The commitment of the Orchestra of Padua and Veneto continues in spreading opera in the regional territory.

In 2025, there will be a dual opportunity to celebrate Georges Bizet: the 150th anniversary of the first performance of Carmen (the premiere took place at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on March 3, 1875) and the anniversary of the composer’s death.

The life of Don José, a young soldier stationed in Seville, is fatally disrupted by his encounter with Carmen, a beautiful gypsy who ensnares him with her charm and leads him into a spiral of jealousy with no escape.

Director Filippo Tonon has chosen to set the story of “Carmen” during the Second Industrial Revolution, which spanned from 1870 to 1880, the years in which the opera was composed. Naturally, the Second Industrial Revolution carries forward the ideas that emerged during the First Revolution (1760-1830), which mainly concerned metallurgical and textile development. This allows for the storytelling of people who work, produce, and develop.

It allows one to savor the connection of this icon of the opera theater, now embedded in everyone’s mind, with the earth, with that element that leads one to confront themselves and reality. Therefore, not a folkloric and pictorial Carmen, but a real, earthly, and material Carmen, while still remaining Carmen.