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Celebrating five years of music-making in Sheffield, Opera on Location returns with one of the world's most popular operas, Carmen.
Following the doomed love story of the naïve yet aggressive corporal Don José and the seductive and dangerous gypsy Carmen, this murderous love story encapsulates every aspect of human emotion. From the lust we feel in Carmen's famous Habenera and the triumph of the rousing Toreador aria sung by Escamillo, to the excitement and suspense created in the epic finale, Carmen is a musical feast where one memorable aria follows another.
Taking the opera to a dark and unsettling 1980s setting, Kelham Island Museum provides the ideal backdrop for a gritty interpretation of this classic tale. Exploring cultural themes and issues prevalent during the 1980s, this production will transport the opera to a new era and promises to be as surprising, captivating and stirring as it has always been.
Georges Bizet
1838-1875
Bizet managed to accomplish a lot in a short time. He joined the Paris Conservatoire when he was just 9 years old and won many major prizes in piano, organ and composition. In 1857 he won the highly coveted Prix de Rome which set him on the path towards notoriety and success. His first opera Les Pêcheurs des Perles (The Pearl Fishers) was a huge success despite its questionable libretto - its writers referred to it as a ‘white elephant’! However, Bizet’s greatest success came with Carmen which was as much of a hit when it was written as it still is today, in fact Wagner wrote of it ‘Here thank God…is someone with ideas in his head’. Bizet sadly died of a heart attack one year after he completed Carmen.
Cast and Creatives
Location: Kelham Island Industrial Museum
The museum opened in 1982 to house the objects, pictures and archive material representing Sheffield’s industrial story.
Located in one of Sheffield’s oldest industrial districts, Kelham Island Museum stands on a man-made island over 900 years old.
