New Royal Opera Production of CARMEN Comes to Jaffrey's RST

London's Royal Opera House production of Bizet's opera masterwork, Carmen will be shown in stunning high definition video and sound at The Park Theatre's River Street Theatre (RST) in Jaffrey Sunday, April 22 and Wednesday, April 25, both at 2pm. This presentation is part of the RST's Stage2Screen Series.

Carmen is the best-known work by French composer Georges Bizet, and one of the most famous operas in the entire art form - numbers such as the Habanera and the Toreador Song have permeated the popular consciousness as little else has. The opera's heady combination of passion, sensuality and violence initially proved too much for the stage, and it was a critical failure on its 1875 premiere. Bizet died shortly after and never learned of the spectacular success his Carmen would achieve: the opera has been performed more than five hundred times at Covent Garden alone.

This ever-popular opera is given a fresh point of view in Barrie Kosky's highly physical production, originally created for Frankfurt Opera. The Australian director is one of the world's most sought-after opera directors, whose Royal Opera debut with Shostakovich's The Nose in 2016 was greeted with delight. For Carmen he has devised a far-from-traditional version, incorporating music written by Bizet for the score but not usually heard, and giving a new voice to the opera's endlessly fascinating central character.

Carmen was filmed live as it was staged in London at the Royal Opera House theatre on March 6, 2018.

Tickets for Stage2Screen presentations are $20.00 (students/teachers with valid ID $15). Advance ticket purchases are encouraged due to the intimate nature of the RST theatre. The box office telephone number is (603) 532-8888 or visit online at riverst.org/calendar. Tickets can also be purchased 7 days a week at OvationTix by calling 1-866-811-4111.

The River Street Theatre is conveniently located in downtown Jaffrey, New Hampshire at 6 River Street. The River Street Theatre is sponsored by Grove Street Fiduciary, Coca-Cola, the Board of Trustees of the Park Theatre, Janet S. Grant, Betty Locke, Owen Houghton and the James F. & Fernande Kelly Charitable Trust.

Photo: Paula Murrihy as Carmen (c) Oper Frankfurt. Monika Rittershaus