Carmen is now playing at Bolshoi in Russia. The opera features a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy after the novel of the same name by Prosper Mérimée.
It was in 1898 that Carmen was premièred at the Bolshoi and since then this marvelous opera has never been absent for long from the repertoire. Carmen has had eight productions at the Bolshoi, including a 1943 production in the city of Kuibyshev (today Samara), where the Theatre was in evacuation during the Second World War, and a 1945 production in Moscow - just one month after Victory Day. A real long-liver was the production by the famous choreographer and director Rostislav Zakharov: was to remain in the repertoire for 26 years (1953-1979) - during which time it was given 430 performances.
In different years at the Bolshoi, the title role was performed by the great singers and unique artists- Vera Petrova-Zvantseva, Cora Antarova, Nadezhda Obukhova, Bronislava Zlatogorova, Vera Davydova, Veronika Borisenko, Irina Arkhipova, Elena Obraztsova, Tamara Sinyavskaya...The Bolshoi's 9th production of Carmen is by the famous theatre director and artistic director of the Russian Academic Youth Theatre (the Bolshoi's neighbor on Theatre Square) - Alexei Borodin and his permanent co-author, the scenographer Stanislav Benediktov. Costumes are by Valentina Komolova, lighting by Damir Ismagilov, while the Spanish dance numbers are produced by the Spanish dancer-choreographers and famous performers of the flamenco, Rosario and Ricardo Castro. Music director of the produciton is the Bolshoi Theatre's Music Director and Chief Conductor Tugan Sokhiev.
Music Director: Tugan Sokhiev
Stage Director: Alexei Borodin
Set Designer: Stanislav Benediktov
Costume Designer: Valentina Komolova
Lighting Designer: Damir Ismagilov
Chorus Master: Valery Borisov
Choreographers: Ricardo Castro, Rosario Castro
Director of Stage Movement: Andrei Ryklin
Performances run through 10 April. Learn more at https://2011.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/811/.
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