Bizet: Carmen - Blu-ray video

This page lists all recordings of Carmen, by Georges Bizet (1838-75) on Blu-ray video. Generally, more recent releases are listed first, but with priority given to those that are in stock.

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Bizet: Carmen

Bizet: Carmen


Elina Garanča (Carmen), Roberto Alagna (Don José), Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Escamillo), Barbara Frittoli (Micaela), Keith Miller (Zuniga), Elizabeth Caballero (Frasquita), Sandra Piques Eddy (Mercedes), Earle Patriarco (Dancaire), Keith Jameson (Remandado), Trevor Scheunemann (Morales)

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Solo Dancers: Maria Kowroski & Martin Harvey

Production: Richard Eyre

Set & Costume Designer: Rob Howell

Lighting Designer: Peter Mumford

Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon

As well as triumphant successes as Carmen in London, Vienna and Munich, Elīna Garanča, “the Carmen of our day” (News, Austria), took New York’s Metropolitan Opera by storm in this ‘Met Live in HD’ performance, transmitted to cinemas around the world and now available for the first time on BluRay. Starring alongside her is star tenor Roberto Alagna as Don José, Barbara Frittoli as his first love Micaëla and New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes as the toreador Escamillo. The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra is conducted by rising star Canadian maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Extra material: Backstage at the Met with host Renée Fleming: Interviews with Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna as well as with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Barbara Frittoli, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Christopher Wheeldon.

Format: BD-50

Region: 0 (All regions)

Picture format: 1080i60 HD 16:9

Duration: 150 mins (opera)/ 23 mins (extras)

Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

Classification: Exempt

“Not only does Ms Garanča sing with wonderful enunciation, but also with meaning and a wide variety of tonal colour. In her singing and acting she exudes Carmen’s sexuality whilst not over-egging it with hip swinging and flaunting...Along with Elina Garanča, the big plus of the performance is found in Yannick Nézet-Séguin. His idiomatic conducting has verve, vitality and sensitivity.” MusicWeb International, August 2012

Blu-ray Disc

Region: all

Blu-rays - up to 40% off

DG - 0734799

(Blu-ray)

Normally: $27.25

Special: $20.43

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Bizet: Carmen

Bizet: Carmen


Anna Caterina Antonacci (Carmen), Jonas Kaufmann (Don Jose), Norah Amsellem (Micaela), Ildebrando D'Arcangelo (Escamillo), Jacques Imbrailo (Morales), Matthew Rose (Zuniga), Elena Xanthoudakis (Frasquita), Viktoria Vizin (Mercedes), Caroline Lena Olsson (Lillas Pastia), Jean Sebastien Bou (Le Dancaire), Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (Le Remendado)

Royal Opera House Chorus & Orchestra, Antonio Pappano (conductor) & Francesca Zambello (stage director)

The New Production from The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden filmed in high definition.

‘Two dazzling stars’ The Telegraph

‘Physical and sexy’ London Evening Standard

‘Kaufmann and Antonacci are that rare breed: superb singers who can also act with subtlety and passion’ The Guardian

With Anna Caterina Antonacci and Jonas Kaufmann bringing rare erotic intensity to the drama of Carmen and Don Jose, this new Royal Opera production is a darkly passionate reading of one of the world's favourite operas.

Under the baton of Music Director Antonio Pappano, Bizet's irresistible score drives the tragedy forward - powering a landmark staging of a musical masterpiece.

Menus: English . Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese.

Booklet notes in English, French, German

“Pappano in the pit takes the whole thing at a tremendous lick while coaxing some lovely playing from the Royal Opera House Orchestra. For all that, this is opera as spectacle with good tunes attached.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 ***

“traditionalists can relax with the Royal Opera's Raymond Gubbay-style, grand-opera Carmen. Antonio Pappano…steers the music with panachet… The production has a star in Jonas Kaufmann's José, a dangerous, lived-in interpretation of the part, sung and acted with a rare ability... Antonacci's Carmen works hard - she's stylish and genuinely sexy... Norah Amsellem's Micaëla is well vocalised and presented but never quite breaks through into a complete character.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008

Blu-ray Disc

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Decca - 0743313

(Blu-ray)

Normally: $27.25

Special: $20.43

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Bizet: Carmen

Bizet: Carmen

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, on 17th August 2002.


