special

The future Music Director of the Teatro alla Scala, Myung-Whun Chung, reaches his eleventh opera title at La Scala with this new production of Bizet's "Carmen" – in addition to over 140 concerts both at home and on tour. This co-production with London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Madrid's Teatro Real promises a captivating interpretation. Chung, well-versed in French music through his work with the Opéra Bastille and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, leads a cast that is perfectly idiomatic. Alongside Clémentine Margaine in the title role, alternating with Stéphanie d’Oustrac, and Giorgi Manoshvili as Escamillo, the production features Vittorio Grigolo as Don José – a major Italian voice with a strong affinity for the French repertoire – alternating with Matthew Polenzani. Director Damiano Michieletto and set designer Paolo Fantin minimize local color to construct a stark and effective spectacle, focused on the ineluctable fate of the protagonists.