✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Opera

Carmen, Opera Holland Park review ★★★★★

02 Jun 22 – 24 Jun 22, Nine evening performances, and at 2PM on Sat 12 June

An exciting young cast and director breathe new life into a tune-filled classic

By Claudia Pritchard on 3/6/2022

Kezia Bienek as Carmen and Oliver Johnston as Don José at Opera Holland Park. Photo: Ali Wright
Kezia Bienek as Carmen and Oliver Johnston as Don José at Opera Holland Park. Photo: Ali Wright
Carmen, Opera Holland Park review 3 Carmen, Opera Holland Park review Claudia Pritchard
This is a golden era for singing in Britain, with many outstanding artists giving memorable performances.


In the past few days alone there have been notable appearances from the tenor Ed Lyon in Garsington's Orfeo, from Australian-born Lauren Fagan in Glyndebourne's The Wreckers and from a rising star in Thomas Atkins in Opera Holland Park's Eugene Onegin.


Opera Holland Park has a gift for spotting rising talent – Fagan was an impressive OHP Violetta in La Traviata, in 2018 and 2021. And such is the affection for the company that artists at the top of their game readily return to this musical home from home.


A new production of Bizet’s Carmen at OHP has a very special star in soprano Alison Langer, as Micaëla, the jilted girlfriend of flirty Carmen’s latest passing fancy, Don José, and a number of other attractive performances. Langer has recently turned in notable performances at OHP in the wonderful La Traviata and Un Ballo in Maschera.



The City of London Sinfonia and Opera Holland Park Chorus, conducted by Lee Reynolds. Photo: Ali Wright


But wonderful singing isn’t just about soloists. Opera Holland Park Chorus is a hugely talented musical entity, and in many ways this new Carmen belongs to the other men, women and children who people the stage.


As tobacco workers, soldiers, gypsies, smugglers, the crowd amassing for a bullfight, they bring Seville to London W8, with the help of designer takis and his adaptable set made up of conspiratorial nooks, crannies and grills. Also sparkling, in the pit, is the City of London Sinfonia, ripping into Bizet’s rocket-launcher overture under the baton of Lee Reynolds.


This is Reynolds’s OHP debut, and a very exciting one too. With breakneck tempi, he draws from the orchestra colours so bright you need sunglasses. I cannot wait to see and hear more of this conductor. He has a busy schedule ahead, so keep your eyes peeled.



Alison Langer is outstanding as Micaëla. Photo: Ali Wright


Director Cecilia Stinton finds every opportunity to show women in control of their lives in an opera whose main character is ultimately a victim. Carmen and her fellow factory workers call the shots, and when she is under attack it is loyal friend Mercédès who throws herself bodily at her attacker.


Carmen, Seville’s great seductress, is sensuously sung by mezzo-soprano Kezia Bienek, with tenor Oliver Johnson as her lumpen new follower Don Jose. Young as he is, Thomas Mole understands the hauteur of toreador Escamillo, the rock star of the bull ring. There is strong singing too from fellow baritone Jacob Phillips as upright Zuniga.


Ellie Edmonds is the feisty Mercédès, with trained dancer Natasha Agarwal fetching as partner in petty crime Frasquita.



Thomas Mole impresses as toreador Escamillo. Photo: Ali Wright


This dynamic cast teems with high energy around the wide stage and runway that is OHP’s format at the moment, the orchestra placed between the two. But with Covid awareness the house is still running at 75 per cent capacity. Restored to 100 per cent maybe we shall see again the simple, single stage area that many designers have ingeniously turned into a workable performance space, despite its shallowness and exceptional width.


In the meantime, this businesslike Carmen, the second of this year’s five operas, is well-paced, with minimal dialogue, and as ever, OHP showcases voices to listen out for in the future too.


Carmen is sung in French with English surtitles. Further performances are on 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22 and 24 June
by Claudia Pritchard

What Carmen, Opera Holland Park review
Where Opera Holland Park, Stable Yard, Holland Park, London , W8 6LU | MAP
Nearest tube High Street Kensington (underground)
When 02 Jun 22 – 24 Jun 22, Nine evening performances, and at 2PM on Sat 12 June
Price £22-£128
Website Click here for more information and booking



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 3–5 February
Things to do in London this weekend: 3–5 February
Gemma Arterton in Funny Woman, Sky Max (Photo: Sky)
What to watch on TV this week
London exhibitions on now — Peter Doig, Courtauld Gallery
Top 15 exhibitions on now in London

Editor's Picks

The Cunning Little Vixen was a highlight of Opera Holland Park 2021. Photo: Ali Wright
Opera Holland Park 2022
Anush Hovhannisyan and Samuel Dale Johnson as Tatyana and Onegin at Opera Holland Park. Photo: Ali Wright
Eugene Onegin, Opera Holland Park review
Ed Lyon and company in Orfeo at Garsington Opera. Photo: Craig Fuller
Orfeo, Garsington Opera review
Philip Glass's Akhnaten returns to ENO. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith
English National Opera 2022/23: the operas and artists
The Royal Albert Hall hosts most of the Prom concerts. Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou
BBC Proms 2022: the 10 best concerts
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is loved for its music – and its gardens. Photo: James Bellorini
Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2023
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

Opera Holland Park

Bizet



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×