Greenbrier Valley Theatre (GVT), partnering with The Met: Live in HD, will present Georges Bizet’s Carmen, Saturday, Nov. 1, at 12:55 p.m. The broadcast will run approximately 3 hours 38 minutes with one intermission. A complimentary lecture by Dr. James Caplinger from the University of Charleston will start at 12:15 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $12 seniors,and $10 for children. For tickets, call the GVT Box Office at 304-645-3838.
Richard Eyre’s mesmerizing production of Bizet’s steamy melodrama returns with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili singing her signature role of the ill-fated gypsy temptress. Rachvelishvili has sung the title role in Carmen with major opera companies around the world, including the Met in 2011 for her debut and again in 2012 and 2013. Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the irresistible score, which features one beloved and instantly recognizable melody after another.
The New York Times praised Rachvelishvili for her outstanding performance in this role.
“The show caught fire, mainly on the strength of Ms. Rachvelishvili’s vocal power and compelling stage presence, and Mr. Eyre’s sure sense of dramatic pacing took hold. With her smoldering, earthy sexuality she is ideal for the role, managing to seem untamed, almost unhinged at times, yet also coolly calculating.”
Although Rachvelishvili has sung the title role multiple times, she has many more performances to go to challenge the record held by French diva Emma Calve, who sang Carmen with the Met 138 times between 1893 and 1904. Calve’s closest rival for the record remains American mezzo-soprano Rise Stevens, who sang Carmen 124 times between 1945 and her retirement in 1961.
For tickets, call the GVT Box Office at 304-645-3838.
