The production will return for ten performances only.
It has been confirmed that Spanish theatre director Calixto Bieito’s production of Carmen will return to the London Coliseum this Autumn, playing at the venue from the 8th October until the 5th November.
Now in its fourth revival since it was first staged in 2012, it was last seen in London in 2023. It relocates the action of Bizet’s nineteenth-century original to 1970s Spain, during the dying days of Franco’s oppressive regime.
Follow the ill-fated story of weak-willed Don José whose infatuation with the flirtatious, free-spirited Carmen forces him out of the army and lands him in prison. When Carmen’s passion fades, danger lies ahead as she turns her affection to the mysterious bullfighter Escamillo. With love turning to obsession Don José starts to see red.
Georges Bizet’s opera premiered in 1875 and includes iconic numbers such as ‘Habanera’ and Escamillo’s ‘Toreador song’.
Leading the award-winning Orchestra and Chorus of ENO are two talented female conductors. Conducting performances on 8, 11, 15, 17 and 23 October is Clelia Cafiero, who returns to the Coliseum following her acclaimed ENO debut conducting 2024’s La bohème. The Neapolitan conductor currently serves as Principal Guest Conductor at the Opéra de Tours.
Taking up the baton for the 25, 29, 31 October and 3 & 5 November performances is British-Irish conductor Olivia Clarke, former ENO Mackerras Conducting Fellow and Assistant Conductor at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Bieto’s acclaimed staging, returns to the London Coliseum under the guidance of Revival Director Jamie Manton, twice Olivier Award-nominated for his ENO productions of The Cunning Little Vixen and Paul Bunyan, alongside Fight and Intimacy Director Haruka Kuroda.
In the title role of Carmen is Irish mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan, who has been praised for her ‘bewitchingly beautiful, dark vibrant voice’ (Süddeutsche Zeitung). Opposite her as Carmen’s obsessive lover Don José is former ENO Harewood Artist and rising star tenor John Findon. He has appeared in numerous ENO productions including Janáček’s Jenůfa.
Meanwhile, UK-based baritone Freddie Tong returns to the Coliseum to take on the role of Don José’s commanding officer, Zuniga and Irish soprano and Harewood Artist Ava Dodd makes her role debut this season as the dutiful Micaëla. The role of Escamillo, bullfighter and rival for Carmen’s affections, is played by American bass-baritone Cory McGee.
Joining them as Dancairo, smuggler and leader of the band of outlaws, is emerging British-Irish baritone Patrick Alexander Keefe. He joined ENO as a Harewood Artist for the 2023-24 season and was the winner of Glyndebourne’s John Christie Award in 2022. Also making his ENO debut this autumn in the role of Remendado, another member of the band of smugglers that Carmen joins, is talented Welsh tenor Osian Wyn Bowen.
The roles of Carmen’s friends, Frasquita and Mercédès, are sung by UK-based soprano and mezzo-soprano Harriet Eyley and Siân Griffiths respectively.
Completing the cast is prize-winning baritone Jolyon Loy making his role debut as Moralès, a corporal in the dragoons alongside Don José.
The creative team includes: set design by Alfons Flores, with costumes designed by Mercè Paloma. Bruno Poet is the production’s Lighting Designer (with Marc Rosette as the Revival Light Designer) and Haruka Kuroda is the Intimacy and Fight Director. The translation is by Christopher Cowell.
To book tickets visit: https://www.eno.org/events/carmen/