Carmen

An opéra comique in four acts by Georges Bizet

Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
based on the novella of the same name by Prosper Mérimée
In French with German and Polish surtitles

Love is a rebellious bird – fascinating and fickle.
It is not really compatible with the conventions of bourgeois morality. Those who love cross boundaries: their own, those of society, or those of the beloved.

Don José, a dutiful soldier, also experiences this in his relationship with Carmen. It all begins with a routine official duty: he is ordered to arrest her and take her to prison because she has been involved in a physical altercation. Fascinated by Carmen’s appearance, he sets her free and is himself imprisoned for this breach of duty. When they meet again, he follows Carmen. He deserts, thereby renouncing his entire bourgeois existence. However, when the bullfighter Escamillo enters their lives, the tide turns and fate takes a tragic turn.

Amidst the erotic tension of a ménage à trois, differing life philosophies and stereotypes clash: the self-determined and loving Carmen, the soldier Don José, bound by military hierarchies, and the free-spirited, universally desired bullfighter Escamillo. Musically, Bizet’s *Carmen*, with its exotic depictions of social life, rousing choral scenes and beguiling arias, ranks among the most dazzling operas of the 19th century.

Haus Zittau, Main Hall

• Musical Theatre