Name: Carmen
Start: 2017-07-19T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2017-08-20T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Seebühne

Organization

Bregenzer Festspiele

Singer

Mezzo-soprano

Gaëlle Arquez

Carmen

Lena Belkina

Annalisa Stroppa

Tenor

Daniel Johansson

Don José

Martin Muehle

Arnold Rawls

Baritone

Andrew Foster-Williams

Escamillo

Scott Hendricks

Kostas Smoriginas

Soprano

Cristina Pasaroiu

Michaela

Mélissa Petit

Elena Tsallagova

Jana Baumeister

Frasquita

Sónia Grané

Marion Lebègue

Mercedes

Judita Nagyová

Bass

Yasushi Hirano

Zuniga

Sébastien Soules

Rafael Fingerlos

Morales

Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger

István Horváth

Remendado

Simeon Esper

Adrian Clarke

Dancaire

Dariusz Perczak

Conductor

Paolo Carignani

Jordan de Souza

Stage director

Kasper Holten

Set designer

Es Devlin

Costume designer

Anja van Kragh

Video designer

Luke Halls

Lighting designer

Bruno Poet

Choreographer

Signe Fabricius

Others

Philharmonischer Chor Prag

Orchestra

Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Kinderchor der Musikmittelschule Bregenz-Stadt

Prague National Theatre Chorus

Kühn Children's Choir

French

Bregenz

Austria

Seebühne

She is desired by everyone and fascinates the guards in their everyday life between smoking and playing cards: Carmen. Actually, the soldier Don José is supposed to arrest her after an argument, but she wraps him around her finger. He is arrested for his weakness, but is soon released. He understands the flower that Carmen has thrown at him as a sign of her love and dreams of a future together, for which he even jeopardizes his position. He entrenches himself with her gang of smugglers, ignores Micaëla's admonishing words and sees himself superior to the proud bullfighter Escamillo. But he has long since conquered Carmen and makes Don José's jealousy rage...

One of the most popular operas in the world, Georges Bizet's Carmen, appears at the Bregenz Festival in a new production against the breathtaking backdrop of Lake Constance and in the spectacular stage design by British artist Es Devlin. The up-and-coming mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez plays the title role of Carmen, alongside Swedish tenor Daniel Johansson as the passionate Don José.

Gaëlle Arquez, who acts with irrepressible intensity and shows a breathtaking range of vocal colors, is the center of attention. She embodies Carmen "in a finely nuanced and very natural way, as if she had just invented Habanera & Co." (Tagesspiegel). The Wiener Symphoniker play Bizet's powerful score with elegance and technical virtuosity under the "sensitive and powerful musical direction" (The Telegraph) of Paolo Carignani.

The new production on the Bregenz lake stage was staged by Kasper Holten, who has attracted a great deal of attention for his work on the world's great stages, particularly for his "Kopenhagener Ring" and his productions at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Set designer Es Devlin, who has already designed sets for pop stars such as Adele, U2, Take That, the Pet Shop Boys and Kanye West, has erected a stage construction with an impressive height of 21 meters on the Bregenz lake stage. The playing cards, which appear to be floating between two massive hands, are not only part of the scene, but also serve as a projection screen.

The Telegraph is full of praise: "The Seebühne in Bregenz is a setting for spectacular performances and Kasper Holten's production of Carmen on Es Devlin's extraordinary stage was a stunning spectacle! If opera is also meant to be theatre, then this major production is the best example of how it can work."

Carmen Bizet

Public

German

Approved

Production booklet

Further reading