Carmen...One of My Favourite Operas

While he's supposed to take her to the cell following a violent argument with his fellow cigar makers, Don José falls under Carmen's spell. From then on, the brigadier can no longer live without his beautiful gypsy woman, who, in turn, abandons him for a dashing bullfighter...

Effective plot, accurate situations and character psychology, music that is by turns captivating, poetic, and fiery, and a call to the exotic—everything in Carmen is perfection. Rarely has an opera managed to convey this sense of obviousness and naturalness, with a discreet but very real modernity. Posterity has not been mistaken: Bizet 's ultimate masterpiece is today one of the most frequently performed operas in the world.

Lionel Bringuier and Daniel Benoin tackle this immense monument of the repertoire. With Ramona Zaharia , one of the greatest Carmens of her generation, and Jean-François Borras and Jean-Fernand Setti in the roles of the two rival lovers, the Nice Opera 's opera season closes with a veritable firework display.