Most singers have found the “Habanera” the most difficult aria of the title role, but Costa-Jackson sang it with pizzazz as she used the entire stage, over which the chorus was spread out, to demonstrate the vagaries of the rebellious love bird.Ĭosta-Jackson can dance, so the “Gypsy Song” was great fun as she and her companions whirled from floor to table and back again. Women love this character if they agree with her and hate her if they don’t. This artist’s Carmen knows her worth and she will defy the cultural norms of her time for the right to live her life her own way. Hers was a fine interpretation then, but both her distinctive voice and her sensitive interpretation have grown immensely since that time. Growing Into The IconĪ few years ago, I saw Ginger Costa-Jackson portray Carmen at San Francisco Opera in a novel production by Calixto Bieito. Micaela wore the “Jupe bleue” mentioned in the libretto, while the soldiers sported large pale blue hats and matching coats with gold braid over cream colored pants.

Meanwhile Carmen’s attire saw colorful evolution over the course of the night. For the first act, Carmen wore black, but by the time the bullfight rolled around she wore red. James Schuette’s costumes dressed the cigarette factory workers and most of the townspeople in neutrals. That scene blazed with Designer Chris Rynne’s red lighting at the tragic finale. In Act three we were greeted by an ancient ruin and for the final act we saw the entrance to the bull ring.

Keith Brumley provided a tall facade for the soldiers in the first act and a rustic cafe with tables under a huge candle-lit chandelier for Act two. That was the show Lang and Conductor Yves Abel gave San Diegans. In 1875, the composer described his last opera as a work full of color and melody. Kyle Lang was both stage director and choreographer of this thoughtful and elegant production that began with two male dancers, Laurence Gonzalez and Lester Gonzalez, as a soldier and a bullfighter dancing for supremacy during the the overture. On March 31, 2019, San Diego Opera presented Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen” to a mostly sold out audience at the Civic Theatre.

Carmen opera san diego