Carmen

“Carmen will never give way! Free she was born, free she will die!” weeps Bizet’s dying heroine at the end of one of the world’s most famous and most performed operas. More than ever before, unrestrainable freedom, sensuality and a compulsion to live life on the edge is exuded by Spanish director Calixto Bieito’s new version of Carmen.

The Paris Opera’s passionate production, directed by British conductor Mark Elder, introduced an international cast including French tenor Roberto Alagna, Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanča, Italian soprano Maria Agresta and Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov.

With an uncommonly modern narrative, Carmen remains a fiery, temperamental woman, the embodiment of female sensuality and pride. Yet her untamable life outside the law can be seen to be a result of the cruelty of her time. Carmen lives fast perhaps in part because she must. In a world full of masculine cruelty, only a seductress as unbreakable and cruel as her surroundings stands a chance at survival.