This prestigious 2011 production from the Gran Teatre del Liceu was staged by the world famous and highly controversial stage director Calixto Bieito, admired for his raw and evocative stagings.
Running Time Total: 155 minutes
BD: DTS-HD MA 5.1, PCM Stereo
December 2011
**
“If a Barcelona Carmen suggests authentic atmosphere, forget it. It's staged by Calixto Bieito, notorious for shock-effect productions...On home ground, though, he's comparatively restrained, although he does update the opera to the 1970s...Beatrice Uria-Monzon's veteran Carmen is compelling. Roberto Alagna equals his Met video, fluently lyrical while indicating the hair-trigger violence beneath.”
January 2012
“Updating rarely makes such a seamless case for itself as in this modern production of Carmen...Alagna has always had a certain Mad Max side to his temperament that, combined with his Italianate lyric tenor, has made him one of the best Don Joses in the business.”
December 2011
“Piollet launches the opera thrillingly; however exhilarating the energy, the playing remains disciplined, with mingled grace and fire. Conductor and orchestra sustain that level throughout, with well-judged rubato and frequently an unerring light touch.”
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