Gábor Bretz on Friday came the closest of the recent entrants, but his voice is on the small side for the Met, dulling the effect. The Met has had a difficult time in the last few Carmen runs finding an Escamillo who can really bring down the house with an electric “Toreador” song.

She may well improve as the run goes continues, once those “first-time-at-the-Met” jitters are out of the way. Still, you could hear warmth in her voice, her pitch was pure, and she has a natural, effortless charisma that makes her a joy to watch. Her performance was more “promising” than “outstanding”–she seemed to be pushing, giving her tone, especially up high, a hard edge that did not flatter the role. Moreover, the electric connection he shared with Garanča during this production’s inaugural run six years ago was gone–the most affection he showed to anything all night was the rapturous embrace he gave to a wooden pole in the final act, an image that elicited more than a few snickers from the audience.Īilyn Pérez made her much anticipated debut as Micaëla, and she received a rapturous ovation. There were times when his golden tone rang true and clear, but for the most part he sounded strained. It was a rougher night for Roberto Alagna, whose singing as Don José was inconsistent. She had been battling the flu earlier in the week, but the things you would expect to be affected–her voice and her physical energy–were in working order that she was able to sing so beautifully and have such a captivating dramatic presence without channeling one into the other is inexplicable, but evidently not impossible. Her singing was neatly phrased, and without much spark. Garanča has been criticized before for having a splendid instrument but not doing much of interest with it, and that was very much the case on Friday. Pair that with one of the operatic world’s great voices, a dusky but liquid instrument that smolders at the bottom and glimmers darkly higher up, and you’re just about guaranteed a knockout performance–right?Īpparently not.

She has a dark, irresistible allure that captures attention from the moment she enters. The greatest puzzle of all was Elina Garanča, for whom Carmen is a signature role. But somehow the enticing combination of two superstars, a hyped debut, and one of the company’s most popular repertory productions provided less than the sum of its parts. File photo: Ken Howardīy all accounts, Friday night’s Carmen should have been one of most exciting nights of the Metropolitan Opera’s season. Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna star in Bizet’s “Carmen” at the Metropolitan Opera.

Carmen opera metropolitan 2010