Georges Bizet: Carmen – Claudio Abbado (1977) Recording Review

This recording belongs to the oft Carmen recordings described as reference. Personally, I listened the first time to it years ago, while some friends of mine were studying it for a student representation a few years ago. The cast has a bunch of great names of the time, who were all well known as being great opponents of their roles.

So, as with every specific article on my blog, it was time to revisit it over the last few days with a few more years of listening experience. At first, I was quite amazed by the nice, transparent sound of the recording, thinking that Abbado does a great job. But while listening, I must admit that, in my view, he lacks a little of the fire and emotion that belong to this opera. Ultimately, it is a balanced and detailed conducting—not really dull, but perhaps too restrained in comparison to others.Here is a corrected and more natural-sounding version:

Teresa Berganza, as Carmen, has a truly beautiful mezzo timbre and exactly the right voice for the role. Hers could have been a great Carmen, but in my view, her approach to singing it is overly intellectualized. And Carmen is anything but an intellectual character. Is it her, or is it the production? Listening to her live recordings, she always leaned a bit toward the cold side, but never quite to the extent she does here. If you listen to the Habanera at the beginning or the Seguidilla later on, she simply lacks the sensuality that Carmen undoubtedly should have.

Plácido Domingo sings Don José here. He made another studio recording under Solti a few years earlier, and a film with Maazel a few years later, so he was obviously a well-known contender for this role. But here, I am disappointed. His performance is too streamlined and too restrained. It is a pity, because Domingo’s voice is not only beautiful but also a perfect fit for this Fach. However, his Flower Song is quite uninteresting, and he even sounds rather strained at the end of the aria.

Sherrill Milnes sings very well, as he almost always does, even if his timbre is not personally one of my favorites. He has a great voice, and the role is well sung, but his performance is also rather streamlined. In the Toreador Song, he could make a lot more of the story he is recounting; instead, it is simply nicely sung, which is a pity for such a straightforward role.

Micaela is also quite straightforward, and very well sung by Ileana Cotrubas. Her ‘Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante’ is movingly sung, beautifully capturing not only Micaela’s vulnerability, but also her courage.

One aspect that may play a role is that there are no native French speakers, and in some cases, the singers seem to struggle with the text. However, this shouldn’t necessarily be an excuse; Fritz Reiner’s recording also features an international cast, yet it doesn’t suffer from this problem.

So, in the end, this is quite a disappointing recording in my view. It lacks fire and sensuality, and the constant erotic tension that should emanate from Carmen is completely missing. It is nicely played.

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