24 – 25 July
When Georges Bizet’s Carmen was first performed at the Opéra Comique in Paris in March 1875, it caused a tumult of scandalised horror – perhaps laced with a frisson of guilty delight. The audience booed and hissed Bizet’s version of Prosper Merimée’s tale of the wild, beautiful gypsy, simply known as Carmen. A femme fatale branded by contemporary reviewers as amoral and dangerous, flagrantly flaunting her desires and toying with her lovers in a manner that ran completely counter to the chaste feminine ideal of the time.
Today, however, Carmen is one of the world’s most popular operas, with its gripping story, iconic characters, flashes of humour and the brilliance of the music. Many of us grew up humming the bullfighter Escamillo’s aria Toréador – even if we didn’t know where it came from – and Carmen’s sensuous entrance aria Habanera – ‘L’amour est un oiseau rebelle’ – is instantly familiar.
Devon Opera’s Artistic Director Anna Gregory, who directed this slimmed-down production at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter (‘a rather unhelpful acoustic’, pronounced my opera pro companion), says that Carmen offers a key set of core repertoire roles for up-and-coming artists in opera worldwide : ‘Devon Opera, a charity, is a springboard for young singers debuting roles with an ensemble and experienced directors. So it’s a perfect choice for us.’
Sung in French, the quality of the voices was notable. Debuting in the title role, Emma Roberts deployed her seductive, dark, deep mezzo tones to manipulate the lovestruck Don José in contrast to the purity and sweetness of soprano Catherine Hooper’s innocent, God-fearing Micaëla. As the soldier Don José, Matthew Curtis’ beautiful tenor (another debut) took the audience through the throes of his descent from an ordered military life into the madness of an inevitably tragic passion.
The standout in every way was Dorset-born Tim Alexander as Escamillo, the bullfighter.
This young baritone has huge stage presence, projecting his strong bright tones into every corner of the theatre. From the moment he swept in to sing Toréador, the energy shifted up several gears. Arrogant, yes, but irresistible to Carmen – and to the audience. Poor Don José….
As Frasquita and Mercédès, Erin Alexander, an award-winning soprano, and mezzo Gemma Morsley made the most of their roles as Carmen’s fellow tobacco factory workers and all-round minxes, alternately bitching about Carmen then sticking up for her, later warning her about Don José’s return after the Tarot cards foretold her death.
A point of interest for me as a journalist mostly working in health policy, Erin is now Grange Park Opera’s SEN Specialist and is composing a song book to guide children’s communication and language skills.
Stuart Pendred’s long professional experience as a singer and actor was evident as the lieutenant Zuniga, commanding the stage whenever he appeared. And I can’t leave out the troop of gypsy children, confidently taking centre stage and singing delightedly as they picked pockets and filched wallets and watches.
Considering that Bizet scored his opera for a full orchestra, Devon Opera Music Director Pavel Timofeyevsky achieved a tour de force with his six-strong ensemble. He describes reducing the task of arranging such a brilliantly orchestrated opera for the limitations of a chamber ensemble as ‘one of the most exhilarating (and intimidating!) journeys I have undertaken’. While Pavel played and conducted from the piano the two violins, cello, flute (doubling as piccolo), clarinet, horn and a handful of offstage percussion instruments conveyed Carmen and José’s gamut of emotions from initial light-heartedness to darkness and eventual doom.
★★★★☆ Sarah Stacey, 25 July 2026
Photography credit: Rockrose Photography
