A traditional take on the classic opera, visually appealing but cluttered at times. Carmen was neither seductive nor compelling, and unfortunately couldn’t be heard at times (due to lack of projection, staging, singing in low register). She handled the athletic moments well, especially the fight scene in act 1. Micaëla shone as the most dynamic and interesting character, which is odd, because she is intended to be the opposite in this story. Don Jose demonstrated vocal power with some soaring tenor notes, but the chemistry was not evident between them. Escamillo arrived on a docile and well-behaved beautiful horse, he had some moments of swagger but doesn’t fight particularly well for a bullfighter. There was some terrific small ensemble singing. The Orchestra played splendidly, albeit a bit conservatively. Special nods go to the onstage/backstage brass players throughout and to the outstanding oboe solo work in Act 2.

The live horse performed beautifully. Carmen was good with the castanets, not so much with singing. Don Jose's voice could hardly be heard past the fifth row of seats. The poor singer that had to sing on the horse's back was visibly uncomfortable - with good reason. The shabby decor and drab costumes contributed to the overall feeling of being present at a lack-luster second rate performance.

The direction of the staging is too literal, one would appreciate some abstraction to "liberate" the stage of all the cluster and people. Acoustics is pretty bad, and the main character is often lost in the stage. SF opera needs to learn how to challenge the audience with the staging and modern interpretation of these classic works. One bright exception is Michaela, I thoroughly enjoyed here performance.