Act 1 was colourful and charming with bright music including the famous 'Habanera', sang superbly by Nadia Stoianova, who was stunning throughout. A beautiful moment occurred early on when a real, live donkey was led on stage during the opening scene in the town. He promptly decided he wasn’t going anywhere when it was his cue to exit, and stubbornly stood fast as the players did their best to push him off stage, much to the amusement of the audience.
Stoianova was excellent as the provocative "aggravatrice" Carmen: sauntering about the stage, hips first, to Bizet’s wonderfully suggestive score; it was impossible not to be bewitched by her. I must say I wasn’t really surprised that Don José fell for her, despite the fact that she openly warned him that no good would come from her loving him. Poor chap.Act 2 included the 'Toreador Song' excellently delivered by Iurie Gisca as the bullfighter Escamillo. And more opportunities for aggressive fervour between Carmen and Don José before the, both literally and figuratively, darker third act, which contained a pleasing amount of cloak flourishing. Another treat was Caspian the Horse, a gorgeous, white stallion who was ridden on stage and performed a series of tricks at the beginning of Act 4.
I found the surtitles a little distracting, and would have preferred not to have had them at all as I sometimes found myself reading them instead of watching the action on stage. Some of the translations felt a little clumsy, and took away from the poetry of the libretto, which was unfortunate; particularly when one of the performers sang of being ‘installed in a castle’.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and found everything an opera-cynic is told about how the hours fly by to be true. Next reasonable step: The Ring Cycle.