"Carmen" at the Greek National Opera in its Historic Original Staging

Athens' Stavros Niarchos Hall, home to the Greek National Opera, hosted a recent series of performances of Bizet's "Carmen." The production, a French co-production from 2023, aimed to recreate the historical staging of the opera's absolute premiere on March 3, 1875, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.

This traditional mise-en-scène, a rarity today, offered a period atmosphere and adhered closely to the composer's original stage directions. The reviewer noted that the scenic designs, particularly for the first and third acts, evoked memories of a legendary 1957 Bucharest production by Jean Rânzescu, which was also inspired by classical ideas but stylized and simplified compared to the Athens staging.

The sets, designed by Antoine Fontaine, meticulously reproduced the old Parisian stage. They depicted Seville's market square with an arched bridge and a monumental cathedral in the first act, Lillas Pastia's tavern in the second, massive mountain rocks and gorges in the third, and the grand entrance to the Plaza de Toros bullring in the final act.

Christian Lacroix's costumes were also replicas of the originals. While the reviewer found the costumes for the factory workers in the second act somewhat uniform, lacking vibrant colors, the final act offered a dominant variety. Carmen herself wore a traditional costume with a peineta (flamenco hair ornament) and later a black lace mantilla. The production used the standard Ernest Guiraud version with sung recitatives, revised by musicologists from Palazzetto Bru Zane.