T H E R OYA L O P E R AMUSIC DIRECTOR SIR ANTONIO PAPPANO

DIRECTOR OF OPERA OLIVER MEARS

CARMENOPÉRA COMIQUE IN THREE ACTS

MUSIC GEORGES BIZET AFTER THE CRITICAL EDITION BY MICHAEL ROT ADAPTED BY CONSTANTINOS CARYDIS (FOR FRANKFURT OPERA, 2016)

LIBRETTO HENRI MEILHAC AND LUDOVIC HALÉVY AFTER PROSPER MÉRIMÉE’S 1845 NOVELLA CARMEN

SPOKEN TEXT AFTER MEILHAC, HALÉVY AND MÉRIMÉE, EDITED BY BARRIE KOSKY

PUBLISHED BY VERLAGSGRUPPE HERMANN BY ARRANGEMENT WITH SCHOTT MUSIC LTD.

CONDUCTOR JAKUB HRŮŠA

DIRECTOR BARRIE KOSKYDESIGNER KATRIN LEA TAG

LIGHTING DESIGNER JOACHIM KLEINCHOREOGRAPHER OTTO PICHLER

DRAMATURG ZSOLT HORPÁCSYASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ALAN BARNES

ROYAL OPERA CHORUSCHORUS DIRECTOR WILLIAM SPAULDING

ORCHESTRA OF THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSECO-CONCERT MASTER SERGEY LEVITIN

PRODUCTION FIRST SEEN AT FRANKFURT OPERA, 2016

DIRECTED FOR THE SCREEN BY PATI MARR

LIVE FROM THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018, 6.45PM

2017/18 LIVE CINEMA SEASON

BERNSTEIN CENTENARY TUESDAY 27 MARCH 2018MACBETH WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 2018

MANON THURSDAY 3 MAY 2018SWAN LAKE TUESDAY 12 JUNE 2018

roh.org.uk/cinema

Approximate timingsLive cinema relay begins at 6.45pm; opera begins at 7pm

Acts I and II 110 minutes

Interval Act III 65 minutes

The performance will end at approximately 10.30pm

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Synopsis

Cast

Act ISevilleThe brigadier Moralès and his soldiers look on as men pester a young woman, Micaëla, who is looking for Don José, a corporal. She runs off, telling the soldiers that she will come back as soon as José is back on duty.

The women who work at the cigarette factory are taking a break, surrounded by soldiers. Carmen has the most admirers. Only one man, José, takes no notice of her until she throws him a flower. José sees Micaëla again. An orphan raised by José’s mother, she gives him a letter, money, and, best of all, a kiss from his mother, which makes him forget Carmen for a moment.

Carmen is arrested for injuring one of her colleagues in the factory with a knife. Lieutenant Zuniga orders José to take her to prison. She seduces José with a song and promises of love. He helps her escape and is arrested.

Act IILillas Pastia’s tavernCarmen and her friends Mercédès and Frasquita work with the smugglers Dancaïro and Remendado. Escamillo, the winner of the bullfight in Granada, appears with his friends. He is strongly attracted to Carmen. But she is waiting for José, who is due to be released from prison that day, the reason why she refuses to take part in the next smuggling operation.

José arrives at last. While Carmen dances for him, the tattoo is heard. The soldier, conscious of his duty, tells Carmen he must go. She is furious with him, and doubts his love. Lieutenant Zuniga suddenly appears. José, driven by jealousy, attacks his superior. Zuniga is disarmed by the smugglers. There is now no turning back for José: he deserts.

Interval

Act IIIScene 1: In the mountainsThe smugglers try and transport their wares to Seville under the cover of darkness. José now lives with them and Carmen, who is fed up with José’s jealousy. The cards prophesy that first Carmen and then José will die. When Escamillo, searching for Carmen, meets José, the men fight a duel, during which Carmen saves Escamillo’s life. He invites her and the smugglers to the bullfight in Seville. Micaëla bravely approaches the smugglers to try and persuade José to come home. Only the news that his mother is on her deathbed can move him to follow Micaëla.

Scene 2: Outside the bullringEscamillo enters the arena for the bullfight, cheered on by the people. Carmen wants to REFER TO YOUR DIGITAL PROGRAMME FOR THE FULL CAST AND LATEST INFORMATION.

CASTING IS CORRECT AT TIME OF PRINTING. DETAILS OF LIVE PERFORMANCES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

MORALÈS GYULA NAGY

MICAËLA KRISTINA MKHITARYAN DON JOSÉ FRANCESCO MELI

ZUNIGA DAVID SOAR

CARMEN ANNA GORYACHOVA

FRASQUITA JACQUELYN STUCKER

MERCÉDÈS AIGUL AKHMETSHINA

ESCAMILLO KOSTAS SMORIGINAS

DANCAÏRO PIERRE DOYEN

REMENDADO JEAN-PAUL FOUCHÉCOURT

VOICE OF CARMEN CLAUDE DE DEMO

SOLDIERS, CHILDREN, CIGARETTE GIRLS, GYPSIES, SMUGGLERS

follow him. José blocks her way. While the bullfight is going on, José begs Carmen, for the last time, to follow him and start a new life. She refuses, throwing the ring he gave her to the ground. José stabs Carmen.

Synopsis by Zsolt Horpácsy (originally printed by Frankfurt Opera in 2016). English translation by Lucy Jonas.