Hervé Niquet’s Carmen races out of the traps with bright, bracing, bristling period instrument bravura, brisk, propulsive tempi stoking up the energy and excitement to boiling point. Saturated with Spanish heat and martial pomp, it’s all quite exhilarating when it doesn’t, occasionally, feel a little exhausting.

Much of the adrenaline comes from its live recording in Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles, caught in embracingly direct sound by Manuel Mochino. It’s a satisfyingly charged reading for those who prefer their Carmens hot-blooded and passionate. Those of gentler dispositions will be reassured to know that Niquet, even so, maintains a largely secure control of the excitable proceedings, providing due emphasis on lyricism, colour and drama – the Entr’actes for Acts II and IV perfectly balletic, that for Act III as limpid as it is liquid – with crisp, clear, appropriately theatrical textures throughout.

But Carmen’s success rests or falls, of course, on Carmen. So particular interest lies in the debut as the titular sultry seductress of the enveloping dark-velvet mezzo of Adèle Charvet, one of the most interesting French voices to emerge in recent years.

Happily, there is much to admire in Charvet’s vividly phrased, wholeheartedly delivered performance, one marked by psychological acuity and emotional intelligence. Eschewing the spotlight-grabbing approach of a Callas, a Norman, or a Bumbry (all differently recommendable in their own ways) she stresses instead idiomatic nuance and a more appreciable vulnerability and believability. A studied studio recording of the role from her will be something to anticipate.

Julien Behr’s Don José provides ardently lyrical support, as do Florie Valiquette’s brightly characterised Micaëla, Alexandre Duhamel’s virile Escamillo, and a strong-in-depth cast of others, Ambroisine Bré’s Mercédès first among equals.   

Niquet’s driven urgency may not be to everyone’s liking – those attached to the lush, symphonic takes by Beecham, Kleiber and Solti will trip over themselves finding fault – but there is much to surprise, admire and appreciate here, not least the obvious qualities brought to bear by the all-French forces. Whether it is more authentic than John Eliot Gardiner’s current go-to period performance on Naxos CD and BelAir Classiques DVD/Blu-ray will be a matter of taste and choice.

Listen on Apple Music

Composer: Bizet
Work: Carmen
Performers: Adèle Charvet ms, Opéra Royal de Versailles/Hervé Niquet
Label: Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS165 (2CD)