Splendid sets give a truly professional touch to Walmsley Church (Egerton) Operatic Society's production of "Carmen," which opened on Saturday and runs all this week. Blessed with a large and effective chorus the big moments come over extremely well with all the necessary fire and impact.
In the title role, Jean Unsworth looks the part and has a well-focused, powerful voice equal to anything demanded of her. Ann Haslam as Micaela sings attractively and brings a great deal of charm to the part. The Toreador, Escamillo, played by Edwin Williams, has a pleasing dark tone, while on the acting side Donald Howcroft brings a strong personality to the part of Zuniga.
The society is to be congratulated for taking on the challenge of this, its first real opera production. In 66 previous productions over the past 43 years the society has covered a wide range of musical shows and plays.
The biggest success of this production is the second act. When the fine appearance of the stage and confident chorus and ensemble deliveries combine to their best effect. Happily, perhaps, the two main weaknesses tend to cancel each other out. One is the feeble translation, which is something of a tongue-twister as well as adding nothing to the drama. This is a great pity because compared with many operas "Carmen" has an especially strong text. The second problem was a general lack of clarity, which made the words hard to distinguish. This may be the fault of an exceptionally large (and splendid) hall, but the audience should read the programme notes. Otherwise, though it is in English, they will be lost.
Director: David Tyldesley; Musical Director: Tony Polding; Lighting: not credited in the programme but thoroughly deserved to be.
