Scottish Opera to warm up Edinburgh this winter with Carmen
You have to wait till November but Scottish Opera will then be ready to entertain you with Carmen at the Festival Theatre.
Their new season will begin with one of the world’s best-loved operas: the steamy tale, scandalous heroine and instantly recognisable music make Bizet’s Carmen a true gem of the operatic repertoire.
This dark and sultry production – by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser (1999) and revived here by director Benjamin Davis – evokes the exotic atmosphere of 19thcentury Seville and puts the colourful characters and fantastic singing into intimate focus. Carmen’s enduringly memorable music features richly melodic tunes such as the ‘Habanera’, the ‘Seguidilla’ and the rousing ‘Toreador’s Song’.
Carmen tells the story of one of the most famous love triangles in the classical music world. When Don José, a naïve, young soldier, meets the alluring and exuberant Carmen, thoughts of marrying his childhood sweetheart are soon forgotten. But Don José is not the only one to fall under Carmen’s seductive spell, and when she chooses another man, Escamillo, she sets in motion a shocking and unmissable showdown at the bullfighting arena.
Making her Scottish Opera debut, Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Justina Gringyte sings the title role, hot on the heels of winning Best Young Singer at the International Opera Awards 2015. Since her time as a Samling scholar and a member of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme from 2011 to 2013, Justina has sung many roles including Maddalena in Rigoletto at the Bolshoi Theatre, Fenena in Nabucco at Welsh National Opera, Carmen at English National Opera and has gained widespread recognition within the industry.
Also making his debut with Scottish Opera, New York-born tenor Noah Stewart sings the role of Don José. Since graduating from The Juilliard School, Noah has established himself as an extremely versatile cross-over artist. As well as singing title roles around the world’s great opera houses, he sang back-up vocals for the American rapper Coolio and became a Decca recording artist with his debut solo album, Noah, which peaked to number 14 on the UK Albums Chart and topped the UK classical music charts for seven weeks in 2012. In early 2015, Noah appeared with English National Opera in The Indian Queen and with the Royal Opera House in the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.
To complete the famous love triangle, Roland Wood returns to Scottish Opera to sing the role of Escamillo. A former Scottish Opera Company principal, Roland has been highly praised for his portrayal of the Count di Luna in Scottish Opera’s production of Verdi’s Il trovatore (2015) and Oedipus in English National Opera’s world premiere of Julian Anderson’s Thebans (2014).
Joining the trio are former Scottish Opera Emerging Artists Nadine Livingston singing Micaela, Marie Claire Breen and Andrew McTaggart, a chorus of 40, The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, and a 20 strong children’s chorus from all over Scotland. Renowned British conductor David Parry brings the fantastically familiar score to life in his Scottish Opera debut.
This is a co-production with Welsh National Opera and there are some free events included in the events in November.
Festival Theatre, 13–29 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9FT
Tue 3 November 7.15pm
Fri 6 November 7.15pm
Sun 8 November 4.00pm
Thu 12 November 7.15pm
Sat 14 November 7.15pm
Free events
Carmen Unwrapped
Wed 4 November 6.00pm
Pre-show talk
Sun 8 November 2.45pm
Touch Tour
Sat 14 November 6.00pm