Trussel a Solid, New Don Jose in ‘Carmen’

Singing the role of Don Jose in L.A. Opera’s continuing run of Bizet’s “Carmen” in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Jacque Trussel made his first appearance Wednesday night and proved again a convincing actor and a solid singing musician. A stalwart of many international companies, Trussel has sung only once before with L.A. Opera, but that appearance, as Eumete in “The Return of Ulysses” in 1997, was most memorable.

This second unequivocal success should be no surprise to Trussel’s followers; he has sung this Bizet role to considerable acclaim in both Europe and in North America for years. He certainly knows his way around its complexities.

In this performance, which he is scheduled to repeat Saturday and Sept. 25 (Placido Domingo returns to the role Tuesday), Trussel subtly and clearly makes the progression from a boyish, good-natured career soldier in Act 1 to the tragic spurned lover at the end of the opera. He is believable at every stage.

Though he looked fresh and unfatigued through most of this performance, Trussel showed some vocal inconsistencies. Dryness of sound colored some passages. In Act 4, however, Trussel achieved a healthy ring through the difficult final confrontation between Jose and Carmen, bestowing upon both the dramatic and vocal elements a spontaneity that added excitement to the total performance.