CARMEN b'cast thoughts, 3

Nancy Fabiola Herrera is your basic central-casting Fiery Gypsy, good voice, nothing remarkable. (But how does a singing-actress bring something to Carmen that hasn't been done a bazillion times?)

Marcelo Alvarez is giving us a much more lyrical Don Jose than usual. His Flower Song had passages sung mezza voce that we're used to hearing "can belto." I thought it was lovely.

Lucio Gallo is a gifted basso buffo, but not an Escamillo. (The Met has made some strange Escamillo choices in recent years. Sergei Leiferkus?)

Two thumbs up for Krassimira Stoyanova's Micaela.