CARMEN

With its universal appeal and heady charm, Carmen is one of the most performed operas in the world. Like its dark-eyed heroine, it is both rebellious and sensual, full of sparkle and darkness, alternating between intimate scenes and triumphant choruses. Georges Bizet wins over as much as he innovates. His brilliant touch fascinates the audience: above and beyond the score, it was also he that penned the most imperishable lines of the libretto, based on the short story by Prosper Mérimée. Everything serves the drama.  The insolently expressive rhythm bewitches; the orchestration with its Hispanic touches is a breath of fresh air. On the ramparts of Seville, the unforgettable gypsy throws men a provocative flower, habanera and seguedilla, like so many spells. The femme fatale claims her freedom. As she had foreseen, she disappears in a final duet, of which Nietzsche would say: “I know no case where the tragic joke that constitutes the essence of love is expressed so strictly, translated with equal terror into a formula, as in Don José’s cry: Yes, I have killed her, I – my adored Carmen!” The opera premiered on 3^rd March 1875 and Bizet died exactly three months later, on the evening of the 33^rd performance.

For their respective debuts at the Opéra de Lausanne, Jean-François Sivadier transforms the stage into a formidable performance machine for the artists and the audience’s imagination; while Jean-Marie Zeitouni, a specialist in 19^th century French music, conducts this fiery drama. Giving pride of place to actor direction, this production is an opportunity to revisit Bizet’s masterpiece, absent from our stage since 20 years.