Bizet’s ‘Carmen’:Outstanding soloists in unflinching Andalusian style

Bizet’s ‘Carmen’:Outstanding soloists in unflinching Andalusian style

 Carmen G Bizet, libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy after Prosper Mérimée’s novel (1845). Opera Australia, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, February 3rd, 2014. According to operabase.com Bizet’s Carmen ( 1873 – 4) was the second most frequently performed opera, during the worldwide 2013-14 season, with 477 performances, coming second to La traviata (577 performances). Opera…

‘Carmen’  – Handa opera on Sydney Harbour reviewed

‘Carmen’ – Handa opera on Sydney Harbour reviewed

For a second year, Opera Australia has presented an outdoor performance located spectacularly at the Royal Botanic Gardens on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour.  Nowhere else in the world is there such a wonderful setting with Sydney’s Opera House and Harbour Bridge providing a magical backdrop, and the city lights reflecting in the waters of the…

‘Carmen’: Handa Opera on Sydney harbour – Rinat Shaham’s insights

‘Carmen’: Handa Opera on Sydney harbour – Rinat Shaham’s insights

In an overnight transformation, mezzo-soprano Milijana Nikolic has shed several decades from her persona and gone from singing the role of one doomed gypsy to another. The day after the closing performance of Il Trovatore, in which she portrayed Azucena, she was rehearsing the role of Carmen which she will sing in Handa Opera on…