With “Tragic Love” as its motive, the Sacramento Opera opened this season in the Community Center Theatre with an exceptional production of the passion and betrayal found only in the famed tale of “Carmen.”

In a combination of expert stage direction and notable performances from the cast, this production marked a successful accomplishment for the actors as well as the technical and artistic directors.

The production, which featured Sacramento Opera debuts from five of its 11 principal cast members, was also a creative foundation for three of Sacramento State’s own opera sensations: Jason Detwiler and Janelle Laurenti, who both performed in last semester’s campus production of “The Marriage of Figaro,” and alumnus Thomas Rolf Truhitte.

Taking place in Spain, 1820, “Carmen” is the story of adoration gone wrong between a gypsy with a remarkable talent for seducing men and her lover Don Jose, whose dismissal for another leads Carmen to an untimely death.

The role of Carmen in this production went to mezzo-soprano Hillary Nicholson, whose presence on stage and obvious mastery of French in key solos such as the faster paced “Habanera” accentuated her enjoyable performance as the temptress.

Truhitte, as Don Jose, is just as worthy of praise for the realism that is seen through his tenor performance. One of the many highlights in the production is seen in Act 2, where Truhitte’s intense solo is performed with genuine sincerity.

It is always rare to witness a performance that surpasses even that of the leading role. However, in the case of soprano Amy Hansen, who made her debut as Micaela, the country girl who is deserted for Carmen by Don Jose, such a stellar performance deserves credit. Hansen’s solo in Act 3 was particularly moving, having been delivered from the heart with the internal strength that her character called for.

Richard Lewis, a baritone in the role of the toreador Escamillo, produces a delightfully confident and colorful performance as the man who challenges Jose’s position for Carmen’s affections and delivers heavily in the “Toreador Song.”

Gary Briggle’s successful stage direction can be further seen in the wonderful supporting performances by actors such as Jason Detwiler and Keir Murray, who both manage to add humor to their characters’ arrogance.

Delightfully choreographed and presented is the tavern scene in Act 2 among Carmen and her supporting gypsy friends: Janelle Laurenti as Frasquita, Sherri Weiler as Mercedes, Aram Barsamian as El Daincairo, and Joseph Meyers as El Remendado.

With only minor glitches in the lighting cues and projected English and Spanish supertitles, this production easily manages to achieve elevated levels of success.

The subtlety found in Joan Arhelger’s lighting techniques, particularly her use of projected shadows on the backdrop, are the unspoken deliberate details brilliantly used to enhance a chosen mood in the performance.

Ernest Fredric Knell’s chorus members, primarily as the citizens of Seville, are choreographed in such a way as to suggest nothing less than perfection. The children’s chorus under Jeri Clinger, too, was a detail that, together with the remainder of cast, added to the sheer brilliance of “Carmen.”

Even the simplistic set design works with this production of high physical action and numerous cast members.

Within a setting such as this, where a renowned story is accompanied by music so powerfully familiar to both veteran and first-time opera viewers alike, the pressure to deliver is not only expected, but also demanded by its patrons.

Because of this, Timm Rolek should be given a large portion of the credit towards the success of this production. His conducting of such a superb orchestra brought forth the familiar music of this opera consistently throughout the entire length of the performance and made possible the steady flow of rhythm enjoyed by the cast members in their beautiful renditions.

This first-rate production was both a technical and artistic success, a true embodiment of the genuine acting, directing and singing that Georges Bizet’s classical masterpiece “Carmen” commands and deserves.