Famous and controversial stage director Calixto Bieito presents this raw and evocative interpretation of Bizet’s classic opera, Carmen.; This live production at the Gran Teatre del Liceu emanates a sensual and convincing ambiance full of imagery.; The vocalists in this production are truly second-to-none, and include Beatrice Uria-Monzon as Carmen, Roberto Alagna as Don Jose, Erwin Schrott as Escamillo, and Marina Poplavskya as Micaela.

Despite the scandal it created with first staged in 1875, Carmen has subsequently become one of the world’s most popular operas. The love affair at its heart shocked contemporary audiences but the music is imperishably vibrant and exciting- so much so that, after the composer’s death, his friend Ernest Guiraud arranged two suites from the opera. Here the Toreador’s Song and the graphically sensuous Seguidilla and Habanera dances are heard in all their orchestral glory. The two suites from L’Arlesienne containe music of great charm and refined elegance.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD
This production of one of the world’s most popular operas, directed by Francesca Zambello, is a live performance from the Royal Opera House, June 2011. The Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Constantinos Carydis, are joined by Christine Rice as Carmen, Bryan Hymel as Don Jose, Aris Argiris as Escamillo, and Maija Kovalevska as Micaela.

Also available on Blu-ray

Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”, one of the world’s most beloved operas and a staple of the operatic since its premiere a mere three months before the composer’s death in June, 1875 was staged at the world-famous Arena di Verona in June, 2014 in an opulent production directed by the flamboyant Franco Zeffirelli and filmed in High Definition. The cast is an international lineup of excellent singers: Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk (“This gorgeous mezzo-soprano is gifted with an amazing voice… captivating timbre and good pronunciation… - Operaclick), soprano Irina Lungu ([her] voice has the brightness you associate with most coloraturas, but also bloom and warmth, which are more unusual qualities…” – New York Times), tenor Carlo Ventre (“I regard Ventre as one of the finest spinto tenors singing today.” – Opera Warhorses) and baritone Carlos Álvarez (… ample, virile voice…” – Opera News). Conductor Henrik Nánási leads the Arena di Verona Orchestra and Chorus.

Also available on Blu-ray

This production of one of the world’s most popular operas, directed by Francesca Zambello, is a live performance from the Royal Opera House, June 2011. The Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Constantinos Carydis, are joined by Christine Rice as Carmen, Bryan Hymel as Don Jose, Aris Argiris as Escamillo, and Maija Kovalevska as Micaela.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”, one of the world’s most beloved operas and a staple of the operatic since its premiere a mere three months before the composer’s death in June, 1875 was staged at the world-famous Arena di Verona in June, 2014 in an opulent production directed by the flamboyant Franco Zeffirelli and filmed in High Definition. The cast is an international lineup of excellent singers: Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk (“This gorgeous mezzo-soprano is gifted with an amazing voice… captivating timbre and good pronunciation… - Operaclick), soprano Irina Lungu ([her] voice has the brightness you associate with most coloraturas, but also bloom and warmth, which are more unusual qualities…” – New York Times), tenor Carlo Ventre (“I regard Ventre as one of the finest spinto tenors singing today.” – Opera Warhorses) and baritone Carlos Álvarez (… ample, virile voice…” – Opera News). Conductor Henrik Nánási leads the Arena di Verona Orchestra and Chorus.

Georges Bizet
CARMEN

Moralès – Hans Voschezang
Micaëla – Lisa Milne
Don José – Marcus Haddock
Zuniga – Jonathan Best
Carmen – Anne Sofie von Otter
Frasquita – Marty Hegarty
Mercédès – Christine Rice
Lillas Pastia – Anthony Wise
Escamillo – Laurent Naouri
Le Dancaïre – Quentin Hayes
Le Remendado – Colin Judson
Le Guide – Franck Lopez

Stoke Brunswick School Children’s Chorus
(chorus master: East Grinstead)
Glyndebourne Chorus
(chorus master: Tecwyn Evans)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Philippe Jordan, conductor

David McVicar, stage director
Michael Vale, set designer
Sue Blane, costume designer
Paule Constable, lighting designer
Andrew George, choreographer
Nicholas Hall, fight director

