So at home on the big stage

Fire-eaters and tumblers, dance, spectacle and drama, Raymond Gubbay parades them in abundance in his revival of Bizet's Carmen, in David Freeman's inspired in-the-round staging designed by David Roger. After his Savoy Opera debacle last year, Gubbay must feel he's back in business.

With its strong chorus presence and big set pieces like the Toreador's Song and the Habanera, Carmen is the best suited opera for arena treatment. Here, a snaking set provides promenade opportunity, while enclosing a sunken area which acts first as cigarette factory then, in a final visual coup, as bullring. Revised lighting (Andrew Bridge) brings welcome narrative clarity and focus.

That said, frequent operagoers used to the confines of a proscenium arch still take time to adjust to these wide open spaces, where eye contact occurs intermittently and the action faces different directions to satisfy everyone. Amplification, now state-of-the-art, is no longer a problem and the ear adapts to the slightly boxy orchestral sound.

The wonder is it still works. Peter Robinson, conducting, kept the pace brisk, and drew highly competent playing from the Royal Philharmonic. The large chorus sounds good but there were some lapses of ensemble. Imelda Drumm, who shares the title role with Victoria Simmons, has a fine line in spitting, chair-throwing and plate smashing as the gipsy girl, and sang and flounced with hot-blooded energy.

John Hudson, after a slow start, grew in warmth and expressiveness as Don José, with Leigh Melrose and Natasha Marsh accomplished as Escamillo and Micaela. The last scene, a double death in the afternoon, had the whole Albert Hall on the edge of its seat. See for yourself.

17 more performances. Information: 020 7838 3100.

Carmen