Opéra comique in four acts by Georges Bizet
Advance ticket sales start: 09 June 2026
Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
based on the novella of the same name by Prosper Mérimée
In French with German and Polish surtitles
Love is a rebellious bird – fascinating and fickle.
It is not truly compatible with the categories of bourgeois morality. Whoever loves, crosses boundaries: their own, societal, or those of their beloved.
Don José, a dutiful soldier, has this experience in his relationship with Carmen. It begins with a trivial official act: he is ordered to arrest her and take her to prison because she was involved in a physical altercation. Fascinated by Carmen's appearance, he lets her go and ends up in custody himself for this dereliction of duty. When they meet again, he follows Carmen. He deserts, thereby giving up his entire bourgeois existence. However, when the bullfighter Escamillo enters their lives, the tables turn and fate takes a tragic turn.
In the erotic tension of a ménage à trois, different life concepts and stereotypes collide: the self-determined and loving Carmen, the soldier Don José, who is bound by military command structures, and the unattached, universally desired bullfighter Escamillo. Musically, Bizet's Carmen, with its exotic milieu studies, rousing choral scenes, and captivating arias, is one of the most brilliant operas of the 19th century.
This is a continuous multi-day event
