Double bill shows opera at its best

3:15pm Monday 6th October 2008

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OPERA at its most raw and powerful, Carmen, a new adaptation of Bizet’s most popular work comes to the stage in Malvern next week.

English Touring Opera is touring nationally with La Tragedie de Carmen and Dvorak’s lyrical drama Rusalka with performances of both at Malvern Theatres between Tuesday, October 14, and Saturday, October 18.

Carmen is a tragic romance, a story about the destructive force of love. It is about a gypsy, a soldier, a village girl and a bullfighter and their intense and doomed relationships.

This production of Bizet’s opera by Peter Brook, Marius Constant and Jean-Claude Carriere retains all the most famous musical moments of the original, Carmen’s Habanera and Seguidilla, Don Jose’s Flower Song and Escamillo’s swaggering Toreador Song. It is an opera that packs a punch and will be sung in French with English surtitles. It is directed by Andrew Steggall and conducted by Gareth Hancock.

Dvorak’s Rusalka is set in colonial Haiti and is the magical story of a mermaid who sacrifices her immortality for a handsome human prince with whom she falls in love.

Dvorak’s score is presented in this production in an acclaimed chamber version and is crowned with the poignant Song to the Moon.

English Touring Opera’s new interpretation of this age-old fairy story takes the audience to the forests and plains of Haiti and the prince’s plantation and concludes with one of the most passionate love scenes from any opera. This is a new production by James Conway and associate director Tom Daley and is conducted by Alex Ingram.

Tickets for the operas cost £18-£22, or £32.50 for both productions. Tickets for under 25s are £8. Carmen is on October 14, 16 and 17 and Rusalka is on October 15 and 18. Call 01684 892277 for tickets.