Carmen

Georges Bizet

  • Act I & II

    1 h 30 min.

  • Intermission

    25 min.

  • Act II

    40 min.

  • Intermission

    ca. 25 min.

  • Act III

    1 h

Duration: ca. 3 hrs

  • Performance cancelled
  • Performance cancelled
  • Performance cancelled

Opera in four acts
Libretto: Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy
World premiere: 3 March 1875, Paris
Premiere of this production: 7 June 2018, Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera 
In the original French with Polish surtitles

There is hardly any other opera that penetrated mainstream culture this successfully: listen carefully and you will hear it hummed by millions of people in the shower and played by thousands of mobile phones all over the world. This might be because it is so inherently melodious and brazenly carnal (and satisfying!), bringing to mind a cabaret rather than the sophisticated art of opera. Carmen is the ultimate guilty pleasure of the connoisseurs of the Italian style.‘Ah, how charmingly garish,’ they whisper and shake their heads in disapproval, while stamping out the rhythm of Habanera. Carmen fuses opera buffa, realism, and a truly tragic ending. Friedrich Nietzsche enthused over it towards the end of his life, when he grew disillusioned with Wager’s Teutonic pathos and dreamt of spicing up opera ‘the Mediterranean style’. Nothing is hotter than Carmen, another strong, untamed, passionate, and deadly dangerous opera heroine. Her dark sensuality remains bewitching in Andrzej Chyra’s production inspired by the work of Mexico’s art film guru, Carlos Reygadas.

Cast

Credits

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera

Artos Children’s Choir

Sponsors

  • Patrons of Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera

  • Partners of the Opera Academy

  • Partners of Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera

  • Media patrons