Melbourne Theatre Company Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks helms a new production of Bizet’s classic that aims to be “a Carmen for our time”, asking “urgent questions about opera’s iconic femme fatale”. Given her insightful semi-staged take on Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves last year, she might just do it. An intriguing lineup of talent is headed by Danielle de Niese, making her role debut as Carmen, followed by Tunisian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb (in August) and Sian Sharp and Angela Hogan (in September). The season opens with Mexican-Spanish tenor Abraham Bretón as Don José and Lidiya Yankovskaya conducting.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

One of Australia’s great theatre directors, Anne-Louise Sarks, is premiering a bold new production of Bizet’s masterpiece Carmen. Guaranteed to be one of the opera events of the year, this is a Carmen for our time, promising to stay true to the revolutionary heart of this once groundbreaking opera, while also posing important questions about gender, violence and class. Audiences will be treated to the return of “opera’s coolest soprano”, Danielle de Niese, who will make her role debut as Carmen in her first performance back home since 2017.