Metropolitan Opera Archives

Frank Guarrera, male winner of last season's Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air, made his debut with the company as Escamillo in the season's first Carmen performance, a benefit for the Smith College Scholarship Fund. Possessed of a resonant and well-focused voice and an easy stage manner, Mr. Guarrera successfully overcame many of the hazards of the virtually unsingable Toreador Song, and in the third and fourth acts displayed a gratifying warmth of tone. The role of Escamillo is not one from which to judge adequately a baritone's full attainments in matters of style and technique; but at least Mr. Guarrera's first appearance indicated that he is entitled to be included in the Metropolitan roster.

The rest of the cast was familiar, though Ramon Vinay's assignment to the part of Don Jose was unexpected, since he replaced the indisposed Kurt Baum (who in turn had replaced Jussi Björling in Il Trovatore three days earlier). Mr. Vinay's delivery of the music has gained in fluency, and his acting is more felicitous than it was when this reviewer last saw his Don Jose two years ago. Rise Stevens, the Carmen, took unusual pains to vocalize her music with an even scale and careful placement, although this eliminated the explosive and spread tones with which she used to overlay the melodic line, it also lessened the dramatic force of her performance.

Licia Albanese sang all of Micaela's music superbly, and made a fully believable character of the peasant girl. Thelma Votipka, Lucille Browning, George Cehanovsky, and Alessio de Paolis-Miss Stevens' associates in the quintet-were uniformly skillful, and the roles of Zuniga and Morales were capably handled by Lorenzo Alvary and John Baker. The choreography for the tavern scene and the interpolated dances in the fourth act appeared unchanged, but the ballet has obviously rehearsed a good deal, for the dancers kept together rather well. The stage direction was as feeble as it has been for years. Wilfred Pelletier conducted with uniformly good tempos.

Photograph of Frank Guarrera as Escamillo in Carmen by Louis Mélançon/Metropolitan Opera.

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