Georges Bizet: Carmen

Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 3 pm
NEC's Jordan Hall
30 Gainesborough St, Boston
Concert performance in French with projected English translations.

Pre-concert lecture at 2 pm. Concert and lecture sponsored by Concert Opera Boston.
Read the Program Notes on Carmen by Michael Sims, advisor to Concert Opera Boston.

See press release for this concert.
Hear the radio spot for the concert (MP3 format) and audio files from the 1992 performance.

A cigarette factory, a fiery gypsy, a soldier. One of the most popular operas ever written, Carmen is famous for its smoldering sensuality and for its magnificent score, full of the color and excitement of Spain. The passionate score includes the Toréador Song and the Habanera. Chorus pro Musica last performed Carmen to great acclaim in 1992 in Symphony Hall. In the more intimate space of Jordan Hall and with Victoria Livengood as Carmen, this will be a very exciting performance!

“This was an earthy, fiery, passionate Carmen, beautifully and powerfully sung. Livengood commanded the stage from her first entrance, with striking good looks, sexy body language and a good variety of facial expressions. She also effectively embodied Carmen's independence and grit. The vocal characterization matched the visual. Such a variety of vocal color, so smooth a voice throughout the range, such power and also excellent piano singing. Livengood compares very favorably with Borodina, our last Carmen at the Met. I do not remember anyone approaching Livengood's acting and vocalism.” —Opera List Online

Read the synopsis of Carmen by Rodney Milnes from the Metropolitan Opera web site.

Featuring (click on picture for high-resolution photo):

Victoria Livengood Carmen

Adam Klein Don José

Robert Honeysucker Escamilllo

Nouné Karapetian Micaela

as well as

• Mario Arévalo: El Dancairo
• Sarah Beckham: Frasquita
• Sara Bielanski: Mercedes
• Brian Major: Morales
• Gregg Jacobson: Remendado
• Benjamin Werth: Zuniga

Listen to Chorus pro Musica's Carmen

Hear excerpts from Chorus pro Musica's 1992 performance, which featured Susan Guzman as Carmen, John Absalom as Don José, Robert Honeysucker as Escamillo, Ellen Chickering as Micaela, and David Stoneman as Zuniga. It was conducted by Jeffrey Rink at Symphony Hall. The files are in MP3 format.

• A deux cuartos! A deux cuartos!
• Les voici! voici la quadrille!

Additional photos

Victoria Livengood in Samson et Dalila with Chorus pro Musica in Jordan Hall, June 5, 2005

“If there had been any scenery, these performers would have chewed it to bits well before the last act. Livengood's Dalila was the sine qua non. She has the vocal chops, from ringing high notes to a baritonal growl. …The incomparable phrasing and warmth you hear on Maria Callas’s recordings make any resistance impossible. Livengood was more commanding than insinuating, a powerhouse who exuded sex and malevolence—hilarious and frightening and riveting.” Read the full review of that concert here.

Robert Honeysucker in Attila with Chorus pro Musica in Jordan Hall, June 4, 2006

“In a cast of singers with the classiest credentials—Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Covent Garden, Bayreuth—the only one who gave me chills was Boston's own Robert Honeysucker, whose suave and ringing baritone just gets more beautiful and powerful.” Read the full reviews of that concert here.