Paisley Opera: Carmen

Tannahill Centre, Paisley, 16/5/26

Orchestra of Scottish Opera; Alistair Digges (conductor); Chorus of Paisley Opera; right2dance (dance  troupe); Rosie Lavery (soprano);  Xavier Hetherington (tenor); Ross Cumming (baritone); Catriona Clark (soprano); Rachael Brimley (soprano); Heather Ireson (mezzo-soprano); Matthew Kimble (tenor); Douglas Nairne (baritone);. Martin Higgins (baritone);.Jonathan Forbes Kennedy (baritone)

Opening with the first of four performances on 16th May in Paisley’s Tannahill Centre, this summer it is no less a masterpiece than Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ that gets the Paisley Opera treatment.  For the uninitiated, this means an ingeniously adapted libretto, in Scots translation and Renfrewshire mise-en-scène.  Once again, the translation is drafted by Lindsay Bramley, then refined in rehearsals by the performers, both professional and amateur, until it gels with the company motto. “Passion, not Posh”.  As before, the score is the real McCoy, Bizet’s original in a (minimally) reduced orchestration by Tony Burke, realised by members of the peerless Orchestra of Scottish Opera, conducted by Alistair Digges.  Alistair is just one of many artistic links with Opera Bohemia that the company enjoys.  Visual elements are again enhanced by 3 members of the Paisley-based dance troupe right2dance, choreographed by Aileen Palombo with the dancers themselves. The production is designed by Kirstin Rodger, lit by Leo Wittwer and directed by Simon Hannigan.  At the core of Paisley Opera is a community chorus, open to all who wish to participate, from amateur beginners to seasoned professionals, trained by professionals.  A Children’s Chorus of 13 pupils from 3 Paisley primary schools added a new dimension to the Paisley Opera experience.

The action is transformed to Paisley in the 1960s. The women, including Carmen herself, are workers in Ferguslie Thread Mill, replacing the cigarette factory of the original. Soldiers are replaced by police; smugglers and gypsies by protesters opposed to US military presence on the Clyde.  Escamillo is a star striker signed to St Mirren, rather than a bullfighter, so that the bullring rather satisfyingly becomes Love Street.  Other names are changed to be more Scottish.  Lillas Pastia’s inn is replaced by a dance hall in the town. The customs post becomes an assembly point for the protesters near the US Military Base. Thus the chorus were variously mill workers, idle young men, townspeople, police, protesters, street sellers and football supporters. In a score that is richer than most in great choral numbers, the chorus brought every ounce of this “wealth through diversity” to life with Bizet’s beguiling melodies and delicious harmonies, repaying his generosity a hundredfold with a full, rich ensemble sound.  The high quality of the movement direction also deserves special mention. The Children’s Chorus were phenomenal in the Act I scene (‘Changing the Guard’ in the original, disappointingly cut from Scottish Opera’s bizarre staging 3 years ago), delivering a whimsical child’s eye view of the street scene, a challenging number for even the most highly trained young singers, with accuracy of pitch and rhythm and clarity of diction (and not a little style) that would rival the famous youth choruses with recording contracts.  Wow. They returned for a part in the pre-match excitement in Act IV. The 3 dancers from right2dance imaginatively interpreted the moods of the instrumental introductions and entr’actes.

Scottish soprano Rosie Lavery (whose performances in RCS productions during her Masters year 2023-24 wowed this reviewer with her phenomenal stage presence and expressive range, both vocally and dramatically) was a gallus freedom-loving Carmen.  Thankfully, her glorious mane of red hair (hidden by a wig in the role of Paulina in Scottish Opera / Holland Park’s co-production of ‘The Merry Widow’) was unconcealed and contributed to a rich and compelling characterisation. Accustomed to the hopeful but entirely unreciprocated attentions of the men of the town, Carmen’s curiosity is piqued (and her vanity challenged) by the lack of interest from troubled outsider, Constable Joe Reid (Don José) and, consistent with her self-knowledge revealed in the ‘Habanera’ (which was fabulous), she flirts with him to get a reaction, initially to no avail.  When a squabble with another mill girl flares into violence, she is arrested and Joe is entrusted with guarding her.  She tries again, promising to make it worth his while if he helps her to escape (the seductive ‘Seguidilla’, also excellent).  He crumbles.  She honours her promise, but, to her chagrin and scorn, he remains unwilling to sever the ties to his old life.  When he eventually does, he becomes increasingly jealous and possessive.  She tires of him and dumps him in favour of new flame, the footballer Escamillo.  He returns furtively as a stalker, obsessed.  When she remains impervious to his pleas and threats, and defiantly and resolutely asserts her freedom, he murders her.  Carmen is a huge role, broaching ideas that were uncomfortable to 19th century audiences, but ripe for our time and, I would happily acknowledge, a perfect fit for 1960s Paisley.  Rosie delivered a complete, cogent and credible characterisation supported by an impressive vocal instrument that was as stunning in Bizet’s often-visited mezzo tessitura as it always is in the soprano range.  Super.  And, it was Rosie who trained the Children’s Chorus – what a wonderful experience for all concerned.

