Georges Bizet’s classic opera of jealousy, lust, and life outside the dictates of society gets a boldly updated new production to conclude Scottish Opera’s 60th Season.

With such hit melodies as the Habanera, Flower Aria, and Toreador Song – alongside Bizet’s magnificent orchestral interludes and rousing chorus numbers – the opera has musical riches for all.

‘Director John Fulljames’ version is a stunning, constantly surprising spectacle’
— The Skinny on Nixon in China 2020

But Carmen is not merely one show-stopping number after another. With director John Fulljames (Nixon in China 2020) at the helm and a design team led by Sarah Beaton and Christina Cunningham, Carmen’s iconic images are delivered amidst the unrest and upheavals of 1970s Spain, where the investigation into Carmen’s murder runs alongside the systems that led to her death. Carmen is the eternal outsider, carving out a life by her own rules in a militaristic and patriarchal society. The contrast of an often buoyant score and much crowd-driven action with the libretto’s introspective psychological darkness – here thrown into greater prominence in an English translation – makes Carmen an endlessly fascinating work.

With Justina Gringyte in the title role and featuring four of Scottish Opera’s 22/23 Emerging Artists – Zoe Drummond, Lea Shaw, Osian Wyn Bowen, and Colin Murray – Carmen tours to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, and Aberdeen, ensuring many chances to see the Company’s timely take on this timeless masterpiece.

Kindly supported by The Scottish Opera Syndicate