2023-08-21 16:27:30
Eisenstadt (OTS) – The last performance of Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” took place in the St. Margarethen quarry on August 20th. This season might scarce 90,000 visitors in the thrilling production by the renowned French director, set in the 1930s and 1950s Arnaud Bernard be welcomed what a Utilization of 80% corresponds. The live broadcast on ORF III reached a total of 348,000 viewers, around 80,000 more than in the previous year. Cultural critics as well as the audience were enthusiastic regarding the production.
“Arnaud Bernard’s spectacular new production is both exciting and reflective and offers a strong ensemble.” – Concerti
„[…] great singers, above all the Canadian Joyce El-Khoury, whose radiant soprano manages to mysteriously master the depths of this mezzo role. At her side, Brian Michael Moore as Don José and Vittorio Prato were already able to demonstrate their vocal qualities before the break.” – Oberösterreichisches Volksblatt
IDirector of the opera in the quarry, Daniel Serafin, sums it up with satisfaction: “I am very pleased that this year we were able to show a very varied and unique new production of a popular opera classic, with which we were able to build on the successes of previous years. Many of our visitors were so enthusiastic regarding ‘Carmen’ that they have already secured tickets for next year’s opera ‘Aida’. That is the best confirmation of our work.”
Sthis year, with “Carmen”, a strong woman was staged in the staged field of tension between Hollywood’s dream factory and the Spanish civil war, and in 2024, “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi pays homage to the immortality of love. For the staging, the director might already Thaddeus Strassberger who, together with his team, was responsible for the new production of “Turandot” at the Oper im Steinbruch in 2021. Advance sales for “Aida” have already got off to a sensational start and have surpassed the comparative figures for the previous year: one performance might be completely filled.
Carmen: Between the Spanish Civil War and the big film studios of the 1950s
The action, actually set in the middle of the 19th century, took place in this production in the 1930s, during the Spanish Civil War. The stage, designed by set designer Alessandro Camera, depicted the Hollywood film studios of the 1950s, creating a narrative framework that added another timeline to the action on stage. The conflict between the freedom-loving Carmen and the soldier Don José, who is obedient to the authorities, was thus given an additional level of meaning, which freed the story from picturesque clichés. Carmen and her friends became people in the resistance, rebelling once morest an unjust regime. This jump in time by around 80 years gave Carmen’s striving for a free life a social dimension: the staging did not show Carmen as a femme fatale, but put her seductive power at the service of female emancipation on the way to more self-determination.
On the second level, this story was shot in a large film studio as a melodramatic flick with a lot of personnel in front of and behind the camera. This made it possible to broaden the narrative perspective: various scenes were repeatedly shown simultaneously. The epic breaks were program and yet support immersion in a dream world in a special way: The dream of the splendor of the old film studios was newly created in the St. Margarethen quarry and opened up completely new dimensions to the well-known story.
The stage design of Alessandro Camera created its own reality and the costume design of Carla Ricotti conjured up Spanish flair and a touch of Hollywood with around 300 costumes.
With the young conductor Valerio Galli An internationally renowned expert conducted the Piedra Festival Orchestra as well as world-class singers such as Joyce El-Khoury, Brian Michael Moore und Vittorio Prato. Lilly Jørstad, who was internationally acclaimed as Rosina in “The Barber of Seville”, and Francesca Di Sauro, who has already been successful at La Scala in Milan and the Arena di Verona, also took over as Carmen. Brian Michael Moore, Matthew White and Migran Agadzhanyan embodied the unhappy lover Don José in turns. Brian Michael Moore is considered one of the most promising young tenors in the lyrical-dramatic field. The same applies to Agadzhanyan and the American Matthew White, who made his European debut with this production. Three young up-and-coming sopranos were heard as the faithful Micaёla: Vanessa Vasquez, Yulia Suleimanova and Ana Garotić. The Italian star baritone Vittorio Prato and the young Sergey Kaydalov interpret the daring bullfighter Escamillo. Prato is celebrated internationally above all for his supple bel canto interpretations, and Kaydalov, as a new member of the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera, is already enjoying great success at the Haus am Ring.
VPreview 2024: Aida
With the passionate story of a great love, Verdi created one of the most important operas regarding the immortality of love. Large and pompous mass scenes are contrasted by passionate, almost chamber play-like scenes, in which the longings and conflicts of the characters become an enchanting sound experience. Mystical scenes of incantation in the temple, nocturnal encounters on the banks of the Nile or glittering scenes of triumph: the doyen of Italian opera hits exactly the right, stirring tone for every mood. With the lyrical arias of Aida, Radame’s dreamy romance “Holde Aida” or the opulent triumphal march, Verdi has created immortal catchy tunes in opera literature, and Aida’s confrontations with her father and the pharaoh’s daughter are highlights of musical and psychological composition. Like hardly any other opera, Verdi’s masterpiece fits harmoniously into the rough rocky landscape of the St. Margarethen quarry.
Tickets for “Aida” in the St. Margarethen quarry can now be reserved at the pan.event ticket office on T +43 2682 65 0 65 or by e-mail: [email protected]. All information below www.operimsteinbruch.at.
DATES & INFORMATION
Premiere: July 10, 2024
Further dates:
July 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27 and 28, 2024
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th August 2024
beginning of July: 8.30 p.m., admission from 6.30 p.m
beginning of August: 8 p.m., admission from 6 p.m
Duration: approx. 2.45 hours including a break
Prices: €49 to €168
TICKET ORDERS
Ticketbüro pan.event
T: +43 2682 65065
Questions & contact:
i.A. der Arenaria GmbH
Leonara Skala
Head of Public Relations and Social Media
presse@arenaria.at
presse@esterhazy.at
+43 2682 63004-403
www.operimsteinbruch.at
1692646574
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