CARMEN Bizet – Palazzetto Bru Zane, Opéra de Rouen Normandie

Among Seville’s cigar makers, Carmen is the most attractive woman around. Arrested for the assault of a friend, she enthrals the brigadier Don José who lets her escape. For her, José abandons his childhood sweetheart, he gives up his rank, deserts the army… and to what ends will passion drive him when he loses Carmen's love to the glamorous bullfighter Escamillo?

We can only imagine the reactions of the first Parisian audiences at the Opéra Comique, who are said to have been shocked to see the incarnation of such an independent heroine. But what would those audiences in 1875 have actually seen on stage? With the support of Palazzetto Bru Zane (Centre de Musique Romantique Française), Opéra de Rouen Normandie have (re)created Bizet’s Carmen with the original costumes, sets and staging of the 1875 premiere. It has been a long journey for Carmen, the French opera that has now become the one most performed around the globe. After the outrage at the première and Bizet’s sudden death in the same year, Carmen started to win the hearts of audiences in Vienna, Brussels, Saint-Petersburg, New York… and only triumphed in Paris in 1883. This production offers the restoration of the original mise-en-scène, costumes and sets, to give audiences today an idea of what Bizet’s searing depiction of a woman, who craves love but creates obsession, looked like in its early days.

Full performance streamed on OperaVision from 10 January 2025 at 19:00 CET to 10 July 2025 at 12:00 CET: https://operavision.eu/performance/carmen-4

CAST

Carmen
Deepa Johnny

Don José
Stanislas de Barbeyrac

Micaëla
Iulia Maria Dan

Escamillo
Nicolas Courjal

Frasquita
Faustine de Monès

Mercédès
Floriane Hasler

Le Remendado
Thomas Morris

Le Dancaïre
Florent Karrer

Zuniga
Nicolas Brooymans

Moralès
Yoann Dubruque

Orchestra
Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Normandie

Chorus
Choeur accentus / Opéra de Rouen Normandie

Children Chorus
Chœur d'enfants de la Maîtrise du Conservatoire de Rouen

Music
Georges Bizet

Text
Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy

Conductor
Ben Glassberg

Director
Romain Gilbert

Sets
Antoine Fontaine

Costume
Christian Lacroix

Lights
Hervé Gary

Choreography
Vincent Chaillet

Chorus Master
Christophe Grapperon

Children Chorus Master
Frédéric Pineau

Video director
Jean-Pierre Loisil

Film production
Camera lucida productions

Co-production
Bru Zane France
Opéra Royal / Château de Versailles Spectacles
Opéra de Rouen Normandie
Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique romantique française

A Camera lucida / Opéra de Rouen Normandie production with the support of France Télévisions
Filmed by Camera lucida and France Télévisions in September 2023 at Opéra de Rouen Normandie with the support of the CNC
© 2024 Palazzetto Bru Zane
℗ 2024 Camera lucida and Opéra de Rouen Normandie

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