of OperaWire’s coverage, and there is a lot of solid information in the following links if you want to read more, I came across a common theme – “Carmen” is consciousness personified. 

In the following articles, including but not limited to productions by: Damiano Michieletto, Diane Paulus, Carrie Cracknell, Opéra Comique, and Calixto Bieito including the (Cast B review), there is an array of perspectives. “Carmen” as a real life story to connect with its audience, versus “Carmen” as a means to amplify the producer’s ego. Whatever the choice may be, it is true that “Carmen” is a good litmus test when determining where a production places its value and how an opera company supports that. 

Fortunately, Göteborg made its purpose clear before their “Carmen” began, while in conversation with Henning Ruhe who exemplified the core values and responsibilities as a company that intends to work with the people, and collaborates with other opera houses in order to be as resourceful as possible. This tone of collaboration resonated far beyond our conversation, and made the choice of leading with Sir David McVicar’s production of “Carmen” an illuminating experience to learn from. 

What Makes Opera Really Attractive

Götenborg opera functions as a creative familial unit from start to finish with its productions, communicating and creating every step of the way. There is no one that makes a decision without the support of fellow colleagues and collaborating opera companies that seek to function in a broader sense together. This type of making nurtures attractiveness that the local community sees, feels, and responds to. In more ways than one, Göteborg opera makes opera “real”.

The Sir David McVicar production is aligned with this sense of energy, telling the story of “Carmen” with honesty and conviction, while allowing the vein of Bizet’s powerful music to speak for itself. McVicar’s productions are known to be about embodying the characters’ lives as a whole and inviting the singers to do this from the inside-out. 

Carmen’s passionate life is not exploited because McVicar’s perspective is that of a conscious person, relaying a realistic drama as an opera. He does not create an opportunity for himself, rather he lets the story become a reality. McVicar keeps it real because the truth is “tragically doomed romantic passions” are real, and I will also add that femicide is real, too. 

McVicar’s perspective examines Carmen’s murder as reality, and keeps the focus on Carmen as a way to examine the acts and choices leading up to her murder. All the “red flags” she sensed along the way and the choices she made to avoid them. But, she is not to blame because the reality is Don José is a murderer and this production also calls out Don José as a murderer serving in the military, before he kills Carmen. The act of Don José slitting Carmen’s throat outside of the bullring theater, making it solely about Carmen and Don José – the ending to a doomed beginning. 

It’s these types of “reality checks” all throughout the production that keep the audience engaged, engrossed and enlightened. 

Simply put, making opera attractive is not difficult when telling the truth and McVicar’s “Carmen” tells the truth.

Illuminating Cast & Collaborations

I am really lucky I got to experience Göteborg’s chorus, dancers, and orchestra in person. It is not enough to describe in words how fantastic everyone is on stage, working together and openly ENJOYING their work. I witnessed every person at any given moment fully immersed in their character while also consciously supporting their cast mates. And this is very rare. It seemed that “Carmen” was brought to life as an entire immersive experience because again, McVicar’s production is made for this, and this creative team kept making the choice to function as a unit the whole time – and this is where the magic lies. 

I loved looking at everyone’s facial expressions, gestures, and the tiny details that brought to life what it is that makes them, THEM. This production felt like a celebration and the audience could not take their eyes and ears away.

Mezzo-soprano Katarina Giotas was a delight as Carmen. She really bore the weight of leading by example when collaborating and leaning into the energy of her cast mates. Giotas made “Carmen” about Carmen and not about herself, brava! I could feel her voice mirroring Carmen’s emotions especially as she performed “Habanera” (“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”). Her mezzo sounded raw and present on stage as she moved her body and stirred up the energy. The set designs by Michael Vale were also exquisite and really came into focus as Giotas danced and sang. The designs of the brothel and jail as one cohesive unit also played into the collaboration of this production. My eyes comfortably rotated from place to place with ease and zero confusion the whole time. And this gave me more attention to enjoy the singers, which is again, exactly what McVicar wants.

Giotas’s voice is most captivating in her middle range, almost speech-like, in that I felt she was “speaking” the recitatives and arias, not “singing” to the audience. Oftentimes one feels separate from opera because of an “opera voice” but Giotas made her singing more about telling Carmen’s story and responding as Carmen in very human ways. In “Seguidilla” (“Près des ramparts de Séville”), Giotas sang from her gut and engaged her body with conviction as she begged Don José to release her from jail. Giotas very clearly knew where her power came from as she sang and used this to draw listeners in. For the first time, I almost forgot she was singing because I was so focused on the story being told.

This level of vocal and emotional engagement was also present as she sang “Card Aria” (“En vain pour éviter”). It reminded me a lot of how empty Katerina in “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” feels when she examines her life. This vastness took hold as Giotas’s voice dipped into the depths of realizing her ultimate fate rapidly approaching. McVicar’s production opens up the gates for the universality of Bizet’s music to captivate the audience in this moment, and the orchestra responded with these feelings matched to make for what I felt was the highlight of the night, for me. I melt for moments when the truth comes forward at the gut level and pours out onto the stage. The audience sat in their seats motionless at this point.

Tenor Joachim Bäckström as Don José sang with this same level of transparency, as well, during “Flower Song” (“La fleur que tu m’avais jetée”). Bäckström’s voice took on an obsessive connotation as he revealed to Carmen how much her flower meant to him while he was in prison. His crazed level of delusion took center stage at this point and Bäckström’s eyes were desperately fixated on Carmen as his only saving grace. It’s this breaking point in the opera where Don José’s murderous side really comes to the forefront, but only if the tenor can elicit this level of violent energy from somewhere within. Bäckström’s acting was spot on in this way and I felt sick when witnessing his eyes grasping at Carmen’s body, tearing into her heart through his festering voice which so badly needed to feel reciprocated by her. There is real chemistry between Giotas and Bäckström that amplified this story and manifested the truth that rarely meets the eye.

More Cast Highlights

Soprano Matilda Sterby as Micaëla sang with endearing qualities and her voice resonated easily with the hearts in the audience. “Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante” sounded and felt very grounded as Sterby sang, concentrating on her own innocence and awareness of the natural love she feels arising for Don José. Sterby made this aria about Micaëla’s true feelings and instead of “praying for Don José,” this aria felt like she was praying for herself. Her voice was aligned with her vocal technique and the quiet dynamics of this aria drew in listeners more. Her high notes floated into the hall like a breath of fresh air.

Baritone Luthando Qave as Escamillo sang “Toreador Song” (“Votre toast je peux vous le rendre”) with gusto and excitement! The moment Qave stepped on stage felt electric. His vocal range and dynamics are thrilling to experience live. The hall reverberated with his energy and I want to see/hear more of his work in future roles. Qave is outstanding!

The chorus members, orchestra, Conductor Aivis Greters, dancers, Costume Designer Sue Blane, and Revival Director Mattias Palm created a “Carmen” of a lifetime to witness live. This experience is not to be missed!