When Carmen confronted fate’s implacability in her Act 3 “card” aria, Sproule’s voice grew from a hush into a surge of almost raw intensity.Įven though Carmen’s music doesn’t center on high notes, Sproule’s voice soared aloft with an ease and vibrancy that made the occasional vaulting phrases into visceral expressions of Carmen’s courage in the face of doom. When Sproule’s voice reached out to give a gentle caress to whichever man caught Carmen’s eye, the allure registered instantly.Īnd as Carmen’s romance with one of those men-the jealous Don José-went sour, the sheer abandon of Sproule’s singing captured the power of the doomed heroine’s refusal to let him cling to her. Right from her opening “Habanera,” this Carmen’s lusty tones showed that she was a larger-than-life figure.Įspecially in the “Habanera” and “Seguidilla,” Sproule complemented the lustiness with a lightness that brought out Carmen’s flirtatious, mercurial side. In the opening-night performance Friday at the Wortham Theater Center, mezzo-soprano Carolyn Sproule brought the title role an earthy, full-throated voice that exuded Carmen’s rebelliousness and free spirit. Nevertheless, Houston Grand Opera’s revival conveys the iconic tale’s drama and passion more powerfully to the ear than the eye. The director-choreographer marshals 13 dancers in addition to the cast Georges Bizet’s score calls for, and Ashford’s troupe goes into action even before the singers do.

Rob Ashford’s production of Carmen works hard to be lively. Carolyn Sproule and Richard Trey Smagur star in Bizet’s Carmen at Houston Grand Opera.

Carmen opera orchestra