“A ‘Carmen’ dominated by emotionality”, wrote the press about this unforgettable interpretation of Georges Bizet’s masterpiece from Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu with an outstanding quartet of lead vocalists and a visually stimulating staging by Calixto Bieito. Conducted by Marc Piollet, the production features Béatrice Uria-Monzon as “a splendid and sensual” (elPeriódico) Carmen, Roberto Alagna as Don José, Marina Poplavskaya as Micaela and Erwin Schrott as Escamillo. Stage director Calixto Bieito conjures up a sensual, realistic atmosphere with sparse but powerfully symbolic props.
Tannhäuser
This exciting and compelling modern-day adaptation of Richard Wagner’s fable of love and redemption features one of the great Wagner singers of our time in the lead role, Peter Seiffert. As a nimble, youthful-voiced Tannhäuser, he plays alongside Petra Maria Schnitzer as Elisabeth. As the goddess of love, Elisabeth’s counterpart Venus is portrayed by the stunning Béatrice Uria-Monzon. Displaying particular vigor and dynamism is Günther Groissböck as Hermann, here in the guise of an art dealer. Sebastian Weigle, the Liceu’s principal conductor, gives a performance that is ‘full of vitality and visibly inspired’, as the Spanish daily ABC wrote.