Carmen – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Bizet’s Carmen was first performed on March 3rd, 1875 at the Opéra-Comique, Paris. Now the very same company brings a modern, super-sensual version to Edinburgh from 4th – 8th August, co-produced by Opernhaus Zürich.
On Opening Night in 1875, several morning papers published vitriolic letters. One claimed: "Carmen presents most unsavory characters, in such bad taste that the work might very well be ill-advised." Yet, go ahead it did, to healthy box office takings. Bizet, unfortunately, died of a heart attack at the very moment the curtain fell on the 32nd performance on June 3, 1875. Soon after it was closed in Paris, but it was soon to be a hit in Vienna and Brussels.
When you go to see a world class, flamboyant and colourful opera like Carmen, you expect (and take for granted) that...