Our version is concerned with the love triangle between Don Jose, Carmen and Escamillo and the breakdown of communication between them. That is everyone’s right.ĪP: Absolutely, the tragedy of Carmen has nothing to do with fate or inevitability, it’s down to people taking action. We wanted to make it clear this time that she’s not a femme fatale, she’s a normal girl who falls for someone and then decides she wants to be with someone else. It’s suggested that she invites her own death through her sexuality or through magical powers. MF: When we first started working on this new English version, we talked a lot about how Carmen’s portrayal in the original is problematic. Right now in England and Wales two women are murdered by their current or former partner every week.Īshley Pearson: It’s also about a person who ends up in a toxic relationship and can’t figure her way out of that and I think that’s something that a lot of people today relate to really strongly. Mary Franklin: Carmen is the story of a woman who is murdered by her partner.

This collaborative spirit gave us such strength, and continue to give us strength through their solidairty.Director of Carmen, Mary Franklin and librettist Ashley Pearson discuss the resonance of Carmen today and how this production will differ from any version you may have seen before: We had the support of corporations such as Mitsui Fudosan America, Related Companies, and Oxford Property Group, our first live audience, and members from the backstage teams at the Met Opera who helped us tremendously.

This concert, performed high up on the 101st floor above the Edge observation deck at Hudson Yards New York, was a milestone performance for us. The beautiful and stunning soprano Tamara Mumford performed with us, reminding us of the power of our collaborative art form, and helping us find our orchestral voice again with larger forces of MET musicians performing together.

Carmen opera nyc