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, Lewes, Sussex, 17 August 2002

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Cast gallery
- Costume design
- How to fight on stage
- Choreographing Carmen
- The music of Carmen
- The Gardens of Glyndebourne

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 220 mins
No. of DVDs: 2

R E V I E W:

Carmen can justifiably lay claim to be the world’s most popular opera. As director David McVicar points out in one of the revealing documentary extras on this excellent BBC release, it ‘is probably the first musical, with hit tune after hit tune’. He’s right, but as his own thought-provoking production makes amply clear, it is so much more than that, having deep psychological layers that he teases out very effectively. He has (rightly in my opinion) opted for a colourful, naturalistic production, with costumes and sets all conveying the correct period and general feel; no stylised or ‘concept’ nonsense to distract the viewer. This leaves him clear to get the cast to really act and get under the skin of the complex characters that inhabit the work. This makes for a riveting dramatic experience, with the many famous melodies and set pieces all in proper context. There is an erotic charge running through many of the exchanges of the principals, and McVicar sees sexual frustration as the key to many of these characters’ problems. This may have led to raised eyebrows at Glyndebourne, but it does make a lot of sense, given the ultimate events of the tragedy. He also opts to include the original spoken dialogue rather than the spurious recitatives, another aspect that works remarkably well. It fleshes the story out properly instead of holding up the action until the next big tune, as one might suspect it would.

So full marks for not messing with Bizet’s general instructions too much. Praise must also be heaped on the London Philharmonic, who respond magnificently to the flamboyant young maestro, Philippe Jordan (any relation to Armin, I wonder?). His energy and physical intensity, which is visibly there for all to see in the hectic, brilliant prelude (where he resembles Escamillo!), communicates through to the orchestra at every turn, and Bizet’s wonderful scoring is heard in all its glory. One could cite numerous examples, but hear particularly the characterful wind solos of the Act 2 Entr’acte, or the beautifully weighted brass chords that punctuate the famous ‘Toreador Song’, helping one to appreciate the harmony afresh. It really is a superb aural-only experience, the Gallic lightness making one understand why Richard Strauss once advised young composers learning orchestration to study Bizet’s scores, not Wagner’s.

So the reported controversy surrounding this production appears to be wholly related to the central casting. Here we have one of the world’s finest mezzos seemingly cast against type. Anne Sofie von Otter herself admits that she may not be everyone’s idea of the ideal Carmen – "too tall, Nordic and cool", as she puts it, and remembering great Carmens of the past (Berganza, de los Angeles, Price, Migenes etc.) she does have a point. All I can say is that she seemed to me wholly convincing, sporting a blazing auburn wig to help with the gypsy look (plus Sue Blane’s magnificent costumes) and acting and singing with such conviction that criticism was all but silenced. McVicar and von Otter have obviously worked on other aspects of the character, and rather than the smouldering wildcat, we get a more mature portrayal of a woman who can, as the director has it "eat men whole – and laugh while she’s doing it". She is a woman desperately seeking love, a free spirit that simply needs the right partner. This really does make the final tragedy all the more poignant, because we really believe that she has at last found the right person in Escamillo, but, as the cards tell her, fate has something else in store for her. The famous routines are all superbly choreographed, and she raises a laugh from the audience as she manages the second verse of her ‘Seguidilla’ while lighting a cigar, quite a feat!

Her Don José, American tenor Marcus Haddock, also gives a multi-layered portrayal, and his character probably develops more than any other. He constantly reminds us that this is a man hiding many demons, not least the fact that he killed a man in a duel, so we begin to realise early on what he is capable of. There is also the shadow of his mother, who we learn wanted him to become a priest (all this is in the invaluable spoken dialogue), so he is an unstable individual. His beautifully sung ‘Flower Song’ is not just a showstopper, but tinged with all the psychological baggage of a haunted man. The final confrontation with Carmen is riveting, with the fatal stabbing ghastly but not in the least melodramatic. This is believable verismo.

