When it comes to Carmen, which is one of my favourite operas, my favourites are the 1984 film with Julia Migenes-Johnson and the 1967 film/production with Grace Bumbry and Jon Vickers. This 2007 production is very good, albeit it is not a truly great one. For me the only things I didn't like were some rather limited and unauthentic setting and the handsome and well-sung but rather uncompelling Escamillo that was Ildebrando D'Arcangello. The costumes are wonderful, the music and story are magnificent and the picture quality and sound are very effective. The sexiness and passion of the opera is still there, thanks to the scintillating chemistry of the leads, the Spanish flavour embodied by the orchestra and the electrifying conducting of Antonio Pappano. As seductive, flirtatious and wonderful as Anna Caterina Antonacci is as Carmen, and there is a very heartfelt Micaela too, it is Jonas Kaufmann's superb Don Jose that captivates here. All in all, could've been better, but worth catching. 8/10 Bethany Cox
