Bizet - Carmen / Mehta, Ewing, Lima, Royal Opera [VHS]

Vaduva if nothing else
Lima's performance is very satisfying, but I treasure this production for the art of Vaduva, who inhabits the role of Micaela. It isn't difficult to get a good singer who will look like the sweet village girl and sing the notes prettily. Vaduva, however, makes Micaela a real person, one with whom we can actually identify; her interpretation adds great depth to the logic of the story. All that, plus her exquisite phrasing. As this is an excellent production, there is no reason at all NOT to buy this version of Carmen -- providing you also get a CD with one of opera history's great (singing) Don Joses combined with a great Carmen interpreter. NOTE: THIS IS MEANT TO BE A FIVE STAR REVIEW, BUT AMAZON'S EDIT -- OR MY COMPUTER -- WON'T LET ME CORRECT THE ERROR.

Fantastic - a Kids and Mom review of ROH's "Carmen"
This was the second Opera we purchased for our home and I have to say that it is just marvelous. The production quality is fantastic and taken as a whole this Carmen is riveting entertainment. So much so that my 6 year-old daughter loves it; and my 4 year-old son - while he can't sit still to watch - loves to listen to Bizet's superb music while he plays with his trains. Maria Ewing is a marvelous and compelling Carmen: I cannot imagine anyone else in this role now. She is young and feisty and very believable. Beautiful voice. Five Stars. Sound quality is outstanding. Acting and costuming is very good, as well. If you purchase only one opera for yourself and your children, I would make it this one. Note for Parents: There is mock violence in this video and even worse cigarette smoking (Carmen works in a cigarette factory afterall) so be prepared with that 'no smoking' lecture.

Nice singing; poor English subtitles
I like this opera mostly because the lead female singer Maria Ewing has an unusually silky smooth voice. It's an expensive stage production with fancy props, although sometimes the recording seems less than ideal, being loud at times and hard to hear at other times. And the English subtitles miss about 30% of what's going on. I fixed this problem by looking up translations on the internet. The commentators often call Carmen a complex character. I don't find her too complex, though. Girl dates guy, girl gets tired of guy, girl dates a different guy - seems simple enough to me! The story is a tragedy, so if you are looking for a happy opera, I recommend Mozart's The Magical Flute instead. Otherwise, it is a good performance.

Georges Bizet - Carmen - ROH Covent garden
This is the 2nd video/DVD of the opera Carmen by Bizet that I have seen - 2 different productions. I like this DVD because it includes English subtitles - perfect for my use as a college music history teacher. Ths music is excellent from the orchestra to the singers. I do have one complaint with the interpretation. The final scene where Don Jose kills Carmen was a little cheesy. Several of my students found the Choreography (where he beats her before killing her) humorous. A bit immature on the student's part but none the less - I also did not think it was a believable interpretation of someone being abused then killed.

What are they saying?
The subtitles on this film are quite poorly done. There are large portions of singing or dialogue where there are no subtitles on the screen at all. Part of the fun of watching opera on DVD is to have an English translation of what is being sung or said right there in front of you. There is little excuse here as translations of Carmen are readily available from many sources. Hopefully, this is something that can be corrected in a future re-release as the performances were otherwise very good.