Opera: Carmen

Carmen revisited: minimalist, unexpected—an opera legend reflected in memory.

With its version of Carmen, boxopera ventures a distinctive, completely new approach to one of the most frequently performed works in opera history. The grand choral scenes—the heart of traditional performances—give way here to an intimate, psychologically dense narrative style.

Plot

The story jumps forward two decades: Carmen is dead, but her presence lives on—as a memory, an obsession, a hallucination. Don José, Escamillo, and Michaëla remember her fate, while the writer Prosper Mérimée brings her back to life in conversations with the three protagonists. Carmen appears—young, free, and unbroken—as a projection, as a ghostly figure from the beyond.

The contrasts between past and present, memory and reality are brought to the stage through the age of the performers and poetic lighting. A string ensemble and the music director at the piano provide musical accompaniment to Bizet's famous music in a reduced but intense version. New dialogues give the characters additional depth and create a bridge between literature, music, and theater.

Cast:

String ensemble: KM Patrizia Pacozzi, Matthias Bruns, Lucie Koči, Fabienne Imoberdorf, Matthias Walpen, Mátyas Vinczi

Musical director: Andrea Del Bianco

Soloists: Sarina Weber, Antonia Bourvé, Peter Bernhard, Cheyne Davidson, Matthias Fankhauser

Arrangement and composition: Raban Brunner

Libretto: Bruno Rauch

Director: Annette Leistenschneider

Equipment: Andreas Mayer and Ulli Kremer

Makeup: Béatrice Mendelin

Technology: Marek Streit

Stage management: Marc Condrau

Duration: 2.5 hours including intermission - Sung in French (with German surtitles), dialogues in German

Introduction to the opera: 7:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.

Box office available, cash payment and TWINT possible.

Contributing artists: boxopera