Artist

Admin

Set designer

Manfred Kaderk

Costume designer

Ute Spring

Lighting designer

Fredy Deisenroth

Singer

Soprano

Veronica Waldner

Frasquita

Baritone

Thomas Laske

Dancaire

Tenor

Dan Karlström

Remendado

Spoken

Gerard Kohl

Lillas Pastia

Conductor

George Hanson

Stefan Klieme

Stage director

Carin Marquardt

Mezzo-soprano

Frederique Sizaret

Carmen

Thomas Piffka

Don José

Adam Hollmann

Escamillo

Regine Hermann

Michaela

Bass

Claudius Muth

Zuniga

Joachim G Maaß

Erin Caves

Morales

Wuppertaler Bühnen

Orchestra

Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal

Others

Opernchor der Wuppertaler Bühnen

Extrachor Der Wuppertaler Bühnen

Wuppertal

Germany

Wuppertaler Stadtwerke

Public

Approved

A simple Carmen, that is, one freed from Spanish folklore, was announced in order to unravel the general conflict of the story, as the director Carin Marquardt announced in advance and aroused curiosity. She had stripped the stage down to the firewalls, the only structure was a two-story scaffolding with old chairs and a few tables. So some shabby pub in the provinces is sketched, one like a thousand others, one like everywhere and nowhere. In this way, the location of the events remains untouched and undergoes only minor changes as the story progresses. So the scenery is actually simple, plain and shabby, bleakly conveying the knowledge that people keep falling into the same hopeless stories.

For the overture, the director has a few tiny scenes played out in this bar, pantomimic events between a man and a woman. However, these performances are a bit awkward, at best just empty phrases and unfortunately already announce what is to come. Because in the further course of the performance, a lot of the tolerably usual creeps in again. Photo: Wuppertal: CarmenThe choral scenes, for example, always try hard for action, but unfortunately only turn out to be stubborn. The ladies are just quarrelsome and the gentlemen should be cool with sunglasses - you could actually have spared everyone that. Again and again, Carmen has to loll lasciviously, throw her head back, rub her hips and dance around with scarves, just like an average Carmen does. She is quick to come up with superficial seduction. Likewise, her smuggler friends act with the usual demeanor. In the fourth act, surprisingly colorful and lavish Spanish costumes are again presented, toreros, banderilleros, etc. in glittering gear, who parade in front of the arena entrance. In addition, Carmen appears in a fiery red Spain romance dress.

So this staging is quite indecisive, which initially shows the will to leave things out, to a sober style, which then comes up with nothing else and therefore falls back into smooth patterns in the drawing of characters, especially in the case of Carmen and her friends, without being able to characterize anything themselves. The director has given up on the usual, and in addition there is plenty of what is meant to be Spanish colouring. Therefore, this staging could not be satisfactory, it squeezes the characters into empty game formulas and remains meaningless in the process.


Photo: Wuppertal: CarmenShortly before death:
José and Carmen

It's only the last act that's rousing again, which may seem trivially colorful and kitted out in Spanish, but then there's a special tension created by the performance of the two main actors. Thomas Pfiffka plays José movingly. He doesn't just mimic the hateful lover, but he convincingly embodies a deeply broken man. Frédérique Sizaret's Carmen is no longer as superficial as before in terms of her acting formulas, but shows a proud, at the same time very conscious woman who also feels pain and sadness about the situation. The tones of the two soloists are gripping until the death of Carmen. Sizaret creates the part of Carmen with a beautiful sound and very confident. However, she does not have a very large voice, their impassioned incantations of liberty cannot therefore penetrate sufficiently. But apart from that, Sizaret offers a very remarkable Carmen. Piffka sings powerfully and concentrates an impressive José. The two make a convincing couple, which was also enthusiastically celebrated by the audience.

Judy Berry was also able to show off as a special star that evening, because she spontaneously stepped in, took over the role of Michaela and thus saved the premiere. Of course, that had already won her the favor of the audience. But then she sang Michaela just fabulously. An extraordinarily strong Michaela got her there, who sometimes does not threaten to disappear behind the figure of Carmen - a special jewel of this evening.

The other games could also be well cast. Veronika Waldner as Frasquita and Claudia Braun as Mércèdes were completely satisfying, the smuggler quintet with Thomas Laske as Dancaïro and Dan Karlström as Remendado was a fine little highlight. Adam Hollmann also sounded good as Escamillo, even if his vocal access in this role could have been more energetic at times.

George Hanson's conducting proved to be excellent. It all started with a brilliant foreplay. Under Hanson's direction, a full orchestral sound was able to unfold, which progressed with spirited traits. The rhythm was meticulously worked and the lyrical passages balanced. One or two inaccuracies could still be heard in the solo parts, because apparently the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra are not quite up to par with their own new high level, it seems, but that will surely happen soon. The Wuppertal audience rightly celebrated frenetically the brilliant musical performance of Carmen.

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