Justin Davidson

“I start with them not just because the composer believed they were the third principal character, on a par with the Macbeth spouses, but also because they open the opera. “What have you done?” they sing in gleeful horror as the slithering orchestra makes it clear that the answer is not good.”

“The answer, of course, is all of the above.”

“Despite its beauty and power, the Met’s Innocence had me wanting to run.”

“The big number arrives, characters emote, high notes ring and ring and ring again … and the aria subsides unmemorably, without leaving the ozone tang that signals a bolt of musical lightning.”

“When that happens, it means your Carmen has a problem.”