The productions by the Catalan director Calixto Bieito, the “Quentin Tarantino of the opera stage”, cut incisively into the reality of their stories, making them shockingly provocative. And what work would suit this directing style better – with its similarly crazed passions and emotions – than Georges Bizet’s French opera Carmen? The director has transplanted this opera set in 19th-century Seville to post-Franco Spain, where he depicts a savage and cruel world with a high degree of realism – and not a hint of the clichéd flamenco of folklore. Bieito’s production has been staged all over the world, now it is coming to Hungary for everyone to enjoy here.
Cast:
Carmen............. Andrea Szántó
Don José........... Szabolcs Brickner
Micaëla.............. Kinga Kriszta
Escamillo........... Gábor Bretz / Zsolt Haja
Dancaïre............ Attila Erdős
Zuniga................ István Rácz
Remendado....... Botond Ódor
Frasquita............ Ildikó Megyimórecz / Zsófia Nagy
Mercédès........... Anna Csenge Fürjes / Melinda Heiter
Moralès.............. Attila Dobák
Lillas Pastia........ Efstratiadis Stratos
A bullfighter........ Máté Váth
Libretto after the novel of the same title by Prosper Mérimée by
Henri Meilhac / Halévy Ludovic
Set designer: Flores Tarres Ildefonso
Costume designer: Mercé Paloma
Assistant director: Lucía Fernández Astigarraga
Hungarian surtitles: Judit Kenesey
English surtitles: Arthur Roger Crane
Head of the Children's Chorus: Nikolett Hajzer
Chorus director: Gábor Csiki
Featuring: Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus