Carmen by Bizet, Fri 13 Dec 2024, From (2024/2025), Directed by Martin Kušej, Conductor Valentin Uryupin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany

An opéra comique with a tragic ending that brings the eternal game of passionate love and tormenting jealousy to the stage, and whose rousing music has appealed to audiences all over the world and continues to appeal to them again and again - that is Bizet's "Carmen". Mutual forces of attraction and repulsion are at work, with ultimately fatal consequences - carried and taken responsibility for by idiosyncratic, memorable characters. Georges Bizet, the talent of the century, could only have guessed at the success of his "Carmen", which premiered in Paris in the spring of 1875, but could not enjoy it. When his opera was performed for the 33rd time, he died at the age of just 38. Today, "Carmen" is one of the most frequently performed pieces in the repertoire, and there is no end in sight to the enthusiastic response. Quite a few musical numbers have become real "hits", and the southern sound color and the bright orchestral colors, which radiate something very sensual, create additional appeal. This music, which fits so harmoniously with the dramatic events, is cleverly made, and yet so catchy, "popular" in a good sense. Each of the characters is given their own musical profile - lifelike people come on stage in a quasi-realistic way, which supports the credibility of their singing and acting. Bizet's "Carmen" is one of the declared masterpieces of opera literature.