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| March 11th,2006 |
Source: Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Sun times All
rights reserved.
Laura Emerick |
When Denyce Graves finished her glorious turn last fall as Bizet's fiery
gypsy heroine, ticket holders for Lyric Opera's second cast in March might
have felt
cheated. Fear not -- there's a new Carmen in town, and she's every bit as
thrilling as her predecessor. Hungarian mezzo-soprano Viktoria Vizin, called
"a major star in
the making" by the San Francisco Chronicle, made her house debut Thursday in
Lyric's remounting of "Carmen," and it will go down as a debut to remember.
From the moment that Vizin entered singing Act 1's famous Habanera ("L'amour
est
un oiseau rebelle"), she made it clear, as the aria declares, "Love is a
wild bird that
cannot be tamed." Her seductively smoky voice curled around the aria's
phrases to
stunning effect.
Tall, lithe and graceful, Vizin even looks the part of the young cigarette
factory
worker and manages to blend into the role. In last fall's staging, we were
constantly
reminded of the larger-than-life presence of Denyce Graves playing Carmen,
not
Carmen as played by Denyce Graves. There's a subtle and important
difference.
In an interesting twist, Vizin resides in our own backyard; after coming to
the United
States in 2001, she moved to Aurora in 2004. Since she's a local, let's hope
that
Lyric soon will invite her back.
But Vizin is not the only news of Lyric's second cast; she's surrounded by
excellence, with Italian tenor Vincenzo La Scola as the lovelorn Don Jose
and
American bass-baritone Mark S. Doss as the toreador Escamillo. Plus, Lyric
goers
can savor the luxury casting of American soprano Patricia Racette in the
small but
vital role of the country girl Micaela.
Fresh from the world premiere of "An American Tragedy" at the Met, Racette
continues to prove her versatility, excelling in such contemporary works but
also in
the standard (Gounod's "Faust") and exotic repertory (Janacek's "Jenufa").
Her Act
3 aria where she prays for God's guidance is one of many standout moments in
this
production.
As Escamillo, Doss skillfully conveys the toreador's swagger and is more
convincing
than his fall predecessor was in the part. La Scola, whose voice seemed a
bit grainy
early on, has the more difficult assignment. Though his Act 2 Flower Song
sounded
a little choppy, by the time of his final cri de coeur of "Ma Carmen adoree!,"
La
Scola had decisively captured the anguished torment of the murderous Don
Jose.
Even better the second time around, Sir Andrew Davis exacted orchestral
fireworks
from Bizet's lush score. Last fall, conducting his first "Carmen," he was
hindered
occasionally by Graves' slower tempo preferences.
Also returning in supporting parts, Quinn Kelsey, Christian Van Horn,
Susanna
Phillips and David Cangelosi help make this a stellar, outstanding "Carmen." |
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