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Carmen show poster

Carmen at The State Opera

Dates: (9/13/2014 - 6/27/2015 )

Theatre:

The State Opera


Wilsonova 4
Praha 1,Praha 1 110 00

Phone: +420 224 901 448

Tickets: 180.00 Kc - 1190.00 Kc

Running Time: 2 hours and 55 minutes, 1 intermission

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The premiere of Carmen at the Opéra Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875 met with a lukewarm response. Although on that very day George Bizet was named a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, this accolade could not compensate for his disappointment at the audience’s reserved reception of the opera. The real triumph only came when the work was staged at the Hofoper in Vienna on 23 October 1875, which, however, Bizet did not live to see. Since that day, Carmen has conquered opera stages worldwide and become one of the most frequently performed operas. Bizet found the theme himself, in Prosper Merimée’s novella about the beautiful and frivolous Carmen who is ultimately killed by her jilted lover Don José. Bizet was immediately intrigued by the story: he liked exotic themes and even though he had never been to Spain he was entranced by the dramatic atmosphere. The libretto was entrusted to Henri Meilhac (spoken dialogue) and Ludovic Halévy (arias, etc.), yet Bizet most likely played a significant role too (he wrote, for example, the text to the Habanera).

The form of the opera’s definitive version is not entirely clear. We only know that on 2 June 1875, a day before his death, Bizet concluded an agreement with the Vienna Opera pursuant to which the spoken dialogue should be replaced with recitatives. This task was undertaken by Bizet’s friend Ernest Guiraud, who added ballet music to Act 4, taken over from other Bizet compositions. After the premiere in Vienna, the opera was performed in this version around the world. In 1964, Fritz Oeser published a reconstructed original version, thus affording another possible performance practice. The State Opera presents the work’s original version with shortened dialogues.

Cast and Creative team for Carmen at The State Opera

Libretto: Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy
Conductor: Tomáš Brauner, Ji?í Mikula
Stage director: Zden?k Troška
Sets: Milan Feren?ík
Costumes: Josef Jelínek
Chorus master: Adolf Melichar
Dramaturgy: Jitka Slavíková
Choreography: Marcela Benoniová


Carmen


Veronika Hajnová

Andrea Kalivodová

Jana Kurucová

Jana Sýkorová

Don José


Rafael Alvarez

Tomáš ?erný

Igor Jan

Michal Lehotský

Luciano Mastro

Escamillo


Miguelangelo Cavalcanti

Miloš Horák

Svatopluk Sem

Micaela


Jitka Burgetová

Alžb?ta Polá?ková

Simona Procházková

Dancairo


Ji?í Hruška

Mat?j Chadima

Martin Matoušek

Remendado


Václav Sibera

Martin Šrejma

Zuniga


Ivo Hrachovec

Ladislav Mlejnek

Roman Vocel

Morales


Ji?í Brückler

Ji?í Hájek

Old?ich K?íž

Frasquita


Hana Jonášová

Jana Sibera

Lucie Silkenová

Dagmar Va?kátová

Mercedes


Sylva ?mugrová

Jana Horáková Levicová

Lillas Pastia


Dalibor Janota

Tomáš Kyndl

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