As Escamillo, Laurent Naouri is also encouraged to act with some subtlety, to enjoy his big moments but give us some character insight. Thus his oft-heard ‘Toreador Song’ is punctuated by glances towards Carmen, who responds with knowing eye contact (obviously the camera close-up helps here), and an immediate chemistry is established. His is less a testosterone-fuelled macho man than a virile counterpart to Carmen herself; one can actually believe they would have made a satisfied couple.

The Micaëlla, Lisa Milne, is a touch matronly for me, but I suppose we have to believe in her as the saintly sister figure, and while I miss some of the fragility of others in this part, she sings beautifully and makes a good contrast to Carmen. All the smaller parts are taken with real relish, and I particularly liked Jonathan Best’s Zuniga. Costumes, as mentioned, are stunning, with the stage for the final act dominated by black and a symbolic blood red. The dancing is a delight, sexy and energetic, and stage designs (by Michael Vale) atmospheric yet practical.

The extras on the double DVD set are worth having. There are revealing interviews with director and principals, as well as substantial individual features on music, costume, choreography and stage fighting. There is an illustrated synopsis, cast gallery and a ten-minute feature on the famous Glyndebourne garden. Having loaded the discs with the extras, the booklet is devoted to a specially commissioned reworking of the Carmen libretto by Jeanette Winterson, entitled ‘The World Beyond’, a moving and worthwhile updating of the basic story.

Whether you want to fork out for two full price discs may depend totally on your idea of the casting of the eponymous heroine. When this was broadcast last year, some of my colleagues thought von Otter so wrong they couldn’t watch it through to the end. While I accept she may not be what is expected visually, I think it is short-sighted to not see the whole package. Carmen does dominate, but there is an awful lot going on around her, and David McVicar has managed quite the most intelligent, believable opera production I’ve seen for some time. This is ensemble directing at its best. With von Otter (and everyone else, for that matter) in absolutely superb voice, accompanied by gloriously inspired orchestral playing, this is a musical and visual feast. Sue Judd’s subtle camera work helps the television experience. The BBC packaging is first rate, making an altogether outstanding record of a thrilling event.

-- Tony Haywood, MusicWeb International
, Reviewing original release, Opus Arte 868

*** This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD or HD DVD players. ***

David McVicar’s exhilarating production, with Anne Sofie von Otter in the title role, restores the Opera Comique to Bizet’s masterpiece. Philippe Jordan, in his Glyndebourne debut, conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Chorus and a cast which includes Marcus Haddock, Laurent Naouri and Lisa Milne.

Moralès: Hans Voschezang
Micaëla: Lisa Milne
Don José: Marcus Haddock
Zuniga: Jonathan Best
Carmen: Anne Sofie von Otter
Frasquita: Mary Hegarty
Mercédès: Christine Rice
Lillas Pastia: Anthony Wise
Escamillo: Laurent Naouri
Le Dancaïre: Quentin Hayes
Le Remendado: Colin Judson
Le Guide: Franck Lopez

The Glyndebourne Chorus
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Philippe Jordan
Stage Director: David McVicar

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, on 17th August 2002.

Plus:
Illustrated synopsis & cast gallery.
Costume design.
Choreographing Carmen.
How to fight on stage.
The Gardens of Glyndebourne.

Reviews:

"Under the shrewd direction of McVicar, Anne Sofie von Otter gave us a gypsy of mercurial temperament, a tease, a dangerous flirt, and a woman intensely conscious of her sexual magnetism and of her public notoriety." -- Daily Telegraph

"Violent, passionate, superbly played… Glyndebourne’s Carmen is simply gripping." -- The Sunday Times

Region code: 0 (all regions)
Picture: 1080i
Sound: 2.0 & 5.1 Dolby True HD
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

An exhilarating new Carmen from Glyndebourne. Director David McVicar describes Carmen as "the first ever musical", and in his new production, with Anne Sofie von Otter in the title role, Carmen is restored to the original Opera. Comique as Bizet wrote it, stripping away subsequent re-workings which turned it into a grand opera. Philippe Jordan makes his Glyndebourne debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Chorus and a cast that includes Marcus Haddock, Laurent Naouri and Lisa Milne. This double disc set also includes extensive extra features on costume, dance, characters and the gardens of Glyndebourne.

