Spurred on by my daughter Jenny’s desire to see her first live professional opera, we made our plans to see Portland Opera‘s production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen a few weeks ago, just before Valentine’s Day. After a wonderful early dinner out, we joined the crowds streaming in to the Keller Auditorium in great anticipation of the performance. The company consists of the Portland Opera Orchestra, conducted by George Manahan; nearly four dozen adult chorus members and 18 children’s chorus members; a number of resident artists; and guest performers. This year, it’s 50th, the season consists of five operas, with Showboat being next on the program. The organization works hard to promote opera, offering a pre-performance introduction to the opera followed by post-performance Q & A sessions with some of the artists. (Unfortunately, time constraints prevented us from attending either one on the evening of our visit.) It also sponsors Portland Opera To Go, offering public and school performances throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington to expose a wider audience to the genre. This year the offering is a 50-minute bilingual adaptation of The Barber of Seville. On this Tuesday evening, the house, while not sold out, was impressively full. This being Portland, audience members wore a range of dress, from evening gowns to denim; and while I expected a mostly middle-aged and older crowd, I was pleased to note a broad representation from every age group. From the first notes of the overture, we were fully engaged in the production, awed by the massive, impressive sets; the stage full of performers and their magnificent voices. Sandra Piques Eddy was a magnificent Carmen: powerful, playful, unapologetic and unashamed of who she was. One aspect of the performance especially appealed to us. As each act opened, a pair of dancers (Glenda Sol Koeraus and Antonio Granjero) performed a brief dance which served as a sort of foreshadowing of the events to play out. At first this dance was blended into the movements of the other actors on the stage, part of the scene. However, preceding the final Act 4, they performed a stunning, lengthy flamenco-style dance on the apron of the stage, fronting the main curtain. It encapsulated all the preceding interactions between Carmen and her suitors and the climax to come in all the passion of the dance and the percussion of the dancers’ feet and hands. What a brilliant, moving enhancement to an already powerful work. Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed our night at the opera and are looking forward to seeing future productions, whether in our hometown or, better yet, in one of the world’s magnificent opera houses. Next stop: Milan, Paris, Barcelona? — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor