Jonathan Tetelman as Don José and Eve-Maud Hubeaux in the title role in Bizet’s Carmen
San Francisco Opera closes its 2024 Fall Season with Francesca Zambello’s production of Bizet’s ever popular Carmen, starring Eve-Maud Hubeaux making her US debut as the fiery, passionate and seductive Carmen, and Jonathan Tetelman making his Company debut as Don José, the army corporal who falls for Carmen’s attractions. Louise Alder – in her US debut – is Micaëla, the sweet peasant girl who is betrothed to Don José, and Christian van Horn is Escamillo, the handsome toreador who is well aware of his appeal to women. Benjamin Manis, in his Company debut, leads the San Francisco Orchestra and Chorus (Director John Keene).
In 1872, Georges Bizet was commissioned to write a new work by the Paris Opéra-Comique – an institution known historically for its light, moralistic, safe and predictable pieces – and although the aim of this commission was to try and raise the theatre from its somewhat dull reputation, the co-directors had no idea just how revolutionary Bizet’s opera would be.
Eve-Maud Hubeaux in the title role with members of the San Francisco Opera Chorus in Bizet’s Carmen
Based on an 1845 novella by Prosper Mérimée, with a libretto in French by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, Bizet’s Carmen – an opera in four acts – broke new ground, focussing on the underclass – the so-called ‘common folk’, which included gypsies, smugglers and factory workers, women who smoked in public, who were involved in physical fights and who were sexually free. Consequently, when the opera premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3rd March 1875, it was condemned by the critics as immoral and vulgar.
Bizet, who had taken a lot of care to familiarise himself with the music of Andalusia – the region in which the original story of Carmen was set – was devastated by this reception, and at the time of his death, three months after the premiere, he was certain that he’d written the greatest failure in the history of opera. He didn’t live to see how successful his Carmen would become – nor did he know of the prediction of Tchaikovsky no less, that within 10 years, it would become “the most popular opera in the world”.
Eve-Maud Hubeaux in the title role in Bizet’s Carmen
The title role of Carmen is taken by Swiss-French mezzo-soprano Eve-Maud Hubeaux who won the 2024 Herbert von Karajan Award for rising stars. Ms Hubeaux has already performed this role with the Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and La Monnaie in Brussels. Upcoming performances include the mezzo solo in Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 at Maison de la Radio Paris, Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at Opéra National de Paris and the mezzo solo in Verdi’s Requiem at Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Jonathan Tetelman as Don José and Eve-Maud Hubeaux in the title role in Bizet’s Carmen
American tenor Jonathan Tetelman won a Gramophone Classical Music Award this year for his album The Great Puccini, and Presto Music has written of him: “What a sound! Tetelman’s tenor possesses gleaming brightness, and his open vowels and excellent Italian diction make him the sunniest-sounding tenor since Luciano Pavarotti”. Mr Tetelman’s debuts in the past year include the role of Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata at San Francisco Opera, as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca with Houston Grand Opera, and as MacDuff in Verdi’s Macbeth with the Salzburger Festspiele. Highlights of the current season include the roles of Macduff at Bavarian State Opera, an appearance in Christmas in Vienna at Wiener Konzerthaus and as Turiddu in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana at Vienna State Opera.
Louise Alder as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen
British soprano Louise Alder makes a triple debut in this production of Carmen. Not only is this the first time she has performed in the US, but this appearance also marks her Company debut and the first time she has sung the role of Micaëla. Described by The Times as having a “big, lustrous voice with flawless intonation and keen intelligence”, Ms Alder won the 2017 Audience Prize at the Cardiff Singer of the World, and has recently appeared as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, followed by a Brahms recital at Schubertiade Schwarzenburg in Austria.
Christian Van Horn as Escamillo with members of the San Francisco Opera Chorus in Bizet’s Carmen
American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn has sung many roles with San Francisco Opera including the four villains in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Oroveso in Puccini’s Norma, Zoroastro in Handel’s Orlando, and Claggart in Britten’s Billy Budd, he now adds Escamillo to his repertoire. Later this season he will appear as Bluebeard in a concert version of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Philippe II in Verdi’s Don Carlos at the Opéra National de Paris.
Christopher Oglesby as Dancaïre, Alex Boyer as Remendado, Nikola Printz as Mercédès, and Arianna Rodriguez as Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen
The cast also includes current Adler Fellows soprano Arianna Rodriguez as Frasquita, mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz as Mercédès, baritone Samuel Kidd as Moralès, bass-baritone James McCarthy as Zuniga, Christopher Oglesby as Dancaïre and Alex Boyer as Remendado, with Dance Corps dancer Blanche Hampton as Manuelita.
Francesca Zambello’s staging of Carmen is a co-production between San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera, and based on the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Norwegian National Opera stagings. Updating the action from the opera’s original setting of the 1820s to Seville at the time of Carmen’s premiere in 1875, it was last seen at the War Memorial Opera House in 2019. Ms Zambello is assisted by associate director and choreographer Annamaria Bruzzese, the production designer is Tanya McCallin, original lighting design is by Paule Constable and the revival lighting designer is Justin A Partier.
Jonathan Tetelman as Don José and Eve-Maud Hubeaux in the title role in Bizet’s Carmen
Benjamin Manis was formerly Resident of Houston Grand Opera, then Associate Conductor of the Utah Symphony. He has subsequently made several appearances with the Utah Symphony, and has led the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and Utah Opera, before being appointed Resident Conductor at the Grant Teton Music Festival.
Bizet’s Carmen is sung in French with English supertitles, and runs at the War Memorial Opera House for 8 performances between November 13 and December 1.
The performance on November 19 will be livestreamed at 7:30 pm PT, and the opera will also be available to watch on demand for 48 hours beginning on Wednesday, November 20 at 10 am PT.
All photos © Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera
Information sourced from:
San Francisco Opera programme notes
Carmen history
Artists’ websites
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