Photo Flash: First Look at San Francisco Opera's CARMEN

San Francisco Opera's 2019 Summer Season opens with Georges Bizet'sCarmen June 5-29 at the War Memorial Opera House. Presented in American director Francesca Zambello's acclaimed staging, which has been mounted by Opera Australia, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and Norwegian National Opera, the opera features American mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges in her first professional performances of the title role and American tenor Matthew Polenzani assuming the role of Don José for the first time. Romanian soprano Anita Hartig makes her San Francisco Opera debut as Micaëla and American bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen is the bullfighter, Escamillo. In his first opera engagement with the Company, conductor James Gaffigan leads the cast and San Francisco Opera Orchestra.

Carmen shocked audiences at its 1875 premiere in Paris, but the work's music and realistic drama quickly won devotees. It is today one of opera's most popular and enduring works. The work follows the free-spirited gypsy Carmen and her obsessive lover, Don José, as their relationship steers toward a tragic end. Bizet's score is filled with unforgettable music, including Carmen's entrance ("Habanera"), the Toreador's bravura aria ("Votre toast"), Don José's Flower Song ("La fleur que tu m'avais jetée"), Micaëla's courageous soliloquy ("Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante") and the orchestral preludes that open each of the opera's four acts.

Tickets for Carmen are priced from $26 to $398. A $2 facility fee is included in all Balcony sections. All other sections include a $3-per-ticket facility fee. For tickets, visit sfopera.com, call (415) 864-3330 or visit the San Francisco Opera Box Office at 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. Box Office hours: Monday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Standing Room tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on the morning of each performance. Standing room tickets are $10 each, cash only, and limited to two tickets per person. Casting, schedules and ticket prices are subject to change.

Photo Credit: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera