Carmen

Ana Feleo with the Vox Angeli Children's Choir

Featuring:

Ana Feleo, soprano

Camille Lopez-Molina, soprano

Abdul Candao, tenor

Randy Gilongo, tenor

Noel Azcona, baritone

Margarita Gomez Giannelli, soprano

Kay Balajadia Liggayu, soprano

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Arturo Molina, conductor

A banner year for opera had its triumphant finish as Lyric Opera of the Philippines, Manila Downtown YMCA and the Manila Symphony Orchestra had a successful three night run of Carmen at the St. Cecilia’s Hall at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila. Seeing Carmen at this venue was going full circle for me since it was also in this exact place where I’ve seen my first ever live opera albeit a scaled down version of Così Fan Tutte. Bad weather threatened to put a damper on this production that caused major problems for those who caught the press preview the night before its formal opening. Fortunately, nature smiled upon Carmen and gave her no problems during the rest of its regular run. And I was very pleased to attend this for two nights enabling me to see both sets of casts.

The First Night

Soprano Camille Lopez-Molina

The opening night of Carmen featured soprano Camille Lopez-Molina portraying the title role while Abdul Candao playing her obsessed lover Don Jose. I’ve last seen Camille Lopez-Molina when she played Suzuki in Madame Butterfly months before. It took me quite a while to distance that image of the meek and passive Suzuki from the aggressive and flirty Carmen that she portrayed this time. She’s one of the most solid and reliable classical singers here and her Carmen proved just that. Abdul Candao’s Don Jose towered over Carmen although his voice felt a bit strained for me. But I liked how was terrifying he became during the latter parts when Don Jose’s love for Carmen became an uncontrollable obsession. The two had the unenviable task in setting the benchmark of these characters for a newbie like me. But the one who truly blew me away in this production was Margarita Gomez Giannelli. She was the biggest revelation of the night for me since I didn’t have any idea about her and her character Micaela before. And the aria Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante sung by her during the third act was the one that moved me the most in the entire opera. Jamie Sampana and Tanya Corcuera portrayed Frasquita and Mercedes respectively on this night.

Tenor Abdul Candao

The Second Night

Soprano Ana Feleo

The second night featured the second and last performance of Ana Feleo and Randy Gilongo as Carmen and Don Jose respectively. This pair, who also performed during the preview, was a very interesting one since I think that they didn’t really matched physically. While Gilongo’s voice sounded very secure and imposing, it was difficult for me to be entirely convinced of his Don Jose since he lacked the demeanor and the stature. At times, he looked like a young boy when seen alongside a very feisty and assertive Ana Feleo as Carmen. Feleo’s Carmen was a very flirty and dangerous. At one point, she shoved Don Jose’s face into her generous cleavage that made me a bit worried since that might push the buttons of the elderly (and possibly very conservative) members of the audience. During the curtain call, Feleo was very emotional since she dedicated her performance to her father, the late Johnny Delgado. Kay Balajadia Liggayu, this show’s Micaela had the tough job of meeting my expectations. Alas, the sense of wonder and the amazement of experiencing things for the first time during the opening night couldn’t be duplicated on the second night. She was good but Margarita Gomez Gianelli on the opening night had set the bar so high. I guess that my reaction would be different as well if Kay Balajadia Liggayu was the first Micaela that I was able to see. On this night Jade Riccio and Roxy Aldiosa played Frasquita and Mercedes respectively.

Tenor Randy Gilongo

For both nights, Escamillo was played by Noel Azcona. I’ve seen him perform a bit during La Traviata and it’s nice to see him in a more prominent and memorable role. He probably caused a lot of people to have Toréador, en garde! Toréador! Toréador! stuck in their heads for days. Also gaining more exposure since the last time that I saw him was Jun Jaranilla as Zuñiga. Nomer Nival as Dancaro, Ivan Niccolo Nery as Remendado, and Greg de Leon as Morales portrayed the other supporting roles. The Vox Angeli Children’s Choir played the children’s roles in this production. The Manila Symphony Orchestra, led by Arturo Molina brought to life Georges Bizet's music when it accompanied the production during its entire run.

Manila Symphony Orchestra

The stage direction by Laurice Guillen focused a lot on the drama against a very stylized stage designed by Gino Gonzales who was also the costume designer. Choreography was done by Ina Feleo and lighting was by Monino Duque. The stage that resembled a bullring looked impressive with its heavy use of wood throughout. But this was the basic set throughout the opera and the lack of variety made things look harsh. The costumes were void of color in black and various shades of gray with occasional splashes of red. And just like the stage design, seeing too much of them made me wish for more variety. Thankfully, a heavy dose of blue in the lighting not just softened the stage during act three, but it was a welcome change of palette. It’s difficult to stage a full production of an opera at the St. Cecilia’s Hall due to its smaller size. For example the dance sequence felt cramped because of the size of the stage. But once I look back at the bare bones production of Così Fan Tutte earlier this year, this production of Carmen was quite a feat and I couldn’t believe that these two productions were even held at the same venue.