Extra features include:
* Costume design
* How to fight on stage
* Illustrated synopsis
* The cast and their characters
* Choreographing Carmen
* The Gardens of Glyndebourne
* Booklet with new short story by novelist Jeanette Winterson

PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
SOUND: dts Surround/LPCM Stereo
SUBTITLES: English

This delightful selection from Naxos where, as usual, the playing, conducting and recorded sound cannot be faulted, is topped and tailed by the third and fourth movements of Bizet's 'Symphony in C' that he composed at the age of seventeen. In between are, amongst others, the best known bits of 'Carmen', 'The Pearl Fishers' and the 'L'Arlesienne Suites'. The music on this collection, with it's catchy melodic invention tied to sudden, serendipitous changes in tempo and pitch, harkens back to one of the fathers of French music, Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian has travelled far and wide, as an international opera star and an Armenian who was born in Lebanon, immigrated to Canada, and is now settled in southern California. Her life is a journey that informs her new recording, La Zingarella: Through Romany Songland. “The music transcends geography,” she says. “It taps into human nature and unites us all. It’s about freedom of the spirit, about living life without knowing what tomorrow holds. It’s about enjoying every single minute.” Isabel embarked on an album of art songs that draw on Romani melodies – Brahms’ Zigeunerlieder, Dvorák’s Cigánské Melodie, Bizet’s Habanera – and while those appear here, her journey also led to a wealth of recherché gems.

The title track by French composer Maurice Yvain commingles with fellow-operetta composers Franz Lehár (‘Lied und Csárdás’ from Zigeunerliebe), Emmerich Kálmán (‘Heia, heia, in den Bergen’ from The Csárdás Princess) and Victor Herbert ("Gypsy Love Song" from The Fortune Teller). Two South American Gypsy Songs by American folk song collector Henry F.B. Gilbert set words by ethnomusicologist Laura Alexandrine Smith, whose book lends the album its subtitle. The ever-adventurous Isabel commissioned new arrangements for the songs on this album, with violin, viola, cello, and piano lending a laser beam lucidity to the music that “has a lot of fire in it,” she says with a glint in her eye.

REVIEWS:

Bayrakdarian reigns supreme here. She is nominally a soprano, but her range extends well below the treble staff. She takes on Liszt’s opening `3 Gypsies’ and the succeeding Brahms and Dvorak sets with assurance, and when she moves on to Sebastian Iradier she cleverly follows his `Habanera’ with Bizet’s, so obviously based on it and so obviously a natural improvement in carrying the opening scale further down. The latter half of the disc is excerpts from operettas: Maurice Yvain’s Chanson Gitane, Franz Lehar’s Zigeunerliebe, Emmerich Kalman’s Czardasfurstin, and Victor Herbert’s Fortune Teller. The distance from Romany originals is greatest here, and yet I hear, not cultural appropriation, but cultural appreciation.

-- American Record Guide

Bayrakdarian is in fine voice and exuberant high spirits for these mostly high-spirited selections, yet poignant or sensuous when appropriate. This exhilarating cross-cultural excursion is enthusiastically recommended.

-- The Whole Note (Canada)

Les Pêcheurs de perles is best known for its glorious duet, but Georges Bizet’s opera has much more to offer. This live recording more than ever brings out the brilliance of this oriental story about love, duty and friendship. In the last 150 years, Bizet’s piece has mainly been heard in editions that stray from the composer’s original composition. This album – on the contrary - offers the first recording in history of the 1863 premiere version, reconstructed and published by Bärenreiter in 2015. Les Pêcheurs de perles contains a quintessentially French blend of lyricism, exoticism and drama, and the four soloists (Julie Fuchs as Leïla, Cyrille Dubois as Nadir, Florian Sempey as Zurga and Luc Bertin-Hugault as Nourabad) belong to today’s best performers for this specialist repertoire. Their vocal excellence is matched by the choral contributions of Les Cris de Paris. The rich sound palette of Les Pêcheurs is fully brought to life by the inspired playing of the Orchestre National de Lille under the baton of its new Music Director Alexandre Bloch.

