Earth and Space News: Carmen Was Franco Zeffirelli’s 10th Met Opera Production

Summary: Carmen was Franco Zeffirelli’s 10th Met Opera production, debuting in the 1996-1997 season as his only Bizet opera at the opera house.

The Metropolitan Opera staged the fifth revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s staging of Bizet’s Carmen in the 2004-2005 season; Ildar Abdrazakov sang Escamillo opposite Olga Borodina’s Carmen and Neil Shicoff’s Don José; sets by Franco Zeffirelli, costumes by Anna Anni: METOperaChoristers @MetOperaChorus, via Twitter Nov. 1, 2014

Carmen was Franco Zeffirelli’s 10th Met Opera production, which debuted in the 1996-1997 season as the only Bizet opera staged by the Italian designer and director at the Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera debuted Franco Zeffirelli’s Carmen on Halloween, Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996, in the opera house’s 840th performance of the tragic opera about a fateful seductress by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875). The new production received 23 performances in the 1996-1997 Met Opera season.

Franco Zeffirelli (Feb. 12, 1923-June 15, 2019) directed and designed the sets for the only Bizet opera that he staged at the Metropolitan Opera. His production team comprised Italian costume designer Anna Anni (Nov. 21, 1926-Jan. 1, 2011), American theatrical lighting designer Duane Schuler and Canadian choreographer and American choreographer and flamenco dancer María Benítez.

James Levine (born June 23, 1943) conducted on opening night and the next 13 performances. The Metropolitan Opera’s second music director had conducted all performances in the 1989-1990 and 1986-1987 debut seasons of Zeffirelli’s ninth and seventh Met Opera productions, Don Giovanni by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) and Turandot by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). He also had conducted opening night and 16 of 20 performances in the 1981-1982 debut season of Zeffirelli’s fourth Met Opera production, Puccini’s La Bohème.

Two conductors were responsible for the debut season’s last nine performances. Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo (born Jan. 21, 1941) conducted three performances that were staged for the opera company’s 1996-1997 Japan tour. Franco-Canadian conductor Yves Abel (born Feb. 8, 1963) conducted the last six performances.

Three mezzo-sopranos share the title role in the production’s debut season. German mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier (born Jan. 9, 1956) sang Carmen on opening night and 13 other dates. American operatic mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves (born March 7, 1964) sang Carmen in nine performances. American mezzo-soprano Wendy White (born 1953) sang Carmen on closing night.

Four tenors shared the role of besotted Don José. Plácido Domingo sang on opening night and six other dates. American tenor John Horton Murray (born Oct. 10, 1961) sang in the debut season’s second performance. Argentinian operatic tenor Luis Lima (Sept. 12, 1948) sang Don José in nine performances. American operatic tenor Vinson Cole (born Nov. 21, 1950) covered the role in four performances. American operatic tenor Neil Rosenshein (born Nov. 27, 1947) sang in two performances, including closing night.

Three sopranos shared the role of José's friend and almost fiancée, Micaela. Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu sang Michaela on opening night and 12 other dates. South Korean-American lyric soprano Hei-Kyung Hong had the role for six performances. Spanish Basque soprano Ainhoa Arteta (born Sept. 24, 1964) sang Micaela in four performances, including closing night.

The Metropolitan Opera staged seven revivals of Zeffirelli’s Carmen in the 11 seasons after the production’s 1996-1997 season debut. The production skipped four seasons in the interim.

The Metropolitan Opera immediately followed the production’s debut season with two successive revivals, in seasons 1997-1998 and 1998-1999. No revival was offered in the 1999-2000 season.

The third revival occurred in the 2000-2001 season. No revival was offered in the 2001-2002 season.

The fourth revival took place in the 2002-2003 season. No revival was offered in the 2003-2004 season.

The fifth and sixth revivals were staged successively, in the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons. No revival was offered in the 2006-2007 season.

The seventh and last revival took place in the 2007-2008 season. The final performance of Zeffirelli’s production of Carmen took place March 1, 2008, during the seventh revival.

The final performance numbered as the production’s 106th performance and as the opera house’s 945th performance of Bizet’s Carmen. From debut to final performance, Zeffirelli’s Carmen remained in the Met Opera’s active repertory for 11 years 4-plus months.

One season passed before the Metropolitan Opera debuted a new production of Carmen in the 2009-2010 season. English film, opera, television and theatre director Sir Richard Eyre (born March 28, 1943) debuted his new staging New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2009. The opera received 14 performances.

The first revival of Sir Richard’s Carmen occurred in the following season, 2010-2011. The second through sixth revivals have taken place in alternating seasons, with staging in seasons 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2016-2017 and 2018-2019. Thus far, six seasons of Sir Richard’s Carmen have obtained 79 performances.

The takeaways for Franco Zeffirelli’s Carmen as his 10th Met Opera production are that the opera about a fateful seductress is the only Bizet opera in Zeffirelli’s Metropolitan Opera portfolio and that the Italian designer and director’s production experienced seven revivals, tallied 106 performances and remained in Met Opera’s active repertory for 11 years 4-plus months.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Franco Zeffirelli’s new production of Bizet’s Carmen debuted Halloween, Oct. 31, 1996, with Angela Gheorghiu as Micaela and Plácido Domingo as lovesick Don José: Angela Gheorghiu @angelagheorghiuofficial, via Facebook June 16, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/angelagheorghiuofficial/photos/pcb.2441799645876483/2441791475877300/

For further information:

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Earth and Space News

Monday, August 24, 2020

Carmen Was Franco Zeffirelli’s 10th Met Opera Production

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