CSO & Opera Columbus to Present CARMEN IN CONCERT, 5/9-10

Bizet's Carmen overflows with alluring and familiar melodies as it tells the spellbinding story of a beautiful but heartless Spanish gypsy woman who leads a naïve young army officer into a tempest of passion and betrayal. This CSO collaboration with Opera Columbus brings to life Carmen's vibrant world with a cast of outstanding singers, the Columbus Symphony Chorus, and Columbus Children's Chorus, all conducted by Jean-Marie.

The Columbus Symphony presents Carmen in Concert at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at 8pm. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 228-8600 or (800) 745-3000. The CAPA Ticket Center will also be open two hours prior to each performance.

Young people between the ages of 13-25 may purchase $5 PNC Arts Alive All Access tickets while available. For more information, visit www.GoFor5.com.

The 2013-14 Masterworks Series is made possible through the generous support of season sponsors Anne and Noel Melvin.

Jean-Marie Zeitouni, music director of the Columbus Symphony and principal conductor and artistic director of I Musici de Montréal, has emerged as one of Canada's brightest young conductors whose eloquent yet fiery style results in regular re-engagements across North America. Also enjoying an association with Les Violons du Roy that goes back many years, first as conductor-in-residence, then as associate conductor, and since 2008, as principal guest conductor, he has led the ensemble in more than 200 performances in the province of Québec, across Canada, and in Mexico. In 2006, he recorded his first album with Les Violons du Roy entitled Piazzolla which received a 2007 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year in the category Solo or Chamber Ensemble. They also have two subsequent recordings-Bartok (2008) and Britten (2010).

Bizet was a French composer of the romantic era best known for his operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory. Based on a novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, Carmen was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, on March 3, 1875, and was initially not particularly successful. It was to play for 36 performances, but before the run could be completed, Bizet suddenly died and thus knew nothing of the opera's later celebrity.

Photo credit: Randall L. Schieber