-----

REVIEWS:

Dubois is distinctly French in the timbre of his voice and his singing style, and Fuchs is lyrical when required and her coloratura is formidable. The vocal honors really belong to the chorus, Les Cris de Paris. Here’s committed singing that reminds us that Bizet’s story is not just about passion and jealousy but also about a community clinging to the shoreline in search of a perilous and uncertain livelihood.

– BBC Music Magazine

Bloch conducts the Orchestre National de Lille in a vivid account of the score, with muscular playing driving the faster music (a terrific storm) and the exotic dance numbers. But it’s the casting of the central trio of characters where this recording triumphs, with no grit in the musical oyster. Dubois is an outstanding Nadir, and Fuchs’s Leïla is no less delectable. Sempey is a superb Zurga.

– Gramophone

This set of three films provides an outstanding showcase for the artistry of dancer Roberto Bolle, a ballet star of our own time. For the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia was restored to the splendor of its elegant and opulent three-act form. Casting Bolle as Aminta alongside Darcey Bussell in the title role, this is a wonderful showcase for virtuosity, invention and classical beauty. By contrast Roland Petit’s Notre-Dame de Paris exudes modernity, with its cool choreography and chic costumes by Yves Saint-Laurent. Here Bolle’s tragic Quasimodo, by turns fierce and tender, dances opposite Natalia Osipova as Esmeralda. In a second production from La Scala, the Ballet Corp’s traditional Grand Gala aligns with Milan’s tenure as host city of EXPO 2015, and Roberto Bolle, as one of La Scala’s étoiles, plays a central role in the stunning programme of excerpts. He performs the pas de deux from yet another Petit masterwork, dancing Don José to Polina Semionova’s Carmen, along with the mesmerizing contemporary solo Prototype.

This set of three films provides an outstanding showcase for the artistry of dancer Roberto Bolle, a ballet star of our own time. For the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia was restored to the splendor of its elegant and opulent three-act form. Casting Bolle as Aminta alongside Darcey Bussell in the title role, this is a wonderful showcase for virtuosity, invention and classical beauty. By contrast Roland Petit’s Notre-Dame de Paris exudes modernity, with its cool choreography and chic costumes by Yves Saint-Laurent. Here Bolle’s tragic Quasimodo, by turns fierce and tender, dances opposite Natalia Osipova as Esmeralda. In a second production from La Scala, the Ballet Corp’s traditional Grand Gala aligns with Milan’s tenure as host city of EXPO 2015, and Roberto Bolle, as one of La Scala’s étoiles, plays a central role in the stunning programme of excerpts. He performs the pas de deux from yet another Petit masterwork, dancing Don José to Polina Semionova’s Carmen, along with the mesmerizing contemporary solo Prototype.

The present release is a live recording of 1942 from the opera house of the State Theatre of Saxony, the Semperoper, destroyed by bombing three years later and finally reopened in 1985. The opera chorus and orchestra are to be heard performing alongside an outstanding ensemble of soloists under the musical direction of Karl Böhm, then principal conductor in Dresden as successor to Fritz Busch. Sung in German to a text by Julius Hopp, the new production – advertised as being in its 500th performance in mid-June 1942 – was created by Heinz Arnold, then Oberspielleiter (chief production supervisor) and post-war opera director to the Dresden State Opera. Stage sets and costumes (given as Trachten, “outfits”, work clothes or regional dress) were the responsibility of Adolf Mahnke and Richard Panzer. What little has survived as evidence of this historic staging suggests that it was strongly influenced by the Paris premiere. The Hispanic-Moorish elements of the stage façades clearly suggest the architecture of faraway lands. This thrill of the exotic is also to be found in the “outfits” and of course in the music. Georges Bizet thus combined and compared the charm of folklore with the (normally forbidden) deviant behavior of his characters. With their dusky harmonies, these psychologically convincing sequences of tuneful numbers hold the audience under their spell. The performance is an irresistible delight, especially in this realization under a maestro like Karl Böhm.