The Royal Opera’s 2018 Carmen directed by Barrie Kosky was unpopular and short-lived, for being too minimalist and too weird. This new production directed by Damiano Michieletto is still minimalist — all plastic chairs and tacky bead curtains (set designed by Paolo Fantin) — but it treats Bizet’s grand, beloved opera for what it is: a domestic, psychological character study of two toxic characters trapped in a doomed infatuation. Fairly static staging reminds us that the real story is happening in their minds, not their bodies.

Where the production might look cheap, it sounds like a million dollars, having assembled an absolutely world-class cast. Russian mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina was a member of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme 2017–19, and has since performed her Carmen all over the world. While maintaining astounding control (and a meaty lower range), her interpretation is every bit as charismatic, unpredictable, and theatrical as you could dream for the iconic role. She’s an actress as well as a singer, and is happy to sing on the edge of period convention in order to put the character first.

Conductor Antonello Manacorda leads the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in a masterful playing that is every bit as rousing and exciting as Bizet’s glorious score. “Habanera” is taken surprisingly slowly, but it works. All the way through, the music serves the story (not the other way around).

The Royal Opera’s wildly popular 2006 production of Carmen directed by Francesca Zambello gave us camp, period glamour, and heightened emotions: all of that is missing from this new production. Patrons forking out £245 a ticket for this most popular and accessible of operas might feel a bit cheated out of the “Velvet, Gilt and Glamour” they were hoping for.

Prends garde à toi at the Royal Opera House, 5 April – 31 May 2024.