
Carmen
The cards are not in her favor.
Carmen, a free-spirited, enticing performer and factory worker, loves freely and lives boldly. Her love for the handsome Don José quickly turns into deceit and jealousy. It’s a recipe for disaster when she leaves him for the bullfighter, Escamillo.
Bizet’s most popular opera comes to the stage in a new production by Mariame Clément. Colorful sets and costumes by Julia Hansen bring this tragedy to life. What do the cards have in store for Carmen, Don José and Escamillo? Only time will tell what destiny has in store.
Las cartas no están a su favor.
Carmen, una artista tentadora de espíritu libre y trabajadora de fábrica, ama libremente y vive con valentía. Su amor por el guapo Don José se convierte rápidamente en engaño y celos. Es una receta para el desastre cuando lo deja por el torero Escamillo.
La ópera más popular de Bizet llega al escenario de la Santa Fe Opera en una nueva producción de Mariame Clément. Escenarios y vestuarios llenos de color por Julia Hansen dan vida a esta tragedia. ¿Qué tienen las cartas guardadas para Carmen, Don José y Escamillo? Solo el tiempo dirá lo que les guarda el destino.
Synopsis
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Act I
A square in Seville. Soldiers pass, pretty girls pass. A blonde in a blue dress asks for Corporal José. The soldiers invite her to pass the time until he returns, but she promises rather to return for the changing of the guard.
The whistle blows at the cigarette factory. Carmen, a Romani girl, lingers on the way to work, unfurling her smoky charms for a crowd of admirers in a habanera about the fickleness of love. José pays her no mind. She pitches a red cassia flower at him. He picks it up, and hides it in his shirt when Micaëla enters to tell him of life at home and to give him the letter and the money his mother has sent. He pledges Micaëla his love and faith.
Screams are heard from the factory. Carmen has knifed another cigarette girl. Since she won’t answer Lieutenant Zuniga’s questions about the fight, José has no choice but to arrest her. She doesn’t seem to mind. Soon he has helped her escape. He is arrested.
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Act II
Lillas Pastia’s club. Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès are singing and dancing at the tavern. The famous bullfighter Escamillo enters and raises a toast to the assembled company. Carmen is impressed, but she tells the toreador she’s seeing someone. When he leaves, a crowd follows him. The hour grows late and Pastia closes the tavern, leaving Dancaïre and Remendado to explain their new business scheme to the women. Frasquita and Mercédès are willing to start off at once, but Carmen insists on waiting for José, who is to have been released today. They suggest converting him to their band.
José comes in and Carmen makes him jealous by telling him she’s been obliged to dance for Zuniga and the other officers. She begins to dance for him, but soon he hears the bugle call to return to his barracks. She taunts him for yielding to duty and not to love. As proof of his passion he pulls out the flower she threw at him. But if he really loved her, she says, he’d desert the army and go with her and her friends. Zuniga enters in search of Carmen and jealous José fights him. Carmen’s cry brings the band running back. They disarm the men, Zuniga leaves, and now José has no choice but to head for the mountains.
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Act III
A rocky pass in the mountains. The smugglers relish the perils of their assignment. José misses his mother, his home and his honest reputation, and Carmen dares him to go back. He threatens her: he’ll never leave. She says she is in the hands of Fate. The other girls decide to play cards to tell their fortunes. Each time Carmen shuffles and deals, she sees the Nine of Spades: Death. In the hands of Fate.
Dancaïre enters to call them to their posts to carry the next shipment. A guide enters the pass unseen, leading Micaëla to where she might find José. She prays for the strength to reclaim her sweetheart from this other woman’s clutches. Now Escamillo enters in search of Carmen, and José challenges him to fight. Just as Escamillo’s knife snaps, Carmen steps in to separate the rivals. Escamillo invites everyone to his next fight in Seville. Then Remendado and Dancaïre find Micaëla hiding. She is overjoyed to see José, and she begs him to come home. Carmen seconds the advice. He says he’d rather die than leave her — but when Micaëla reveals that his mother is dying, he leads her away. Escamillo’s voice is heard in the distance.
