Carmen

Bolshoi Theatre, Historic Stage, Moscow, Russia

Scene 7 from the opera "Carmen", photo 2

Scene 1 from the opera "Carmen", photo 3

Scene 2 from the opera "Carmen", photo 4

Scene 3 from the opera "Carmen", photo 5

Scene 4 from the opera "Carmen", photo 6

Scene 5 from the opera "Carmen", photo 7

Scene 6 from the opera "Carmen", photo 8

All photos (17)

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7 PM

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Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Moscow, Russia

Starts at: 19:00

Acts: 4

Intervals: 1

Duration: 3h 10min

Sung in: French

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast

Performers

Choir: Bolshoi Theatre Children’s Choir

Choir: Bolshoi Theatre Chorus

Orchestra: Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra

Creators

Composer: Georges Bizet

Director: Alexei Borodin

Librettist: Henri Meilhac

Librettist: Ludovic Halévy

Author: Prosper Mérimée

Overview

It was in 1898 that Carmen was premièred at the Bolshoi and since then this marvelous opera has never been absent for long from the repertoire. Carmen has had eight productions at the Bolshoi, including a 1943 production in the city of Kuibyshev (today Samara), where the Theatre was in evacuation during the Second World War, and a 1945 production in Moscow — just one month after Victory Day. A real long-liver was the production by the famous choreographer and director Rostislav Zakharov: was to remain in the repertoire for 26 years (1953-1979) — during which time it was given 430 performances.

In different years at the Bolshoi, the title role was performed by the great singers and unique artists— Vera Petrova-Zvantseva, Cora Antarova, Nadezhda Obukhova, Bronislava Zlatogorova, Vera Davydova, Veronika Borisenko, Irina Arkhipova, Elena Obraztsova, Tamara Sinyavskaya...

The Bolshoi’s 9^th production of Carmen is by the famous theatre director and artistic director of the Russian Academic Youth Theatre (the Bolshoi’s neighbor on Theatre Square) — Alexei Borodin and his permanent co-author, the scenographer Stanislav Benediktov. Costumes are by Valentina Komolova, lighting by Damir Ismagilov, while the Spanish dance numbers are produced by the Spanish dancer-choreographers and famous performers of the flamenco, Rosario and Ricardo Castro. Music director of the produciton is the Bolshoi Theatre’s Music Director and Chief Conductor Tugan Sokhiev.

Alexei Borodin comments as follows on Carmen, its music and its composer, and his approach to it:

“In general, this is a very paradoxical opera. It is full of sophisticated perfection and, at the same time, it is the most democratic opera in the world! Perhaps this is due to the composer’s irrepressible and passionate personality. I’m most impressed by Bizet’s involvement in life, the extent to which he took people’s problems to heart — he enrolled in the National Guard, tried to change things for the better, he would become disillusioned and once again continue his quest. He was a man of incredible temperament with a much focused mind — a rare combination. And his music is extraordinarily sensual and rational at one and the same time. And in it there is an astonishing honesty. It seems to me that in art this is what is most important.

And the fact that absolutely everything is in the music, one just has to hear it, is at a great joy and a huge obstacle to the profession of opera singer and opera director. And the director’s goal here is, on the one hand, not to destroy the dramaturgy and, on the other, not to follow it literally, not to illustrate it. To progress towards an understanding of the musical dramaturgy from within, while at the same time and, not always following the music, plotting the behavior of the characters, is a most interesting and engaging pursuit. The music, after all, tells one what is really happening to a man, though this is not to say he will openly give vent to his emotions. A character may feel one thing and do something quite different and it is at this juxtaposition, counterpoint that a third meaning may arise. This is a story first and foremost about freedom. Real, total human freedom — in judgements, actions and, above all, outlook. And about love as one of its expressions, after all love and passion are always free. It seems to me that this for Bizet is the underlying theme”.

History

Premiere of this production: 03 March 1875, Opéra-Comique, Paris

Carmen is an opera in four acts by French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on a novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalized its first audiences.

Synopsis

Place: Seville, Spain, and surrounding hills
Time: Around 1820

Act 1

A square, in Seville. On the right, a door to the tobacco factory. At the back, a bridge. On the left, a guardhouse.

A group of soldiers relaxes in the square, waiting for the changing of the guard and commenting on the passers-by ("Sur la place, chacun passe"). Micaëla appears, seeking José. Moralès tells her that "José is not yet on duty" and invites her to wait with them. She declines, saying she will return later. José arrives with the new guard, who is greeted and imitated by a crowd of urchins ("Avec la garde montante").

As the factory bell rings, the cigarette girls emerge and exchange banter with young men in the crowd ("La cloche a sonné"). Carmen enters and sings her provocative habanera on the untameable nature of love ("L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"). The men plead with her to choose a lover, and after some teasing she throws a flower to Don José, who thus far has been ignoring her but is now annoyed by her insolence.

As the women go back to the factory, Micaëla returns and gives José a letter and a kiss from his mother ("Parle-moi de ma mère!"). He reads that his mother wants him to return home and marry Micaëla, who retreats in shy embarrassment on learning this. Just as José declares that he is ready to heed his mother's wishes, the women stream from the factory in great agitation. Zuniga, the officer of the guard, learns that Carmen has attacked a woman with a knife. When challenged, Carmen answers with mocking defiance ("Tra la la... Coupe-moi, brûle-moi"); Zuniga orders José to tie her hands while he prepares the prison warrant. Left alone with José, Carmen beguiles him with a seguidilla, in which she sings of a night of dancing and passion with her lover—whoever that may be—in Lillas Pastia's tavern. Confused yet mesmerised, José agrees to free her hands; as she is led away she pushes her escort to the ground and runs off laughing. José is arrested for dereliction of duty.

