This weekend, Broadway World had the pleasure of attending the premiere of Bizet's Carmen at the Grand Théâtre of Luxembourg. With director Dmitri Tcherniakov and musical director José Miguel Pérez-Sierra at the helm, the night gave the Grand-Duchy one of its few opera events of the season and it certainly made it memorable.
This take on the classic masterpiece derived slightly from the original, setting the plot in a modern environment, where the main characters recreate Carmen as part of a rehabilitating project. The story-within-a-story managed to add an interested dynamic to the narrative, with the protagonists having to act under at least two different layers of character development.
The Gold: The protagonists. We are usually cautious about placing the leading performers at the top of our list, but one must give credit where credit is due. Eve-Maud Hubeaux in the role of Carmen was all you could ask for. You know the company is supposed to move around her every movement when she is on stage, but not every actress can make it look natural. Hubeaux was Carmen at every step, making you understand exactly why a platoon of soldiers can go mad about this character. From the movement of the hair to the passion of the voice, Hubeaux was simply on point. As for Don José, direction choices made Michael Fabiano remain on stage for most of the play, even when the character did not have a speaking or singing part. This made him stand out less obviously than Carmen, who was always either conducting a number or at the heart of the scene. However, as a singer, Fabiano was simply a colossus. A lot of his acting was done in silence, and no doubt he excelled in this field, but the ups and downs, joys and miseries of Don José were felt in every note.
The silver: The orchestra. The Orchestre Philarmonique du Luxembourg, what else can we say? Always on time, always with the right strength, always at its best self. The often unsung heroes of many performances, we leave here a massive word of praise to the musicians of this event.
The bronze: Jean-Sébastien Bou. The torero of the play, stole the show every time he was on stage. While it is true that the character has a lot working in its favour, Bou managed to keep unbroken a vibe that was 1/3 Julio Iglesias, 1/3 Don Falcone, 1/3 Liberace. How this combination worked we will never know, but from the sunglasses to the sway, he was everyone's favourite in all his numbers.
As always, our thanks to the Grand Theátre for entertaining us during these complex times and to everyone involved for a great night.
To reach out to the writer: nuno.de.sousa.lopes@gmail.com
Image credit: Patrick Berger
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