大象传媒

Including the Toreador's Song and Habanera, Bizet's Carmen is packed full of some of the best known and instantly hummable tunes in the Classical canon. So it's easy to forget that the score was declared unplayable, and the story too scandalous and debauched for polite society at its 1875 premiere.

What upset the prim Parisians was that the cast of low-life characters, including factory workers, gypsies and soldiers, is depicted without rose-tinted romanticism, the slaves of their torrid passions. Jealousy, crime and murder dominate in a Spanish setting that the French preferred to think of as perfumed and exotic. But posterity gave Bizet the last laugh and star singers have always been attracted to the roles, including Latvian mezzo-of-the-moment Elina Garanca in the title role, and the internationally renowned tenor Roberto Alagna as her murderous lover Don Jos脙漏.

Presented by Margaret Juntwait with guest commentator Ira Siff. Including backstage interviews with artists during the interval.

Carmen: Elina Garanca (mezzo-soprano)
Don Jos脙漏: Roberto Alagna (tenor)
Moral脙篓s: Trevor Scheunemann (baritone)
Mica脙芦la: Barbara Frittoli (soprano)
Escamillo: Teddy Tahu Rhodes (baritone)
Dancaire: Earle Patriarco (tenor)
Remendado: Keith Jameson (tenor)
Zuniga: Keith Miller (bass)
Frasquita: Elizabeth Caballero (soprano)
Merc脙漏d脙篓s: Sandra Piques Eddy (soprano)
Yannick N脙漏zet-S脙漏guin (conductor)
Orchestra and Chorus of Metropolitan Orchestra.