(Credit: Marcello Orselli)

On May 16, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova is set to present Bizet’s “Carmen.”

The production by Emilio Sagi will be conducted by Donato Renzetti and will star Annalisa Stroppa in the title role. Stroppa has become well known for her interpretation, and she will be joined by Francesco Meli, Luca Tittoto, and Giuliana Gianfaldoni.

There will be a second cast led by Amadi Lagha, Abramo Rosalen, Caterina Piva, and Angela Nisi.

In a statement, Stroppa said, “A year after my previous Carmen, I’m again taking on the role of this complex, profound, multi-faceted but divisive protagonist. Beyond the undeniable fascination of audiences worldwide with the cigar worker from Seville ever since the first performance, and beyond the overwhelming beauty of her music and the heady rush of eroticism, so powerful that it takes hold from the initial habanera through to the final tragedy, Carmen has much to say about the right to freedom of a woman who is frivolous and capricious yet contemporary in her will to establish the right to live in freedom at risk of her own life. Freedom: a magical word, dear above all to the people, but equally explosive when individually aspired to. Back in 1875, Carmen was a groundbreaking opera, paving the way towards a new world of passionate figures, prepared to do anything to take their destiny into their own hands. It is for this reason that the word freedom appears so often in the libretto, and it is for this reason too that, for over one hundred and fifty years, Carmen (the opera and the eponymous character) has loaded an otherwise brutal story of feminicide with powerful, illuminating significance.”

“Carmen” runs through May 25, 2025.

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