In Stephan Märki’s interpretation, Carmen is a woman longing for death, staging sex as a weapon in a world where seduction means strength, but devotion means downfall. Love and Death are embodied by a dancer who mirrors Carmen’s thoughts and emotions. Conductor Mario Venzago draws upon the “Carmen” research by musicologist Fritz Oeser, who restores Bizet’s original version, giving the piece new depth and new life to the well-known arias. Philipp Fürhofer’s stage design sets the singers in a mirror cabinet, creating a mise en abyme of perspectives and allusio

Artists

Claude Eichenberger (Carmen), Xavier Moreno (Don Jose), Elissa Huber (Micaela), Jordan Shanahan (Escamiollo), Winston R. Arnon (Joker), Young Kwon (Zuniga), Lilian Farahani (Frasquita), Eleonora Vacchi (Mercedes), Andries Cloete (Remendado), Carl Rumstdt (Morales), Nazariy Sadidivskyy (Dancairo), Berner Symphonieorchester, Mario Venzago