Carmen

Georges Bizet

Carmen

Opera in 4 acts

Performed in French

(accompanied by simultaneous subtitles in Kazakh and Russian)

Running time: 3 hours (including two intervals)

Please note that the age limit is 10+

Management reserves the right to substitute performers

Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy

based on an eponymous novella by Prosper Mérimée

PRODUCTION GROUP:

Conductor – Alan Buribayev, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan, Laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Assistant Сonductor – Ruslan Baimurzin

Stage Director – Lorenzo Amato

Director – Yerenbak Toikenov

Stage Designer – Ezio Frigerio

Opera Company Director – Talgat Mussabayev, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

Costume Designer – Franca Squarciapino

Assistant Costume Designers – Hélène Kritikos, Arassel Dosmuratova

Lighting Designer – Jacopo Pontani

Projection Designer – Sergio Metalli

Chorus Master – Yerzhan Dautov, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

Ballet Masters - Producers – Yelena Sherstneva / Tursynbek Nurkaliyev, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

Head of Children’s Choir – Altynganym Akhmetova

Technical Project Manager – Victor Carare

Head of the Children’s Studio and Senior Chorus Master: Shirin Akhmedzhanova

The fate of the opera Carmen by the French composer Georges Bizet was dramatic. Accentuated realism and choice of the main characters – a frivolous gypsy girl and a soldier, who became a deserter and murderer out of his love for her - shocked the Paris audiences. Bizet died of a heart attack three months after his creation failed, unaware that soon this work would become one of the prominent masterpieces of opera classics.

The opera takes place in Spain in the first half of the 19^th century. The beautiful, passionate and freedom-loving gypsy Carmen, who stands out among other workers of the cigarette factory, is in the centre of the rapid succession of events. Unlike the original source, Bizet ennobled the character of his heroine, emphasizing her directness of feelings and independence of actions.

The librettists introduced colorful folk scenes into the opera. A temperamental and motley crowd, dwelling under the burning Southern sun, romantic figures of gypsies and smugglers, and the uplifting atmosphere of bullfighting acutely and brightly emphasize the original characters of Carmen, Don José, Micaëla and Escamillo as well as the tragic nature of their destinies.

Carmen is a fatal woman, whose freedom and love become destructive both for the one she recently loved, and for herself as well.

It is not difficult to understand the reason for such popularity. There are a lot of magnificent tunes in the opera! However, “the historical significance of Bizet's opera is not only in its endless artistic value, but also in the fact that for the first time ever the drama of ordinary people, affirming the ethical rights and dignity of a human being, was so skilfully described on the opera stage...”

LEAD ROLES ARE PERFORMED BY:

Carmen:             Tatyana VITSINSKAYA

Don José:            Dmitry GOLOVNIN

Escamillo:           Talgat MUSSABAYEV, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan /

Micaëla:              Aigul NIYAZOVA, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan   

Zuniga:               Yevgeniy CHAINIKOV, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan  

Moralès:             Yerzhan SAIPOV

Frasquita:           Guldana ALDADOSSOVA  

Mercédès:           Yelena GANZHA

Le Dancaïre:       Altynbek ABILDA, laureate of the State Youth Prize “Daryn”

Le Remendado:  ​Ramzat BALAKISHIYEV

Tickets purchased at the Astana Opera are exchangeable and refundable only in cases of cancelled or postponed performances. In all other cases, no refunds and exchanges are possible.