Carmen! What More Is There to Say?

Sunday, November 2 at 1 p.m., Orcas Center

— from Artha Kass —

Bizet’s Carmen, the most popular presentation in the history of the Live in HD series, streams live to Orcas Center this Sunday, November 2 at 1:00 pm with Anita Rachvelishvili as the Gypsy fiery yet cool seductress. The transmission, hosted by Joyce DiDonato, will be seen in more than 2,000 movie theaters in 69 countries around the world.

Anita Rachvelishvili, the Georgian mezzo-soprano who burst onto the international opera scene in this role 5 years ago at La Scala who has performed the role to acclaim around the world, reprises her interpretation of the title role with Ildar Abdrazakov (Figaro) as the swaggering toreador Escamillo.

With 985 performances since its company premiere in 1884, Carmen is the third most-staged opera in the Met’s repertory, and the most-staged French-language opera by a significant margin. Though it is now given in the original French, in the early seasons of the Met it was sometimes performed in both Italian and German in keeping with standard performance practices of the time.

Carmen features some of the most recognizable music in the opera repertoire. Excerpts have been used in movies ranging from the Marx Brother’s 1929 The Cocoanuts and the 1976 baseball classic The Bad News Bears to the 2009 Disney/Pixar film Up.

In the award-winning 1943 Broadway musical Carmen Jones, Bizet’s original score was combined with new English lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein and a setting updated to World War II. The show, which featured an African-American cast, was also adapted into a film in 1954.

“The show caught fire, mainly on the strength of Ms. Rachvelishvili’s vocal power and compelling stage presence, and Mr. Eyre’s sure sense of dramatic pacing took hold. With her smoldering, earthy sexuality she is ideal for the role, managing to seem untamed, almost unhinged at times, yet also coolly calculating.” —The New York Times

“Overall, the Met has put together an exceptional cast of singers and a great conductor that make for an absolutely enjoyable and powerful night.” —Latin Post

Tickets for this Met: Live in HD presentation of Carmen are $18, $13 for students, $2 off for Orcas Center members, and may be purchased at www.orcascenter.org or by calling 376-2281 ext. 1 or visiting the Orcas Center Box Office open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from noon – 4 pm. For more information about Orcas Center 2014 season events, please visit www.orcascenter.org.