Opera

Carmen

Georges Bizet

27 Mar, 24

Orchestra conductor: René Jacobs | Chorus conductor: Thibault Lenaerts | B’Rock | Choeur de Chambre de Namur

Carmen is Georges Bizet's last opera and masterpiece, based on the novel by Prosper Mérimée. Scandalously realistic and modern for the time, which probably caused it to fail at first, but nevertheless, thanks to its melodies, it quickly became an uninterrupted worldwide success and one of the most popular titles in the history of opera. This time it comes to the Teatro Real with René Jacobs, Sabine Devieihe and the B'Rock orchestra.

The grand masterpiece of Georges Bizet has endured - for nearly a century and a half - as one of the most popular in the repertory. However, during its first hundred years, it was the adulterated version which was universally known: the original spoken parts were substituted by recitatives by Ernest Guiraud with the idea that this would open the doors of the great opera houses.

The restoration, as of the 1970s, of the version premiered at the Opéra Comique of París in 1875 was not, in any case, the recovery of the “original” work, which having just been completed the year before, made it to the stage only after agreeing to successive demands by theatre directors, musicians, and singers. This obliged the composer to rewrite many passages and come up with others from scratch: the self-same Habanera originated because the protagonist – mezzosoprano Célestine Galli-Marié– rejected the original piece planned for her stage entrance. Conductor René Jacobs has wanted to return to the initial score of this immortal work to discover - and enjoy - it again, according to the original intentions of its composer.

Opéra comique in four acts

Music by Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the play of the same name (1845) by Prosper Mérimée

Premiere at Opéra-Comique of Paris on 3 March 1875

Premiere at the Teatro Real on 14 March 1888

Artistic team

Orchestra conductor: René Jacobs

Chorus conductor: Thibaut Lenaerts

Cast

Carmen: Gaëlle Arquez

Don José: Julien Behr

Escamillo: Thomas Dolié

Micaela: Sabine Devieilhe

Frasquita: Margot Genet

Mercedes: Séraphine Cortez

Le Dancaïre: Emiliano González Toro

Le Remendado: Grégoire Mour

B’Rock

Choeur de Chambre de Namur

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Synopsis of Carmen

Ópera en cuatro actos centrada en la obsesión, la libertad, el destino y la elección personal. Cuenta la historia de la apasionada y seductora gitana Carmen, quien enamora al soldado Don José, al cual descarría ya que arrastrado por el amor que siente hacia Carmen, se une a una banda. Pero el amor por la libertad que siente Carmen entra en conflicto con el sentido de posesión hacia Don José. Sin embargo, la atención de la gitana rápidamente cambia hacia el torero Escamillo. Loco de celos, durante una corrida, Don José mata a Carmen por haber arruinado su vida completamente.