Bizet: Carmen (Met Live in HD 2-DVD) – Elina Garanca, Roberto Alagna
Price: $40.00 Members: $36.00
Item: 044007345818
Description
Bizet: Carmen (Met Live in HD 2-DVD) – Elina Garanca, Roberto Alagna
Composer: Georges Bizet
Artists: Elina Garanca, Roberto Alagna, Barbara Frittoli, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Elizabeth Caballero, Sandra Piques Eddy, Trevor Scheunemann, Keith Miller, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus & Ballet
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Director: Richard Eyre
Format: NTSC
Language: French
Subtitles: French, English, German, Spanish, Chinese
Region: All Regions
Number of Discs: 2
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
DVD Release Date: September 21, 2010
Run Time: 167 minutes; plus 9 minutes bonus material
Richard Eyre’s stunning production of Bizet’s opera was the talk of the town when it was unveiled on New Year’s Eve 2009. Elina Garanca leads the cast as the iconic title character – a woman desired by every man but determined to remain true to herself. Roberto Alagna is Don José, the soldier who falls under her spell and sacrifices everything for her love, only to be cast aside when the toreador Escamillo (Teddy Tahu Rhodes) piques Carmen’s interest. With dances created by star choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and conducted by rising maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, this Carmen brings every aspect of Bizet’s tale to thrilling life, from its lighthearted beginning to its inevitably tragic climax.
History
Carmen
World premiere: 1887.
Georges Bizet’s original Carmen, takes place in and around Seville, Spain and tells of the downfall of a soldier, Don José, seduced by the wiles of the fiery Carmen. José abandons his sweetheart and his military duties for Carmen, yet loses her love to the glamorous matador Escamillo, after which José kills her in a jealous rage.
On January 9, 1884, Carmen premiered at the Metropolitan Opera. Thereafter it was quickly incorporated into the Met's regular repertory staging Carmen well-over a thousand times. The Met Opera’s 2023-2024 Season debuts a vital new production of Carmen, reinvigorating the classic story with a staging that moves the action to the modern day and finds at the heart of the drama issues that could not be more relevant today: gendered violence, abusive labor structures, and the desire to break through societal boundaries.
Among the best-known of all operatic arias are Carmen’s “Habanera” from Act 1, sung by the title character and the toreador’s song, “Votre toast” in Act 2, performed by the matador Escamillo.
Read 1 Review / Write a Review
Very accessible and Enjoyable. Well acted as well as beautifully sung.
Tamarack-Lover, August 2012