LA TRAGÈDIE DE CARMEN



The sexual impulse is a force of destruction, destruction is a part of nature.


This paganistic premise became the driving force for a new production hailed as “provocative, visually stunning and thought provoking” by the San Diego Union Tribune and as “a perfect, 'experimental' approach to opera" by the Times of San Diego.


La tragédie de Carmen drew primary inspiration from author Susan McClary's landmark feminist critique Carmen (2007), which examined the misogynistic tropes surrounding opera's classic anti-heroine.


By destigmatizing Carmen's sexual power, and revealing Don José as more moth than man, a new Carmen emerges at the crossroads of fate — elevated from icon to archetype.







directed by Alexander Gedeon

music and lyrics | Georges Bizet  

book adaptation | Peter Brook, Marius Constant and Jean-Claude Carrière

conductor | Christopher Rountree

set | Yuki Izumihara & Adam Alonso

costumes | Adam Alonso

lighting | Johnny A. Garofalo

projection | Yuki Izumihara

photography | Karli Cadel




Presented by San Diego Opera.