Carmen

Carmen

About the work Georges Bizet’s titular heroine is as captivating a character as any in the history of opera. The different interpretations of Carmen are legion: we have the seductress, the personification of forbidden yearning, the standard bearer for the “eternally female” in the brutal battle of the sexes, the anarchist unfettered by bourgeois angst and compulsions, the archaic clairvoyante seeing her own death in the cards - yet free, as she does not dread her destiny. Few opera heroines are so open to interpretation and hence so able to serve as a mirror held up to society. With CARMEN Bizet was throwing down the gauntlet to Romantic opera. His naturalistic presentation of a proletarian milieu with its poverty and crime was a direct challenge to the conventions of opera. It is a setting in which Don José’s dreams are doomed to be dashed. His fixation on Carmen sucks him into a pit of wretchedness and felony and he persistently rejects his chance to lead a steady, secure life with Micaëla the peasant girl. This clash of principles – feminine versus masculine; bourgeoisie versus anarchy – is illustrated by the bullfighting scene, which is much more than a colourful bit of folklore used as a backdrop to the storyline; it is a gory ritual involving the survival of the fittest, where no quarter is given. About the production In his version Norwegian director Ole Anders Tandberg has embraced the unique blend of great opera, working-class tragedy and overstoked operetta. He packs his triumphant ramped-up production with emotional realism, bloody corrida symbolism and grotesque, Tarantino-esque scenes of absurd cruelty. And the iconic character of the work is playfully reflected in the opulent Andalusian garb of Carmen and Escamillo. Tandberg is interested in the eponymous heroine’s openness and the mystery surrounding her. He sees in her not just the seer, the anarchist or the focus of male gaze but also a person playing these different roles for fear of emotional ...

Carmen

About the work Georges Bizet’s titular heroine is as captivating a character as any in the history of opera. The different interpretations of Carmen are legion: we have the seductress, the personification of forbidden yearning, the standard bearer for the “eternally female” in the brutal battle of the sexes, the anarchist unfettered by bourgeois angst and compulsions, the archaic clairvoyante seeing her own death in the cards - yet free, as she does not dread her destiny. Few opera heroines are so open to interpretation and hence so able to serve as a mirror held up to society. With CARMEN Bizet was throwing down the gauntlet to Romantic opera. His naturalistic presentation of a proletarian milieu with its poverty and crime was a direct challenge to the conventions of opera. It is a setting in which Don José’s dreams are doomed to be dashed. His fixation on Carmen sucks him into a pit of wretchedness and felony and he persistently rejects his chance to lead a steady, secure life with Micaëla the peasant girl. This clash of principles – feminine versus masculine; bourgeoisie versus anarchy – is illustrated by the bullfighting scene, which is much more than a colourful bit of folklore used as a backdrop to the storyline; it is a gory ritual involving the survival of the fittest, where no quarter is given. About the production In his version Norwegian director Ole Anders Tandberg has embraced the unique blend of great opera, working-class tragedy and overstoked operetta. He packs his triumphant ramped-up production with emotional realism, bloody corrida symbolism and grotesque, Tarantino-esque scenes of absurd cruelty. And the iconic character of the work is playfully reflected in the opulent Andalusian garb of Carmen and Escamillo. Tandberg is interested in the eponymous heroine’s openness and the mystery surrounding her. He sees in her not just the seer, the anarchist or the focus of male gaze but also a person playing these different roles for fear of emotional ...

CARMEN

Wiederaufnahme CARMEN

CARMEN

Oper in vier Akten

CARMEN

Carmen values her freedom above all else, refusing to conform to societal norms. Sergeant Don José becomes obsessed with her independent spirit, abandoning everything for her. However, Carmen soon loses interest and falls for the bullfighter Escamillo. Desperate, José wants Carmen back at any cost. Bizet's "Carmen" features a strong female lead who contrasts with typical 19th-century opera heroines. Director Lindy Hume views Carmen as a self-determined woman, not a femme fatale.

Bizet: Carmen

Free and untamed is how the heroine of Bizet’s world-famous opera »Carmen« wants to live her life – and she would rather perish than submit to a man’s will. And at the end Carmen does indeed die to the sounds of what may be the most passionate opera music ever written. After countless highlights in the Baroque repertoire, masterful Mozart interpretations and excursions into the world of German Romanticism, conductor René Jacobs and the B’Rock Orchestra venture into the heated bullfighting atmosphere of this piece, which premiered in 1875 2 in a very special version. »Carmen« is performed in a version that Bizet originally intended before the director of the Opéra comique urged him to make far-reaching changes. The original manuscripts of the original version have now been analysed and used as a basis to reconstruct a »Carmen« that has never been heard before. Gaëlle Arquez as an experienced Carmen and Sabine Devieilhe as her rival Micaëla sparkle as the two female leads, creating an explosive, passionate mixture together with the baritone Thomas Dolié as toreador Escamillo and tenor François Rougier as the man obsessed with Carmen, Don José. In this concert performance version, too, »Carmen« promises to set the auditorium on fire.

»Le Passion de Carmen«

Soprano Stella Motina and pianist Vera Bogdanchikova take the audience on an unforgettable musical journey through the south of Spain and explore the passion of Carmen. From Manuel de Falla’s »Seven Spanish Folk Songs«, which illuminate love in ever new facets, they move on to Dvořák’s »Cigánské Melodie«, which awakens the desire to dance. To the sound of castanets, the audience finally arrives in Seville and takes a break in the »Lillas Pastia« taverna. The best melodies from »Carmen« by Georges Bizet are played here. Carmen, the beautiful, self-confident woman, enjoys her freedom. An adventure unfolds: love, passion, jealousy and the prophecy of fate. The beating of the chords is reminiscent of the stamping of feet in flamenco, in which the woman seems to lift her heels to assert her personal independence. The exciting journey comes to an end, but of course the listeners can linger for a moment and prolong the melodic excursion. The artists have prepared something very special.

Premiere: Bellini "Norma"

Bellini "Norma"

Bellini "Norma"