Never mind the Seville street urchins puffing at their stolen cigarettes and the brazen tobacco-factory women seductively blowing smoke into the air, this Welsh National Opera production of Carmen came as a breath of fresh air when first seen 10 years ago. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser created a fine balance between the burning passion at the heart of Bizet's score and the altogether darker, more sinister world of Carmen's drug- smuggling connections, and gave it a new perspective.

The success of their minimalist approach was partly down to its intimacy. But, in Robin Tebbutt's first revival at the Millennium Centre, the action seemed less tightly focused. It was symptomatic that, when three rifles propped against a wall at the military guardpost fell over early on, they were totally ignored. If soldiers' discipline was that casual, small wonder that the feral Carmen was able to escape their clutches.

In the title role, Sara Fulgoni was even more richly robust if less flexible of tone than when she first sang it. But she had an awkward relationship with her Don José, Rafael Rojas, who made a shaky start, eventually blasting his way to the final stabbing.

Stephen Gadd's Escamillo also sounded constrained, with too little emotional spark. The musical highlight came in Elizabeth Atherton's Micaela, her clear and elegantly shaped phrasing bringing a palpable warmth and sincerity to the interpretation, even if it only underlined this José's inability to communicate properly with either woman. While the longueurs of the poorly spoken French dialogue are problematic, they were far outweighed by the vivid colour and dynamic of the WNO chorus and orchestra under Michal Klauza. This is still a Carmen with plenty to savour.

· At the Mayflower, Southampton (023-8071 1811) on Wednesday, and touring.