Carmen GEORGES BIZET The ultimate femme fatale returns in a provocative staging by infamous director Calixto Bieito in his long-awaited U.S. opera debut. Set in the arid earthiness of post-Franco Spain, Bieito’s raw, physical and cinematic vision of Carmen provokes the intense, wild emotions pulsing through this tale of love, lust and murder. The result is a powerful, uncompromising account of a defiantly free-spirited woman and her compulsive, obsessive lover. This strikingly bold new production features two outstanding casts. One stars Irene Roberts as the impassioned Gypsy, Brian Jagde as the lovesick soldier and Zachary Nelson as the dashing bullfighter. The other is headed by Ginger Costa-Jackson, Riccardo Massi and Michael Sumuel. Carlo Montanaro, who conducts “with an élan calculated to set the listener’s pulse racing” (The Seattle Times), makes his Company debut in Bizet’s blazingly tuneful score. Be swept into the deadly seduction of Carmen as never before.
SUMMER 2016: MAY 27, 29m JUN 1, 23, 26m JUL 2
MAY 28, 31 JUN 17, 30 JUL 3m
Cast
Cast
Carmen Irene Roberts
Carmen Ginger Costa-Jackson
Don José Brian Jagde
Don José Riccardo Massi*
Micaëla Nadine Sierra
Micaëla Erika Grimaldi*
Escamillo Zachary Nelson*
Escamillo Michael Sumuel
Production Conductor Carlo Montanaro* Production Calixto Bieito* Revival Director Joan Anton Rechi* Set Designer Alfons Flores
*San Francisco Opera debut 3 hours, 45 minutes with two intermissions Sung in French with English supertitles Please note: this production contains nudity and suggestive behavior.
Costume Designer Mercè Paloma Chorus Director Ian Robertson
Company Sponsors John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn are proud to support this production. Maestro Montanaro’s appearance is made possible by the Conductors Fund, and Mr. Jagde’s appearance is made possible by the Emerging Voices Fund, both established by Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.
sfopera.com/carmen 11