Austin Opera: Carmen

• Virginie Verrez, mezzo-soprano (Carmen)

Arguably the sexiest role in opera, Carmen is a beautiful, free-spirited woman all too aware of her carnal allure, and yet, she despises any man who falls for her. When her mild flirtation with a soldier, Don José, ignites his flaming desire, Carmen rejects him for the famous bullfighter, Escamillo. José’s childhood sweetheart, Micaëla, visits on the pretext of persuading him to return home to his elderly mother, but she arrives just too late. José only has eyes for Carmen. His fate—and Carmen’s—has already been sealed. As José’s love degenerates into morbid obsession, Carmen must soon face the consequences of her need for freedom.

Georges Bizet’s score creates a lush and emotionally charged setting for this tragic story, which includes two of opera’s most iconic and instantly recognizable arias, in the Habanera and the Toreador’s March. Sadly, Bizet died within three months of Carmen's 1875 premiere—meaning he never knew that he had written what would become one of the most popular operas in the repertoire.

Seville’s ultimate temptress will be sung by Virginie Verrez. Flashy bullfighter, Escamillo, will be sung by bass-baritone Seth Carico, making his house and role debut in a rare return to the US from his base in Germany. The tragedy is led by three artists making Austin Opera debuts. Austin Opera’s Sarah and Ernest Butler Music Director, Timothy Myers, will conduct.

Runs May 2-5

About Austin Opera

Austin Opera leverages the multidisciplinary, collaborative, and transcendent power of opera to increase the quality of life for our diverse community by:

- Bringing together local and national artists to create outstanding, meaningful operatic performances and experiences Partnering with local schools and community groups to provide robust, responsive educational programs that inspire and engage

- Leading the development of new, innovative strategies that increase the scope and impact of the operatic medium in Austin and beyond.

About Austin Opera Orchestra

https://austinopera.org/about/orchestra/

About Virginie Verrez, mezzo-soprano (Carmen)

French mezzo-soprano Virginie Verrez graduated from the Juilliard School in 2015 and from the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera in 2017. She is the winner of the 2016 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition and a winner of the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

In 2016, she performed the roles of Fenena (Nabucco) in Oberammergau and Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict in Japan (Festival Saito Kinen). In 2017, in Santa Fe Opera, and then at the Berlin Philharmonic she sang the role of Erika in Barber’s Vanessa. In 2017, at the Metropolitan opera, she sang the roles of Stéphano (Roméo et Juliette ) and Enrichetta (I Puritani). She made her debut in France in 2017 at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Mercédès (Carmen) and in Lille as Dorabella (Così fan tutte). In 2018, Mrs. Verrez sang Flora Bervoix in La Traviata at the Opéra national de Paris, the role of Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Dallas Opera and returns to the role of Erika at the Glyndebourne Festival.

Virginie Verrez also takes part in numerous concerts. She sang Schumann’s Das Paradies und Die Peri and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with Daniel Harding. She performed Ravel’s Shéhérazade with Pablo Heras-Casado in Aix en Provence as well as with Rafael Payare and the Minnesota Orchestra. She performed in Duruflé’s Requiem with Leonard Slatkin in Lyon and at the Philharmonie de Paris. She has also performed in Haydn's Nelson Mass with l’Orchestre National de Lyon and Omer Meir Wellber.