To date I have had to follow the progress of the wonderful Glyndeborne festival from afar – but next year I fully intend to be in the position to attend one of the performances.

This year one of the highlights has been the opera Carmen and reading a recent review of the performance and artists made me think about a few things regarding this particular opera by Bizet.

It happens to be one of my absolute favourites but there is something about this work so that there is always an element of danger attached to a production; a good Carmen will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish – a bad Carmen will not only make you wish you had brought your iPod/good book with you but can have you searching for your car keys before the end of the first Act.

Thankfully I have only ever had the misfortune to capture one bad production – and it was truly awful – but I wont name and shame here as to when, who and where.

Without a doubt my favourite production to date is one from 1987 with Agnes Baltsa, Jose Carreras and Samuel Ramey produced at The Met in New York and conducted by James Levine. Agnes does a Carmen who inspires in the audience what she inspires in Don Jose - you love her one minute and want to biff her the next…

And this is refreshing and exciting to me; the character of Carmen is one that can be so boringly cliched in that many often seem to think that Carmen has to be portrayed as sluttishly as possible in order to make her believable. This can make Carmen appear no different to that girl you went to school with, or who stole your boyfriend the other night…

And as for thin, pale and blonde Carmens – somehow they just don’t look right…

Above: Jose Carreras and Agnes Baltsa in the thrilling climax of Carmen - 1987, New York Met.