Carmen from Bregenz Festival 2017

Carmen staged on the world’s largest, spectacular floating stage in Bregenz, with a set designed by British artist Es Devlin, staged by Kasper Holten.

Georges Bizet‘s captivating music with its Spanish sounds took the world by storm: Carmen‘s Habanera and Seguidilla, like Escamillo‘s Toreador‘s Song, are known to one and all. The French composer‘s most successful opera is staged on the world’s largest, spectacular floating stage of Lake Constance in Bregenz, with a set designed by British artist Es Devlin. She has designed sets for pop stars like Adele, U2, Take That, the Pet Shop Boys and Kanye West. In collaboration with the stage director Kasper Holten, Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House in London, she has also worked at opera houses in Helsinki and Copenhagen, at the Theater an der Wien and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

For the Danish stage director, this "opera about destiny and obsession" centres on "two people who are treated as outsiders, whose paths cross and who cling to each other in a passionate but unhealthy relationship".

PRESS
"The lake-stage in Bregenz is a venue for theatrical spectaculars, and Kasper Holten’s production of Carmen on Es Devlin’s extraordinary set was a knockout.“ (The Telegraph)
"The French singer Gaëlle Arquez proves to be a lucky find. Not only her massive, shimmering mezzo-soprano is convincing, but her high-quality acting skills as well.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
"Grand Opera marries pop show this year at the Bregenz Festival. And it works!“ (ZDF Heute Journal)

Original title Carmen from Bregenz Festival 2017
Genre Opera
Recording location Floating stage at Bregenz Festival 2017
Duration 124 mins
Production Company A co-production of ORF, SRF, TPC, UNITEL, ZDF, 3sat in cooperation with Bregenz Festival
Composer Georges Bizet
Orchestra / Band Wiener Symphoniker
Conductor Paolo Carignani
Stage Director Kasper Holten
Stage Director stage designby Es Devlin
Soloist Gaëlle Arquez, Daniel Johansson, Scott Hendricks, Elena Tsallagova
Choir Prague Philharmonic Choir, Bregenz Festival Choir