Opera Australia opens its Autumn Season in Melbourne with a new production of the crowd pleaser Carmen, and the Melbourne debut of mezzo Pamela Helen Stephen in the title role. Though visually and musically appealing, this production lacks the crucial emotional impact.

Originally staged in the UK, and directed by Francesca Zambella - she is famous, amongst other things, for her work with Disney - this version of Carmen has elements of a musical spectacular. Live donkeys, horses and even chickens grace the stage, and pre-publicity boasts of the Toreador’s costume being made in Spain. A simple, yet adaptable set consisting of the curved lines of ochre adobe walls double for the walls of a canyon, and Lillas Pastia’s tavern is about as rudimentary as you can get, with just a few wooden benches added to the scene. The excellent design enhances the perception of a smelly, dusty, unadorned, raw life – all that is missing are the flies.

Opening night saw mostly serviceable performances with few standouts. Tenor Rosario Spina (as Don Jose) seemed to be struggling to find the easy lyricism demanded by the music, and Joshua Bloom was a pleasant but unexciting Escamillo. As Micaela, soprano Hye Seoung Kwon almost stole the show with her exquisite singing, and her characterisation highlighted Micaela’s considerable courage – an attribute that is often missed in other interpretations.

In the title role, Pamela Helen Stephen showed she is a fine singer; however her interpretation of Carmen lacked the spark required to make her character believable, especially in the pivotal arias “Habanera” and “Card Aria”. I felt she was hampered by the director’s vision of Carmen as a symbol of the “new woman” – a, to my mind, facile construct of Carmen as a sort of feminist prototype. This interpretation conveniently overlooks Carmen’s first scenes, when she provocatively states she’ll only love a man who doesn’t love her, and subsequently, in a fight in the cigarette factory, draws a knife and slashes another woman. A Carmen who doesn’t ooze sexual charisma - which is, after all, her principal currency – and emotional volatility is, ultimately, somewhat boring.

Fine playing by Orchestra Victoria under the baton of Richard Hickox contributed to the musical success of the evening, though again I wished for a bit more passion, as opposed to pleasantness, from the music.

Despite many fine elements the overall impression of this Carmen was of a very well executed but dramatically flat rendition of this perennial opera favourite.