(Photo credit: Lennart Sjöberg) Göteborg Opera is celebrating its 30th season with an exciting lineup of favorites, beginning with Sir David McVicar’s production of Bizet’s “Carmen,” with libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on a novella by Proper Mérimée. This production was originally presented at Glyndebourne in 2002, and like most McVicar productions, it gets to the point {…}
(Photo: © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photography by Richard Hubert Smith) “Carmen” is unquestionably one of the most popular works ever composed and has become an almost permanent fixture in the repertoire of opera houses. However, this presents something of a dilemma for those creative artists and directors who desire to produce the opera in a more contemporary setting and feel {…}
(Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith/Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2024) The picnic hampers are packed, dinner jackets dry-cleaned, cufflinks wrangled, and drizzle forecast: the British country house opera season is back. It opens with a new production of Georges Bizet’s box-office stalwart “Carmen” from Glyndebourne Festival Opera, directed by Diane Paulus and conducted by Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati. This latest version, {…}
Films based on opera often feel inadequate. They are frequently an attempt to introduce reality into art, and this concept is flawed. Directors fail to realize that what it should be is the other way around: bringing art into reality, making opera about human beings and their everyday trials. Luckily, some directors do know what they’re doing, and Italian director {…}
(Photo credit: Ali Wright) Georges Bizet’s “Carmen,” after the novella by Prosper Mérimée, is a piece that presents plenty of challenges to audiences today. Some are owing to problematic aspects of the text – stereotyped depictions of the Gypsies in the piece, the spectacle of a murdered woman crowning the action – and others simply the weight of tradition and {…}
(Credit: Johan Jacobs) The government of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has officially reopened theaters following a decision by the Council of State. Using an emergency procedure, the Council of State ruled that the government’s closure measures were not proportionate, and didn’t provide enough motives to understand why attending cultural performances was particularly dangerous for public health. Per the {…}
(Credit: © Felix Grünschloss) The Oper Frankfurt has announced that tenor Jean-François Borras will not be appearing in the role of Don José in Bizet’s “Carmen” for the performance on Dec. 31, 2021 due to illness. The tenor previously tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the premiere of Charles Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” at the Opéra Comique on Dec. 13, {…}
(Credit: Werner Kmetitsch) The Grand Théâtre de Genève has announced that the performance of Bizet’s “Les Pêcheurs de Perles” on Dec. 26 will go on without an orchestra in the pit. “For safety reasons related to COVID, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande has determined that the risk of being present in the orchestra pit is too great, and has {…}
(Credit: Visit Alsace official website) The Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg has announced the cancelation of a performance of Bizet’s “Carmen” on Dec. 15, 2021. “The health situation has deteriorated in the last few days among the teams participating in our production of ‘Carmen’,” said the opera house in an official statement. The opera was set to star Edgaras {…}
(Credit: © Stade de France) The performance of Bizet’s “Carmen” at the Stade de France scheduled for June 18, 2022 has been canceled. The opera was initially scheduled for Sep. 19, 2020, but was postponed due to ongoing COVID-19 worries. The presentation was set to star Roberto Alagna as Don José, Aleksandra Kurzak as Micaëla, and Béatrice Uria-Monzon in the {…}
(Credit: Marco Borggreve) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that Omer Meir Wellber will not conduct the final autumn performance of Bizet’s “Carmen” on Nov. 19, 2021. As a result, Bertrand de Billy will take over in a pit. De Billy will lead a cast that includes Freddie De Tommaso in the role of Don José, Erwin Schrott as Escamillo, Vera-Lotte {…}