The Carmen Case

© Natalia Jaime-Cortez, Collection particulière
© Stefanie Molter –  ensemble Ars Nova

The Music Chapel is proud to announce the premiere of ‘The Carmen Case‘ at the TAP in Poitiers on Thursday 4 May.

A contemporary opera co-produced by the Music Chapel, the result of a work that began five years ago in our walls, through various workshops. Based on Bizet’s masterpiece, conceived by Alexandra Lacroix in collaboration with the composer Diana Soh, a duo of creators who wish to reveal the alternatives of a destiny that should not have been fatal, neither yesterday nor today…

A new perspective on an essential masterpiece of the French repertoire. In this creation, Bizet’s arias are revisited through the examination of post-mortem facts. The situation is set in a courtroom during a criminal trial. A feminicide’s trial, as it is replayed every 3 days, today still, in France.

Placed in the place of the jurors, the spectators vibrate to the rhythm of the reminiscences of the original work as well as the twists and turns of the trial, dissecting all the stages that led to Carmen’s murder.

The contemporary part and the arrangements of Bizet’s arias fuse, intertwine and communicate across the space and time that separate the two worlds.

Composition Georges Bizet / Diana Soh
(New music by Diana Soh and arrangements of extracts from Bizet including Prelude, La Habanera, Duo José/Micaëla, La fleur que tu m’avais jetée, Près des remparts de Séville, Les sistres, Toréador, Duo Esca¬millo/José, Final)

Libretto / Stage direction Alexandra Lacroix
(based on extracts from Meilhac&Halévy )

Musical direction Lucie Leguay

ensemble Ars Nova

Cast:

Anne-Lise Polchlopek
François Rougier
Xavier de Lignerolles
Alban Legos Le Moine
Angèle Chemin
William Shelton
Elise Chauvin
Rosie Middleton
Anne-Emmanuelle Davy