Seduction—Obsession—Murder
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Carmen
Music by Georges Bizet
Libretto by Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac
Premiered March 3, 1875, Opéra-Comique (Paris, France)
We conclude Opera Colorado’s grandest season to date with Bizet’s smoldering drama, Carmen, filled with some of opera’s most iconic melodies—including Carmen’s “Habanera” and the rousing Toreador song. Not a soul can resist Carmen’s seductive charm, not even the naïve Don Jose. But when she leaves him for a charismatic bullfighter, Don Jose’s infatuation turns obsessive. What fate, or choice, waits for the woman no man can tame?
May 7, 10, 13, 15, 19, 21 | 2022
The Ellie Caulkins Opera House at Denver Performing Arts Complex
Performed in French, with English and Spanish subtitles at every seat
Want to peek behind the scenes with our cast or become a Carmen expert? Check out all our Carmen content on the Opera Colorado Blog>>
Estimated Length: 3 hours, and 15 minutes, including 2 twenty minute intermissions
*Join us one hour prior to each performance at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House of a free and insightful pre-performance discussion led by opera historian Betsy Schwarm.
Scenery courtesy of Lyric Opera of Kansas City
Costumes courtesy of Seattle Opera
Cast
Creative Team
Appointed in 2015 as Opera Colorado’s first-ever music director, Ari Pelto’s “breathtaking wizardry in the pit” (The Denver Post) has been widely celebrated, with Pelto in demand at opera houses and concert halls throughout the United States. At the age of 24, Pelto was appointed Assistant Conductor at the Spoleto Festival and he has since gone on to conduct worldwide. International engagements include performances with Bochumer Philharmoniker and opera productions at New National Theatre of Tokyo and the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador. In 2004 he made his highly-praised debut with New York City Opera, conducting La Traviata, after which he became a regular, returning for productions of Madama Butterfly, La bohème, and Carmen. Recent successes include Eugene Onegin at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Lucia di Lammermoor at Virginia Opera, and La Voix Humaine at Chicago Opera Theater.
Iranian pianist and conductor, Sahar Nouri, returns to Opera Colorado for a sixth season, serving as the company’s chorus master, assistant conductor, and pianist coach. Ms. Nouri is the newly appointed music director of the Lamont Opera Theatre at Denver University. While being based in Denver, she continues to serve as guest coach/faculty with various organizations including San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Opera North Carolina, Opera Steamboat and more.
Previously, Ms. Nouri has been a member of the music staff at Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Utah Opera, Aspen Opera Center, Opera Parallèle, and Opera in the Heights. Her repertoire includes numerous classic operas as well as many world premieres such as: Prince of Players (Carlisle Floyd), O Columbia! (Gregory Spears), Steal a Pencil for Me (Gerald Cohen), and Today It Rains (Laura Kaminsky). A multi-lingual, Nouri has done studies in the Czech Republic, Italy, and Austria, and is frequently in demand as a language coach and recitalist.
Born and raised in the Midwest, Keturah Stickann had a career as a classical and contemporary dancer, performing extensively in opera. Subsequently, her work as a stage director has been seen in many opera houses across the United States and Canada, as well as in Chile, Japan, France, Germany, Hungary, and Australia. A champion of new American opera, she has worked extensively with director and librettist, Leonard Foglia, and has helped to bring new operas to the stage by Ricky Ian Gordon, Jennifer Higdon, and Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer among others. In a creative solution for the Covid era, some of her more recent productions include the drive-in versions of La bohème and The Barber of Seville for San Diego Opera. Recent and future productions include Salome at Madison Opera, Don Giovanni at Minnesota Opera, and Intimate Apparel at Chautauqua. Keturah is an Artistic Advisor at Knoxville Opera.