Anne Sofie von Otter (Carmen), Marcus Haddock (Don José), Laurent Naouri (Escamillo), Lisa Milne (Micaëla), Mary Hegarty (Frasquita), Christine Rice (Mercédès), Colin Judson (Remendado), Quentin Hayes (Dancaïre), Hans Voschezang (Moralès), Jonathan Best (Zuniga)

The Glyndebourne Chorus & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philippe Jordan (conductor) & David McVicar (stage director)

David McVicar’s exhilarating production, with Sofie von Otter in the title role, restores the Opera Comique to Bizet’s masterpiece. Philippe Jordan, in his Glyndebourne debut, conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Chorus and a cast which includes Marcus Haddock, Laurent Naouri and Lisa Milne.

‘Under the shrewd direction of McVicar, Anne Sofie von Otter gave us a gypsy of mercurial temperament, a tease, a dangerous flirt, and a woman intensely conscious of her sexual magnetism and of her public notoriety.’ Daily Telegraph

‘Violent, passionate, superbly played…Glyndebourne’s Carmen is simply gripping’ The Sunday Times

Note: This Blu-ray Disc (BD) is not compatible with standard DVD players

PICTURE FORMAT: 1080i
LENGTH: 228 Mins
SOUND: 2.0 & 5.1 DOLBY TRUE HD
SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/ES

“Under the shrewd direction of McVicar, Anne Sofie von Otter gave us a gypsy of mercurial temperament, a tease, a dangerous flirt, and a woman intensely conscious of her sexual magnetism and of her public notoriety” The Telegraph

“Violent, passionate,superbly played…Glyndebourne's Carmen is simply gripping” Sunday Times

“A fantastic two-disc set...a performance that truly is what opera theoretically aspires to be: sung drama” New York Times

“In the grip of violent emotions, Anne Sofie von Otter paints a complete 'Carmen'” Los Angeles Times

Blu-ray Disc

Region: all

Blu-rays - up to 40% off

Opus Arte Glyndebourne - OABD7015D

(Blu-ray)

Normally: $41.00

Special: $30.75

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Bizet: Carmen

Bizet: Carmen

Recorded 2011 Teatro Real, Madrid

Flamenco version


Vanesa Vento (Carmen), Ángel Gil (Don José), Joaquín Mulero (Husband) & Jairo Rodríguez (Bullfighter)

Orchestra of the Teatro Real Madrid

Script, Choreography and Lighting Antonio Gades and Carlos Saura

Stage Setting Antonio Saura

Artistic Director Stella Arauzo

Created by Antonio Gades in collaboration with Carlos Saura, this matchless production shows how the explosive power and intensity of feeling in traditional Spanish flamenco can bring vividly to life the sultry passion, earthy emotion, love and rivalry that is Carmen.

Filmed in High Definition at the Teatro Real, Madrid for the 75th anniversary celebration of Gades’ birth, the ‘Compañía Antonio Gades’ performs Carmen to perfection.

Antonio Gades is one of the most influential figures in Spanish flamenco. He played a decisive role in getting the genre recognized by the contemporary art world. Gades started performing his choreography for Georges Bizet's Carmen in the 1960s, taking it all the way to the Teatro alla Scala, Milan. This was one of his most successful ballets. It was also brought to the big screen by Carlos Saura in 1983, a film that received an Oscar nomination and won the Jury's Award at the Cannes Festival.

Blu-ray Disc

Region: all

Blu-rays - up to 40% off

Teatro Real - TR97004BD

(Blu-ray)

Normally: $41.00

Special: $30.75

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

Bizet: Carmen

Bizet: Carmen


Béatrice Uria-Monzon (Carmen), Roberto Alagna (Don José), Erwin Schrott (Escamillo), Marina Poplavskaya (Micaëla), Eliana Bayón (Frasquita), Itxaro Mentxaka (Mercédès), Marc Canturri (Le Dancaïre), Francisco Vas (Le Remendado), Àlex Sanmartí (Moralès), Josep Ribot (Zuniga)

Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu & Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu, Marc Piollet

Staged by Calixto Bieito.

Fantastic cast with Roberto Alagna, Erwin Schrott, Marina Poplavskaya, Béatrice Uria-Monzon.

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

“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.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 **

“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.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2012

“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.” International Record Review, December 2011

Blu-ray Disc

Region: all

Blu-rays - up to 40% off

C Major - 707404

(Blu-ray)

Normally: $41.00

Special: $30.75

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

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