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Act IV
The arena in Seville. The crowds celebrate as the festival procession approaches the bullring. Escamillo enters with Carmen on his arm. Frasquita warns Carmen that José is nearby. Carmen waits calmly for him. José pleads with her to leave the bullfighter and start a new life together. She knows her hour has come, she says, yet she won’t go with him. He begs her not to go. She says she doesn’t love him. He bars her way. She throws her ring at him. He stabs her. She falls. The crowd pours out of the arena. José presents himself to be taken into custody.
Artists
Isabel Leonard
Hometown: New York, NY
This Season:
Carmen, Carmen
SFO Debut:
Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro, 2008
Bryan Hymel
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
This Season:
Don Jose, Carmen
SFO Debut:
Faust, Faust, 2011
Michael Fabiano
Hometown: Montclair, NJ
This Season:
Don Jose, Carmen
SFO Debut:
Alfredo Germont, La traviata, 2013
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice, 2005
Michael Sumuel
Sylvia D'Eramo
Hometown: Tyler, TX
This Season:
Micaela, Carmen (SFO Debut)
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2018, 2019
Past Seasons:
Barena, Jenůfa, 2019
Butterfly’s Cousin, Madama Butterfly, 2018
David Crawford
Luke Sutliff
Hometown: Denver, CO
This Season:
Le Dancaïre, Carmen
The Barber of Seville
Tristan und Isolde
M. Butterfly
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2021 and 2022
Past Seasons:
The Lord of Cries, 2021
Eugene Onegin, 2021
Anthony León
Hometown: Riverside, CA
This Season:
Remendado, Carmen
Falstaff
M. Butterfly
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2021 and 2022
Past Seasons:
The Lord of Cries, 2021
Eugene Onegin, 2021
Darren Lekeith Drone
Hometown: Sherwood, AR
This Season:
Moralès, Carmen
Falstaff
Tristan und Isolde
M. Butterfly
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2021 and 2022
Past Seasons:
The Marriage of Figaro, 2021
Eugene Onegin, 2021
Magdalena Kuźma
Hometown: New York, NY
This Season:
Frasquita, Carmen
Falstaff
M. Butterfly
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2022
Kathleen Felty
Hometown: Lubbock, TX
This Season:
Mercédès, Carmen
M. Butterfly
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2018 and 2022
Past Seasons:
Candide, 2018
Doctor Atomic, 2018
Omen Thomas Sade
Hometown: Orlando, FL
This Season:
Lillas Pastia, Carmen (SFO Debut)
Harry Bicket
Hometown: Liverpool, England
This Season:
Carmen
SFO Debut:
Agrippina, 2004
Past Seasons:
The Marriage of Figaro, 2021
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2021
Così fan tutti, 2019
Candide, 2018
Alcina, 2017
Roméo et Juliette, 2016
La finta giardiniera, 2015
Fidelio, 2014
Radamisto, 2008
Platée, 2007
Mariame Clément
Julia Hansen
Hometown: Berlin, Germany
This Season:
Carmen (SFO Debut)
Duane Schuler
Hometown: Elkhart Lake, WI
This Season:
Lighting Design, Carmen
SFO Debut:
Madame Butterfly, 1996
Past Seasons:
The Marriage of Figaro, 2021
Jenůfa, 2019
Candide, 2018
The Italian Girl in Algiers, 2018
Die Fledermaus, 2017
Mathieu Guilhaumon
Rick Sordelet
Hometown: Montclair, NJ
This Season:
Carmen
The Barber of Seville
Falstaff
Tristan und Isolde
M. Butterfly
SFO Debut:
Salome, 2015
Christian Kelly-Sordelet
Hometown: Montclair, NJ
This Season:
Carmen
The Barber of Seville
Falstaff
Tristan und Isolde
M. Butterfly
SFO Debut:
Cold Mountain, 2015
Susanne Sheston
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
This Season:
Chorus Master, all productions
SFO Debut:
2008 Season
Past Seasons:
2021 Season
2019 Season
2018 Season
2017 Season