Bullfights in Vienna? There will be on this week’s Sunday Opera (11/28 3:00 p.m.) when we’ll hear a production of Bizet’s “Carmen” from The Vienna State Opera. Initially, the opera was reviled and labeled obscene, but after Bizet’s sudden death at the age of 36 on the night of its 32nd performance, interest grew in the opera, and more of its initial critics came to see it as the masterpiece that Tchaikovsky declared it to be. In this production, Carmen is performed by Anita Rachvelishvelli, Don Jose is Piortr Beczala, Escamillo is Erwin Schrott, and Micaela is Vera-Lotte Boecker. Andres Orozco-Estrada conducts the Vienna State Opera Chorus and Orchestra. The afternoon will continue with more of Bizet’s music after the opera as Michael Kownacky brings you the complete incidental music, with narration and vocal passages, from his music for the stage play “L’Arlesienne.”
This is the chance to hear the whole work from which Bizet crafted two very well-known and loved suites.
