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[Met Performance] CID:162560
Carmen
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, April 10, 1953 Matinee
Carmen (499)
Georges Bizet | Henri Meilhac/Ludovic Halévy
Review 1:
Review of Arthur Berger in the Herald Tribune
Brenda Lewis in “Carmen” For First Time at Met
Brenda Lewis is one of those versatile sopranos and singing actresses who are capable of coping with such mezzo roles as Carmen, and yesterday afternoon she sang it at the Metropolitan Opera House for the first time. The occasion was one of the special performances for students given under the auspices of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. The season’s final Metropolitan performance of Bizet’s “Carmen” also provided the opportunity of hearing Laura Castellano as Micaela at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Miss Lewis decidedly has the stage personality for Carmen and though one may not always sympathize with her taste, she has a remarkable gift for the acting and for forceful projection. Both of these are imperative to a successful Carmen. A certain voluptuousness also helps, and Miss Lewis has this too. If she had not carried on quite so much in Act II, this reporter would been inclined to consider her among our finest Carmens.
The sense that Act II was more or less all her own seemed to have reinforced with the inclination to do almost anything she pleased. Carmen is, of course, temperamental and seductive, and a certain amount of yesterday’s flirtatiousness and passion were thoroughly appropriate. She danced the Seguidilla very gracefully and much of her stage action was planned with remarkable conscientiousness. But if Miss Lewis conceives Carmen as a vulgar character she should also remember that at no point should this vulgarity render the music and libretto vulgar.
Miss Lewis makes her audience feel too much the mammoth effort she is putting into a role and into her singing. The intensity is admirable, but it is better to feel a performer is not driving herself almost to the point where it is painful for her to keep going. Despite these reservations, Miss Lewis’ Carmen was a notable one, and it is to be hoped that as she becomes more at home in the part her portrayal will seem less forced. Miss Castellano did surprisingly well as Micaela. The young soprano does not have many such opportunities, and though her singing was not without its flaws, it was admirable in many ways under the circumstances.
The otherwise familiar cast included Giulio Gari as Don José, Frank Guarrera as Escamillo, and Norman Scott as Zuniga. Kurt Adler conducted.
Search by season: 1952-53
Search by title: Carmen,
Met careers
Carmen
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, April 10, 1953 Matinee
Carmen (499)
Georges Bizet | Henri Meilhac/Ludovic Halévy
- Carmen
- Brenda Lewis
- Don José
- Giulio Gari
- Micaela
- Laura Castellano
- Escamillo
- Frank Guarrera
- Frasquita
- Paula Lenchner
- Mercédès
- Hertha Glaz
- Remendado
- Alessio De Paolis
- Dancaïre
- George Cehanovsky
- Zuniga
- Norman Scott
- Moralès
- Algerd Brazis
- Dance
- Janet Collins
- Dance
- Loren Hightower
- Conductor
- Kurt Adler
Review 1:
Review of Arthur Berger in the Herald Tribune
Brenda Lewis in “Carmen” For First Time at Met
Brenda Lewis is one of those versatile sopranos and singing actresses who are capable of coping with such mezzo roles as Carmen, and yesterday afternoon she sang it at the Metropolitan Opera House for the first time. The occasion was one of the special performances for students given under the auspices of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. The season’s final Metropolitan performance of Bizet’s “Carmen” also provided the opportunity of hearing Laura Castellano as Micaela at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Miss Lewis decidedly has the stage personality for Carmen and though one may not always sympathize with her taste, she has a remarkable gift for the acting and for forceful projection. Both of these are imperative to a successful Carmen. A certain voluptuousness also helps, and Miss Lewis has this too. If she had not carried on quite so much in Act II, this reporter would been inclined to consider her among our finest Carmens.
The sense that Act II was more or less all her own seemed to have reinforced with the inclination to do almost anything she pleased. Carmen is, of course, temperamental and seductive, and a certain amount of yesterday’s flirtatiousness and passion were thoroughly appropriate. She danced the Seguidilla very gracefully and much of her stage action was planned with remarkable conscientiousness. But if Miss Lewis conceives Carmen as a vulgar character she should also remember that at no point should this vulgarity render the music and libretto vulgar.
Miss Lewis makes her audience feel too much the mammoth effort she is putting into a role and into her singing. The intensity is admirable, but it is better to feel a performer is not driving herself almost to the point where it is painful for her to keep going. Despite these reservations, Miss Lewis’ Carmen was a notable one, and it is to be hoped that as she becomes more at home in the part her portrayal will seem less forced. Miss Castellano did surprisingly well as Micaela. The young soprano does not have many such opportunities, and though her singing was not without its flaws, it was admirable in many ways under the circumstances.
The otherwise familiar cast included Giulio Gari as Don José, Frank Guarrera as Escamillo, and Norman Scott as Zuniga. Kurt Adler conducted.
Search by season: 1952-53
Search by title: Carmen,
Met careers
- Kurt Adler [Conductor]
- Brenda Lewis [Carmen]
- Giulio Gari [Don José]
- Laura Castellano [Micaela]
- Frank Guarrera [Escamillo]
- Paula Lenchner [Frasquita]
- Hertha Glaz [Mercédès]
- Alessio De Paolis [Remendado]
- George Cehanovsky [Dancaïre]
- Norman Scott [Zuniga]
- Algerd Brazis [Moralès]
- Janet Collins [Dance]
- Loren Hightower [Dance]