Act 2

Lillas Pastia's Inn

Two months have passed. Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès are entertaining Zuniga and other officers ("Les tringles des sistres tintaient") in Pastia's inn. Carmen is delighted to learn of José's release from two months' detention. Outside, a chorus and procession announces the arrival of the toreador Escamillo ("Vivat, vivat le Toréro"). Invited inside, he introduces himself with the "Toreador Song" ("Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre") and sets his sights on Carmen, who brushes him aside. Lillas Pastia hustles the crowds and the soldiers away.

When only Carmen, Frasquita and Mercédès remain, smugglers Dancaïre and Remendado arrive and reveal their plans to dispose of some recently acquired contraband ("Nous avons en tête une affaire"). Frasquita and Mercédès are keen to help them, but Carmen refuses, since she wishes to wait for José. After the smugglers leave, José arrives. Carmen treats him to a private exotic dance ("Je vais danser en votre honneur ... La la la"), but her song is joined by a distant bugle call from the barracks. When José says he must return to duty, she mocks him, and he answers by showing her the flower that she threw to him in the square ("La fleur que tu m'avais jetée"). Unconvinced, Carmen demands he show his love by leaving with her. José refuses to desert, but as he prepares to depart, Zuniga enters looking for Carmen. He and José fight, and are separated by the returning smugglers, who restrain Zuniga. Having attacked a superior officer, José now has no choice but to join Carmen and the smugglers ("Suis-nous à travers la campagne").

Act 3

A wild spot in the mountains

Carmen and José enter with the smugglers and their booty ("Écoute, écoute, compagnons"); Carmen has now become bored with José and tells him scornfully that he should go back to his mother. Frasquita and Mercédès amuse themselves by reading their fortunes from the cards; Carmen joins them and finds that the cards are foretelling her death, and José's. The women depart to suborn the customs officers who are watching the locality. José is placed on guard duty.

Micaëla enters with a guide, seeking José and determined to rescue him from Carmen ("Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante"). On hearing a gunshot she hides in fear; it is José, who has fired at an intruder who proves to be Escamillo. José's pleasure at meeting the bullfighter turns to anger when Escamillo declares his infatuation with Carmen. The pair fight ("Je suis Escamillo, toréro de Grenade"), but are interrupted by the returning smugglers and girls ("Holà, holà José"). As Escamillo leaves he invites everyone to his next bullfight in Seville. Micaëla is discovered; at first, José will not leave with her despite Carmen's mockery, but he agrees to go when told that his mother is dying. As he departs, vowing he will return, Escamillo is heard in the distance, singing the toreador's song.

Act 4

A square in Seville. At the back, the walls of an ancient amphitheatre

Zuniga, Frasquita and Mercédès are among the crowd awaiting the arrival of the bullfighters ("Les voici ! Voici la quadrille!"). Escamillo enters with Carmen, and they express their mutual love ("Si tu m'aimes, Carmen"). As Escamillo goes into the arena, Frasquita and Mercedes warn Carmen that José is nearby, but Carmen is unafraid and willing to speak to him. Alone, she is confronted by the desperate José ("C'est toi ! C'est moi !"). While he pleads vainly for her to return to him, cheers are heard from the arena. As José makes his last entreaty, Carmen contemptuously throws down the ring he gave her and attempts to enter the arena. He then stabs her, and as Escamillo is acclaimed by the crowds, Carmen dies. José kneels and sings "Ah! Carmen! ma Carmen adorée!"; as the crowd exits the arena, José confesses to killing the woman he loved.

Venue Info

Bolshoi Theatre - Moscow
Teatralnaya Square 1

The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and opera performances. Before the October Revolution it was a part of the Imperial Theatres of the Russian Empire along with Maly Theatre (Small Theatre) in Moscow and a few theatres in Saint Petersburg (Hermitage Theatre, Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theatre, later Mariinsky Theatre and others).

The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world. It is by far the world's biggest ballet company, with more than 200 dancers. The theatre is the parent company of The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a world-famous leading school of ballet. It has a branch at the Bolshoi Theater School in Joinville, Brazil.

The main building of the theatre, rebuilt and renovated several times during its history, is a landmark of Moscow and Russia (its iconic neoclassical façade is depicted on the Russian 100-ruble banknote). On 28 October 2011, the Bolshoi re-opened after an extensive six-year renovation. The official cost of the renovation is 21 billion rubles ($688 million). However, other Russian authorities and other people connected to it claimed much more public money was spent. The renovation included restoring acoustics to the original quality (which had been lost during the Soviet Era), as well as restoring the original Imperial decor of the Bolshoi.

The company was founded on 28 March [O.S. 17 March] 1776, when Catherine II granted Prince Peter Ouroussoff a licence to organise theatrical performances, balls and other forms of entertainment. Ouroussoff set up the theatre in collaboration with English tightrope walker Michael Maddox. Initially, it held performances in a private home, but it acquired the Petrovka Theatre and on 30 December 1780, it began producing plays and operas, thus establishing what would become the Bolshoi Theatre. Fire destroyed the Petrovka Theatre on 8 October 1805, and the New Arbat Imperial Theatre replaced it on 13 April 1808, however it also succumbed to fire during the French invasion of Moscow in 1812.

The first instance of the theatre was built between 1821 and 1824, designed and supervised to completion by architect Joseph Bové based upon an initial competition-winning design created by Petersburg-based Russian architect Andrei Mikhailov that was deemed too costly to complete. Bové also concurrently designed the nearby Maly Theatre and the surrounding Theater Square, The new building opened on 18 January 1825 as the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre with a performance of Fernando Sor's ballet, Cendrillon. Initially, it presented only Russian works, but foreign composers entered the repertoire around 1840.