Making its reappearance in Decca’s Compact Opera Collection, this 1999 Carmen is one of the strangest, most unidiomatic ever. Jessye Norman brings her considerable vocal heft, ringing tone, and immaculate diction to the part, but she seems unable to shed her storied Wagnerian styling, making us wonder at times whether Sieglinde had wandered in. Norman’s is possibly the most un-alluring Habanera on record (she sounds positively frigid compared to Leontyne Price’s smoky, sultry rendition). Similarly, when she’s supposed to be seducing Don Jose, her heavy and mannered tra-la-las seem to be issuing forth from the mouth of Brünnhilde.
Neil Shicoff does offer an ardent, passionate portrayal of Carmen’s bemused suitor, but Simon Estes’ smooth-toned Escamillo misses much of the character’s macho swagger. Not that Seiji Ozawa in any way inspires his singers with his rather faceless and uninflected conducting. At least the Radio France Chorus performs with some energy and rhythmic zest, and Mirella Freni proves ever reliable as the true-blue Micaëla–but that’s not enough to get this performance off the ground. The recording (originally a Philips production) offers a satisfying balance of voices and orchestra.
The libretto is stored on Disc 1 (which doubles as a CD-ROM), and is only accessible via your computer (not a problem if you know how to copy the file to your hard drive). But that bit of technological gimmickry aside, there’s little about this release that generates real interest. Decca already has an excellent Carmen (Solti’s, with Troyanos in the title role) in its catalog. Start there, or with one of the recommended alternatives.
