Don José was the role in which Franco Corelli made his stage début at Spoleto in 1951. This broadcast from five years later, by which time he had sung the part in nearly 20 productions, finds him in magnificent form, vocally and dramatically. It is an interesting example of early television opera. The soundtrack had obviously been pre-recorded; although the singers do their best, the miming and lip-sync isn’t always perfect, but the players and the cameras are set free and there is a lively sense of movement and action. Every opportunity is taken to accentuate Corelli’s impressive physical allure, whether in brooding close-ups, or the camera lingering on his famous long legs, or at the very end as he murders Carmen, when in her death throes she tears open his shirt to reveal his hairy chest.

There are several recordings of Corelli in this role: as well as the studio sets in French under Karajan and Maazel, there are some other Italian-language performances around, but this visual souvenir has a lot going for it. Belén Amparán, the Mexican-based mezzo who had a short career at the Metropolitan Opera in the mid-1950s, makes a lithe, humorous Carmen.

She certainly has a feeling for the camera, and has a great rapport with all her leading men. Elda Ribetti, the Micaëla, however, looks nervous, yet the whole sequence leading up to ‘Parle-moi de ma mère’ goes well, and she and Corelli make the duet into something intimate and touching. Anselmo Colzani is a portly Escamillo, although he sings ‘Toreador attendo’ with enough vigour.

Despite its age and the slightly hazy picture quality, this production still impresses with its visual imagery, the effective traditional costumes by Piero Zuffi and the general sense of mounting tension. Corelli looks completely possessed in the final duet. Even though this is mostly a curiosity (and essential for every Corelli fan), for historians of televised opera it’s well worth viewing. By the end of the 1950s taping techniques were well-advanced so the thought of such a live presentation would have been outmoded.