By Ken Winters [The Globe and Mail, 1 October 2005]

Georges Bizet's Carmen, one of the most popular operas ever written, returned to the Canadian Opera Company Thursday night, after an absence of 12 years, in an international co-production with Opéra de Montréal and the San Diego Opera. One can only wonder if this entirely admirable money-saving device backfired, turning into a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.