‘Carmen’ opera to close Aspendos Opera Fest

ANTALYA

The 20th International Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival, which has been continuing since June 2 in the southern province of Antalya, will close on June 22 with Georges Bizet’s “Carmen,” to be performed by the Mersin State Opera and Ballet, which is celebrating its 20th year.

“Carmen” is staged by Recep Ayyılmaz, and Vladimir Lungu will conduct the orchestra.

The music of “Carmen” is renowned for its brilliance of melody, harmony, atmosphere and orchestration, and for the skill with which Bizet represented, musically, the emotions and suffering of his characters. The opera has been recorded many times since the first acoustical recording in 1908, and the story has been the subject of many screen and stage adaptations. After a 10-year absence from the French capital’s opera scene, “Carmen” returned for a show under the direction of Yves Beaunesne in December 2012. All shows at the Opéra Bastille were sold out.

This year the festival in Antalya focused on Guiseppe Verdi because of the 200th anniversary celebrations of Verdi’s birth. Artists performed exclusive solos and duets by Verdi.