She displayed an effortlessness throughout opening night, and seems to live comfortably up and down the registers of this score.

She holds her own and seems to fling down the gauntlet to singers and dancers alike, “I may not be the best dancer but I will be the best dancer you can get here tonight, so you better try me.”īest of all, I love what this French mezzo brings vocally to the role. In the second scene at her friend Lilas Pastia’s bar joint, when the flamenco dancers look as if they might rule the stage, Margaine steps out and dances not just for Officer Zuniga but takes a turn with flamenco star, Timo Nuñez. Then there’s that skip step off the ball of her high heel as if she might just hop and fly away, demanding freedom in the skies. She uses her body in other ways to show how she cares not a fig what others think: how on certain high notes, she drops down into something between a wide balletic plié and a peasant woman on a birthing chair. Margaine just has it – with a grounded sensuality that reminds me of Juliette Binoche. I’ll confess I have not been as fond of this opera or this role as others are, because I usually find the singer-actress working so hard at acting sexy. She’s beautiful, sensual, and so comfortable in her expressive body, you believe she lives and breathes as the powerful and voluptuous gypsy woman. Let’s start with Clémentine Margaine, who doesn’t just “play” Carmen, but rightfully judging from her creds in this role in multiple productions, she owns it. Clémentine Margaine as Carmen and Michael Todd Simpson as Escamillo in Carmen from Washington National Opera (Photo: Scott Suchman) For their sixtieth season opener, the company has rolled out the ever popular Georges Bizet opera but made the new-to-Washington production feel truly like a fresh take with stunning contemporary design elements that integrate with the rich musical palette of pleasing tunes, a taut spoken-based text that keeps the show moving, and the inclusion of flamenco dancing that is as first class as the singing. If opera is meant to be a true synthesis, bringing together the many art forms of music, singing, dance, acting, and the visual arts, then Washington National Opera’s Carmen has created a smashing “top drawer” example.

Carmen opera dc