Carmen
Millennium Centre, Cardiff
4 stars

A SENSUAL and sun-drenched production of Georges Bizet’s celebrated Carmen hits the stage of the Wales Millennium Centre with all the impact of a bull tossing matadors aside.

Directors Patrice Cauriern’s and Moshe Leiser’s vision of this perennial audience favourite is lustily brought to life by the cast and an orchestra on top form.

We meet naive soldier Don Jose (Peter Wedd) in the Sevillan town square, initially  a languid and disinterested observer of the factory’s cigarette girls as they gossip, flirt, parade and fight their way through their break.

But taking centre stage, and everybody’s eye, is Alessandra Volpe’s Carmen. She is Carmen from her long dark hair to the tips of her barefoot toes.

Volpe is mesmerising as she entices and seduces every soldier in the square apart from the disinterested Don Jose. Not used to being ignored, Carmen contemptuously tosses a flower at the prone soldier.

They next meet when Don Jose has to arrest Carmen for fighting, yet the beautiful Gypsy girl easily seduces him into allowing her to escape and thereby sets up the tragic chain of events in their doomed relationship.

Volpe is an effortless scene-stealer whenever she is on stage both in her singing and performance as the firecracker Carmen and she is ably supported by Wedd who sings and acts his socks off to present Don Jose as a weak and jealous lover.

In the supporting cast Jessica Muirhead as Micaela is wholly convincing as the virtuous village girl who loves Don Jose and sings beautifully of her love for the wretched soldier.

Kostas Smoriginas makes his mark too as the preening matador Escamillo, who woos Carmen from the moment he meets her.

Singing and acting apart, it is the small details that really sets this production apart.

From the staccato dance moves of the women singers as they strut their stuff in the tavern through to the cheeky chorus of small boys aping and mocking the soldiers, the detail is superb and adds enormously to our enjoyment.

But it is the sum of all these gorgeous performances that makes this such a wonderful evening.

The roles of Carmen, Don Jose and Escamillo will be sung by others at some performances so check the production dates carefully if you want to see the opening night cast.

Runs at the Millennium Centre and on tour until November 27, details: wno.org.uk