Carmen Set to Seduce South Florida
Florida Grand Opera Ends Season with Bizet’s Masterpiece

By Liz Potter

	Rinat Shaham and William Joyner in Carmen

The Florida Grand Opera ends its 65th Season with an extravagantly costumed and glorious production of Bizet’s popular Carmen.  The opera is sung in French, with English translations projected above the stage, so even a novice opera attendee can follow the timeless tale of a wicked gypsy Carmen and her hapless lover Don Jose. 

As an absolutely gorgeous and seductive Carmen, Israeli mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham returns to Miami to deliver a powerful “tour de force performance” which the London Times declared “unmissable.”  Enchanting mezzo-soprano Kathryn Friest, who recently performed as Carmen at the New York City Opera, plays a bewitching alternate for the Miami-Broward production.  Youthful sopranos Sandra Lopez and Christina Pier fulfill their role as Don Jose’s trusting fiancée, Micaela.  While accomplished tenors Paul Charles Clark and William Joyner enchant their audiences in the role of Don Jose, acclaimed baritones, Franco Pomponi and Matthew Arnold convincingly play Escamillo, the dashingly handsome toreador. 

A major attraction of Carmen is Bizet’s popular melodies that are familiar to everyone.  These include Carmen’s seductive Habenera and Escamillo’s “stirring” Toreador’s song.

	Rinat Shaham as the seductive Carmen

However, the story of Carmen  is timeless.  Why?  Bizet’s opera raises questions and issues that cannot be answered.  For example, does Carmen embody a restless soul who refuses to live by unjust rules imprisoning all women in our society?  Or does selfish Carmen indulge in sexual whims and sadistically toy with Don Jose, as a sociopath without conscience?  How naïve is Don Jose, actually?  Does he succumb to the wicked allure of Carmen in desperate rebellion against a suffocating mother and boring fiancée?  Does Don Jose exonerate himself with the shocking murder of Carmen?  Or does Don Jose fulfill Carmen’s secret death wish to forever remain a free spirit? 

These questions will engender entertaining conversations among those who are fortunate enough to secure tickets to remaining sold-out performances of Carmen at the Miami-Dade Auditorium (April 22-May 6) and Broward Center for Performing Arts (May 11-14). 

For more information, visit www.fgo.org.