"Carmen"

I've heard it more than any opera. but then it's the most producd opera ever.

the current SFO production has been controversial because it lacks the usual bombast. reset in Franco's Spain this version features Anne Sofie von Otter in a reinterpretation of the role. she looks as much like our notion of Carmen as Lillian Gish. when she comes out in pink rather than the traditional red we get a hint that this won't be the outwardly incendiary vixen we usually see. von Otter gives a complex & psychological performance.

at first I was bored with this mounting of the Bizet. & there are directorial missteps. but by the time the stark ending comes it's most compeling.