There's an irony here in that three of the principal singers in this video "Carmen," filmed at the 1967 Salzburg Festival, went on three years later to repeat their roles in the first stereo recording of the dialogue version of the opera, with conductor Rafael Frueh-beck de Burgos for EMI.
That's certainly not the version employed here. Indeed, few conductors were more determined than Herbert von Karajan to present "Carmen" as a grand opera, complete with the Guiraud recitatives, expansive staging and an extended dance sequence drawing on Bizet's music for "The Fair Maid of Perth" and "L'Arle-sienne."Here, that takes place in Act 2, amid the intrigues at a brightly lit and unusually well-scrubbed tavern. Nor is that the only place this "Carmen" seems too clean by half. Witness the streets of Seville in Act 1 (where Karajan himself puts in a Hitchcock-like appearance as a smuggler in a sombrero) or Carmen's dazzling array of costumes, well beyond the budget of any cigarette-factory worker, even one who engages in transporting a little contraband on the side.
On the plus side, it's all very spiffily mounted and it's hard to resist the sheen and power of the orchestra, even at Karajan's sometimes overly deliberate tempos. And for what it's worth, those three overlapping singers - Brumby, Vickers and Freni - sound more at home here than they do amid the less grandiose trappings of Fruehbeck's more Spanish-flavored reading.
Vickers especially sounds more comfortable, his almost too-heroic tenor blossoming at the slower speeds, particularly in the quieter sections (e.g., the pianissimo ending to the Flower Song). And if anything, Freni makes an even more appealing Micaela, as fresh of voice as of manner.
Nonetheless, it is Bumbry who remains the main attraction, as should be the case with any Carmen. Smooth, sensuous and sure of herself, she is hardly the last word in Gypsy abandon, accepting her fate at Jose's hands with an almost bland resignation. But her singing is equally polished and seductive, perhaps more so than I have ever heard it, and it is nice to be reminded of why she once created such a stir, especially in this role.
Philips' laserdisc presentation is as classy as the film, with a sharp video image and a stereo sound-track that only occasionally takes on too hard an edge. (It also profits from an ideal layout, with the first and second acts each complete to a side.)
Currently, there are other opera-house "Carmens" on video, including one I haven't seen with Maria Ewing and the dialogue. Still, I suspect the strongest corrective and complement to this one is the 1984 Francesco Rosi film, which literally breathes the air of Andalusia with its dirt, dust, sweat and Gypsy passion.
Once available from RCA/Columbia, it also boasts Julia Migenes and Placido Domingo's verismo-like portrayals of Carmen and Don Jose. And say what you will about Lorin Maazel - I'd rather hear his pointing of the Seguidilla than Karajan's lifeless rendition. On the other hand, I do like the latter's treatment of the cigarette chorus, which, like the smoke itself, curls langorously in the air.
In short, I think this is due for a new transfer. And while they're at it, letterboxing wouldn't hurt.