Complex though the character of Carmen is, the character of Joe is much more so.  He is the only character in the opera that makes a journey of self-knowledge, but it is one of inexorable decline and increasing alienation.  In the original, José is a country boy who has left home under a cloud but has not yet found himself.  English tenor Xavier Hetherington expertly navigated and projected Joe’s tragic journey from homesick contrite mother’s boy, through infatuation, implacable jealousy and, finally, self-loathing and regret.  Singing and speaking in an English accent subtly but unmistakably set him apart from the other characters.  He twice fails to grasp his one lifeline, in the form of his childhood sweetheart Mhairi (Micaela in the original), offering reconciliation with his mother and a simple life in which he is loved.  It is the essence of tragedy that the audience sees the flaws that seal the anti-hero’s fate; the latter seeing them too late to escape it.  Xavier delivered the perfect tragic performance.  The intensity and rawness of emotion in the final duet of Joe and Carmen, where he claims undying devotion and she is adamant that it is over between them, was as moving as I’ve heard.  At the end, though Carmen is dead, it is Joe who has lost everything.  He is the victim.  Our catharsis is composed of Schadenfreude.

Scottish soprano Catriona Clark is another Opera Bohemia regular, with memorable work as Cio-cio San, and Susanna, as well as Pamina for the Scots Opera Project’s Magic Flute and Margarita in Paisley Opera’s Faust two years ago, to name but a handful. She was our Mhairi, alias Micaela.  Mhairi is the innocent but fiercely courageous country girl who really loves Joe, links him to his origins and represents his one chance of redemption, which of course he rejects.  Bizet gives her two glorious arias, in the first and third acts, the former reminding Joe of his mother’s love and the life he can still choose, but the latter is a prayer for the courage to face danger and rescue Joe from, as she sees it, the unsavoury company of civil disobedience activists and thralldom to an accursed seductress.  Both arias were delicious, but it was her Act I duet with Joe that had me in tears.

Scottish baritone Ross Cumming, whose career I have been following for the last three and a half years, including RCS MMus productions and various Emerging Artist appearances with Scottish Opera, culminating in premiering the role of Roger Penistone in their production of Toby Hession’s ‘A Matter of Misconduct’, and not forgetting an appearance as the Chamberlain in Zemlinsky’s ‘The Dwarf’ at last year’s Wexford Festival, was our Escamillo.  Perhaps slightly less 2-dimensional than Bizet’s toreador, but as a footballer, still the same shallow, uncomplicated braggart as the original.  The famous aria worked just as well with an iconic goal replacing the coup de grâce.  In the pre-match scene in Act IV, arrived bounding to the stage in a black-and-white Saints’ strip to cheers both on and off the stage.  Jamie (Zuniga in the original) is the senior police officer, Joe’s boss, and was played by Irish baritone Martin Higgins.  Despite ordering Carmen’s arrest, Jamie later fancies his chances with her, showing up at the dance hall and currying favour with the protesters, but he is sent packing.  Another constable, Malachi (Moralès) attempts to flirt with Mhairi when she first comes looking for Joe.  Scottish baritone and RCS graduate Jonathan Forbes Kennedy (Bogdanovitch in SO ‘The Merry Widow’ and Carlino the fake notary in SO ‘Don Pasquale’) was Malachi.

Among the protesters are two each of male and female minor solo roles.  Frances (Frasquita) and Maggie (Mercédès), Carmen’s friends, were played by soprano Rachael Brimley (Sister Dolcina in Opera Bohemia’s ‘Suor Angelica’ and First Lady / Papagena in Scots Opera Project’s ‘Magic Flute ) and Scottish mezzo Heather Ireson (Cherubino in Opera Bohemia’s ‘Marriage of Figaro’ in August 2022, Annina in SO’s ‘Traviata’, Martha in Paisley Opera’s ‘Faust’)   Their frivolous duet near the beginning of Act III, when they tell each other’s fortune with a pack of cards, contrasting with Carmen’s omens of mortality, was exquisite.   Danny (Dancaïre) and Rob (Remendado) were played by Opera Bohemia prime mover, Scottish baritone Douglas Nairne and English tenor Matthew Kimble (Parpignol in SO ‘La bohème’) respectively.  The plan that the girls will flirt with the guards at the US base to distract them and glean what intelligence they can, while the guys tackle a weak point on the perimeter fence, is not met with enthusiasm from the jealous Joe.

As with previous productions by this company, a huge sense of civic pride radiates from every creative moment, with an unceasing celebration of diversity and affirmation of the life-enriching power of community.  Not only does the altered setting work well but, if anything, it enhances and amplifies the immediacy and relevance of the opera to our time.  The three remaining performances are on 19th, 21st and 24th.  Highly recommended.