Carmen in Concert: A Bit of a Wash

June 28, Wolf Trap's Filene Center, Vienna Virginia

I love a good opera so I showed up at Wolf Trap, with my $20 lawn ticket, excited to hear the beautiful Bizet opera, Carmen. This wouldn’t be a full-scale production, but an opera in concert, meaning the orchestra spanned the stage and the singers would come out to do their arias. No set, little acting required, just a lovely evening of music.

It began beautifully, as the National Symphony Orchestra played the familiar and lively overture. Tenor Simon O’Neill emerged and sang the role of Don Carlo powerfully as did the lovely soprano who played Micaela, Rebekah Camm. The sweet-sounding, adorable World Children’s Choir soon came out, dressed in white, for an aria. All was going well on stage, until Carmen emerged.

One of the highlights of this opera, normally, is the Habanera, sung by Carmen. But she walked on stage in a lovely red dress, with all the grace of an ailing swan, and then sang with a most irritating voice. The singer, Denyce Graves, is reportedly a “world-renowned mezzo-soprano,” but watching her felt like I was watching Carmen in drag. Listening to her drone, I simply did not appreciate her phrasing or interpretation, and found myself cringing.

A 2001 reviewer in the Los Angeles Magazine, who otherwise praised Graves, described her adeptly when he wrote, “Her voice, low and thick, painfully dragging out each word, filled the song with all the agony…” Amen.

I only stayed for the first half (something to do with a severe, relentless thunderstorm and a dysfunctional umbrella) so I cannot comment on what ensued after I left. But, from what I saw and heard, the best parts of Carmen in concert occurred when Carmen, herself, was not on stage.