WHEN Angela Hogan steps on stage at the Canberra Theatre as the fiery gypsy Carmen in Bizet’s opera of the same name, it’ll be nothing new for her. 

For the Melbourne-trained singer played Carmen in Canberra during 2012 when she worked with Melbourne Opera, and has toured in the role in provincial China twice for the Australian International Opera Company. 

“Touring around China was an amazing experience and it’s all allowed me to understand Carmen’s character more and more over time, developing into the role,” she tells me.

“Chinese people love western opera and they have some of the most beautiful opera houses in the world with beautiful acoustics, but they prefer a 19th century version of ‘Carmen’.” 

Now Hogan sings the role in the 25th anniversary national tour for Opera Australia (OA) in a new production updated by director and choreographer Matthew Barclay from the 1870s to Generalissimo Francisco Franco’s socially conservative 1950s Spain.

Hogan, who has sung twice in John Bell’s Nazi-era production of “Tosca”, is untroubled by Barclay’s updating, saying, “it feels right”. Besides, the original setting where Carmen works in a cigarette factory was already pretty modern.

The important and most modern feature for her is the role of Carmen herself, “a spirited woman who doesn’t want to abide by the convention of the time, who wants her freedom, who doesn’t want to settle down”.

Hogan agrees with me that the lovelorn soldier at the centre of the drama, Don José, is a terrible wimp.

“He’s a bit of a wimp and at the end of the day his ideals are about loyalty as a soldier, loyalty to his mum and loyalty to Micaela [José’s hometown girl]… he can’t cope with Carmen’s extremist views that freedom is the most important thing – he just can’t hack it.”

The doomed relationship is a mismatch, but that’s probably what drew them to each other, she thinks.

Hogan has the perfect voice to play Carmen, one of the rare leads in opera given to a mezzo soprano.

“When I started studying at the Victorian College of the Arts I studied as a soprano, but my voice confused a few teachers because I have the low notes, but I also have the high notes… I had to decide where I was,” she says.

Hogan wasn’t always going to be an opera singer, and was 21 before seeing her first opera, “The Magic Flute”. From age five she wrote her own music and later performed in musicals, jazz ensembles and even heavy rock before coming to opera, where the singing is different, but with some similarity to rock.

“You have to find the part of your voice where the beauty lies,” she says.

But finding it brings the greatest responsibility for an opera singer, looking after one’s “instrument” – the voice – and taking care of one’s general health.

“An opera singer won’t be going out to the pub the night before the show,” Hogan says. 

“It’s not so much the drink, but you can’t be yelling at each other over the customers. That’s the worst thing for your voice.”

Now she’s on the road for a daunting four-month tour to every state, and all the regional centres.

She’s from Bendigo, and it tickles her to imagine how it might have been if she’d had the opportunity as a kid to work with OA’s Kate Stuart, who leads local child choristers to join the professional cast. In Canberra, the chosen groups will be Woden Valley Youth Choir and Music for Canberra Children’s Choir, directed by Toby Cole.

Her fellow Carmens on the road – you can’t sing a role like that every night – have been Dimity Shepherd and Agnes Sarkis, and anyone who’s not singing the lead that night is in the chorus.

Exciting it may be to play such an admired role, but the character of Carmen is on stage for most of the night. 

“They had to cut down some of the opera but they haven’t cut anything for Carmen herself,” Hogan says.

“It’s demanding and I have to make sure I’ve got enough left in the tank.

“You need to measure your performance, because the audience deserves 100 per cent.”

“Carmen”, performed in French with English surtitles, Canberra Theatre, July 8-10. Book here or 6275 2700. Woden Valley Youth Choir performs on July 8 and July 10 (matinee) and MFC Children’s Choir on July 9 and July 10 (evening).