Carmen is the best-known work by French composer Georges Bizet, and one of the most famous operas in the entire art form – numbers such as the “Habanera” and the “Toreador Song” have permeated the popular consciousness as little else has. The opera’s heady combination of passion, sensuality and violence is given a fresh point of view in Barrie Kosky’s highly physical production, originally created for Frankfurt Opera. The Australian director is one of the world’s most sought-after opera directors, whose Royal Opera debut with Shostakovich’s The Nose in 2016 was greeted with delight. For Carmen he has devised a far-from-traditional version, incorporating music written by Bizet for the score but not usually heard, and giving a new voice to the opera’s endlessly fascinating central character.

In French with English subtitles