Carmen [Ellen Kent Opera] – Review – Bradford Alhambra

By Hazel Davis, February 2026

A vehement argument with my 14-year-old about whether Carmen was a proper villain or whether José was a big man-baby, a handbag war with the woman next to me, and several coughing fits behind and in front. Another standard night at the opera.

We were at Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre for Ellen Kent’s Farewell Opera Tour, featuring the Carmen–Madama Butterfly dream team. Carmen is the bangiest of all the operas, with the ‘hits’ ‘Habanera’ and ‘Toreador’s Song’. You’re almost guaranteed not to go wrong with a sexy lady baddie, buxom wenches, a crime of passion and a larger-than-life bullfighter. Ellen Kent has been touring opera and ballet for the last 33 years, and was the first producer to put on a major tour of foreign opera on the British theatre circuit. This is her final go on the rodeo.

However, this production didn’t quite hit the mark, despite the easy wins.

There are those awful moments when you wonder whether an actor has made the decisions they’ve made to further the character’s development, or bring a fresh interpretation, or whether it’s just… wrong.

But Mariia Davydova is a spectacular singer. She has astonishing vocal control and handled the role of Carmen beautifully, musically. However, we were all there to see a fiery gypsy girl we couldn’t take our eyes off, and in this she fell slightly short. Her flame-haired Carmen was a smiling assassin, reserved in demeanour and, therefore, not totally believable as the siren luring the hapless Don José away from his Micaëla. When she launched into the main banger, ‘Habanera’, it almost felt like there might be another, better, version to come later.

“Very watchable”

Hovhannes Andreasyan’s Don José was similarly lacklustre, his passion for Carmen not truly coming through until the final scenes (where, to be fair, he really pulled it out of the bag). As a couple, they were confusing. Was he really that into her? Was she teasing him? Was she smiling? (Sometimes, yes, but it wasn’t always clear whether this was direction, or because she just didn’t know quite what to do with her face.)

Through it all, Micaëla, played beautifully by Viktoria Melnyk, was the stalwart, both emotionally and musically. Her strong, sweet soprano perfectly matched the saintly character, and her love for Don José was totally believable. Her ‘Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante’ (basically: “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, I’m begging of you please don’t take my man, but I’m not scared”) was heartfelt and engaging. It’s hard to imagine longing for the times this supposedly boring character was back on stage, in an opera as thrilling as this should be.

The chorus was similarly robust, musically, and very watchable, bringing some of the old Carmen spirit to proceedings. And the whole thing was underscored beautifully, if sometimes hesitantly, by the orchestra.

But it was Escamillo, the ludicrous toreador, who really stole the show. You could almost hear the ripple every time Iurie Gisca bounced back on stage, giving it 120% every time, as though he was in a totally different production. It was he who got the biggest cheer at the end, and it was him we talked about in the car afterwards. Sure, it’s easy to garner applause for such a showpiece character, but then I’d argue you could say the same about Carmen…

Hazel Davis( Writer )

Hazel Davis lives in West Yorkshire and has been a journalist for most of the UK national newspapers and many magazines, cutting her teeth on a classical music magazine. She’s the lead singer in a country band (Mustard County), plays trumpet in a wind band and big band and cornet in a brass band. When she’s not playing music or writing about it, she’s usually thinking about it.

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