Royal Theatre of La Monnaie tickets 14 June 2025 - Carmen | GoComGo.com

Carmen

Royal Theatre of La Monnaie, Main Auditorium, Brussels, Belgium
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Saturday 14 June 2025
2 PM
From
US$ 97

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Brussels, Belgium
Starts at: 14:00
Acts: 4
Sung in: French
Titles in: Dutch,French

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast
Performers
Soprano: Anne-Catherine Gillet (Micaëla)
Baritone: Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Escamillo)
Mezzo-Soprano: Eve-Maud Hubeaux (Carmen)
Choir: La Monnaie Chorus
Orchestra: La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra
Chorus: La Monnaie's Children's and Youth Chorus
Tenor: Michael Fabiano (Don José)
Conductor: Nathalie Stutzmann
Creators
Composer: Georges Bizet
Director: Dmitri Tcherniakov
Librettist: Henri Meilhac
Librettist: Ludovic Halévy
Author: Prosper Mérimée
Overview

Carmen: or how a groundbreakingly creative opéra comique from 1875 has today become a veritable legend, feeding the collective psyche with images, preconceived ideas, and distinctive melodies.

Carmen could hardly be any clearer: if she sets her sights on you, you better watch out. But when Don José falls under her spell, she too had better watch out: in the arena of human passion, toxic jealousy can strike ferociously … 

Georges Bizet’s opéra comique was met with incomprehension when it premiered in 1875, but grew into a classic whose melodies – and clichés – became entrenched in the collective imagination. In this production, however, you can forget the Bohemian girl, the tobacco factory, Seville and its street festivals! Director Dmitri Tcherniakov (The Tale of Tsar Saltan) places the Carmen myth in an original frame narrative, staging the opera as a therapeutic experiment for emotionally exhausted people today. A seemingly simple role play soon deteriorates into an uncontrollable mechanism, in which a man consumed by passion can no longer separate himself from his character. Nathalie Stutzmann, who made a remarkable La Monnaie debut with Pikovaya Dama in 2022, will lead the orchestra through the score with at least as much passion.

Production - FESTIVAL D’AIX-EN-PROVENCE (2017)
Co-production - LA MONNAIE / DE MUNT, LES THÉÂTRES DE LA VILLE DE LUXEMBOURG, PHILADELPHIA OPERA

History
Premiere of this production: 03 March 1875, Opéra-Comique, Paris

Carmen is an opera in four acts by French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on a novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalized its first audiences.

Synopsis

Place: Seville, Spain, and surrounding hills
Time: Around 1820

Act 1

A square, in Seville. On the right, a door to the tobacco factory. At the back, a bridge. On the left, a guardhouse.

A group of soldiers relaxes in the square, waiting for the changing of the guard and commenting on the passers-by ("Sur la place, chacun passe"). Micaëla appears, seeking José. Moralès tells her that "José is not yet on duty" and invites her to wait with them. She declines, saying she will return later. José arrives with the new guard, who is greeted and imitated by a crowd of urchins ("Avec la garde montante").

As the factory bell rings, the cigarette girls emerge and exchange banter with young men in the crowd ("La cloche a sonné"). Carmen enters and sings her provocative habanera on the untameable nature of love ("L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"). The men plead with her to choose a lover, and after some teasing she throws a flower to Don José, who thus far has been ignoring her but is now annoyed by her insolence.

As the women go back to the factory, Micaëla returns and gives José a letter and a kiss from his mother ("Parle-moi de ma mère!"). He reads that his mother wants him to return home and marry Micaëla, who retreats in shy embarrassment on learning this. Just as José declares that he is ready to heed his mother's wishes, the women stream from the factory in great agitation. Zuniga, the officer of the guard, learns that Carmen has attacked a woman with a knife. When challenged, Carmen answers with mocking defiance ("Tra la la... Coupe-moi, brûle-moi"); Zuniga orders José to tie her hands while he prepares the prison warrant. Left alone with José, Carmen beguiles him with a seguidilla, in which she sings of a night of dancing and passion with her lover—whoever that may be—in Lillas Pastia's tavern. Confused yet mesmerised, José agrees to free her hands; as she is led away she pushes her escort to the ground and runs off laughing. José is arrested for dereliction of duty.

Act 2

Lillas Pastia's Inn

Two months have passed. Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès are entertaining Zuniga and other officers ("Les tringles des sistres tintaient") in Pastia's inn. Carmen is delighted to learn of José's release from two months' detention. Outside, a chorus and procession announces the arrival of the toreador Escamillo ("Vivat, vivat le Toréro"). Invited inside, he introduces himself with the "Toreador Song" ("Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre") and sets his sights on Carmen, who brushes him aside. Lillas Pastia hustles the crowds and the soldiers away.

When only Carmen, Frasquita and Mercédès remain, smugglers Dancaïre and Remendado arrive and reveal their plans to dispose of some recently acquired contraband ("Nous avons en tête une affaire"). Frasquita and Mercédès are keen to help them, but Carmen refuses, since she wishes to wait for José. After the smugglers leave, José arrives. Carmen treats him to a private exotic dance ("Je vais danser en votre honneur ... La la la"), but her song is joined by a distant bugle call from the barracks. When José says he must return to duty, she mocks him, and he answers by showing her the flower that she threw to him in the square ("La fleur que tu m'avais jetée"). Unconvinced, Carmen demands he show his love by leaving with her. José refuses to desert, but as he prepares to depart, Zuniga enters looking for Carmen. He and José fight, and are separated by the returning smugglers, who restrain Zuniga. Having attacked a superior officer, José now has no choice but to join Carmen and the smugglers ("Suis-nous à travers la campagne").

Act 3

A wild spot in the mountains

Carmen and José enter with the smugglers and their booty ("Écoute, écoute, compagnons"); Carmen has now become bored with José and tells him scornfully that he should go back to his mother. Frasquita and Mercédès amuse themselves by reading their fortunes from the cards; Carmen joins them and finds that the cards are foretelling her death, and José's. The women depart to suborn the customs officers who are watching the locality. José is placed on guard duty.

Micaëla enters with a guide, seeking José and determined to rescue him from Carmen ("Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante"). On hearing a gunshot she hides in fear; it is José, who has fired at an intruder who proves to be Escamillo. José's pleasure at meeting the bullfighter turns to anger when Escamillo declares his infatuation with Carmen. The pair fight ("Je suis Escamillo, toréro de Grenade"), but are interrupted by the returning smugglers and girls ("Holà, holà José"). As Escamillo leaves he invites everyone to his next bullfight in Seville. Micaëla is discovered; at first, José will not leave with her despite Carmen's mockery, but he agrees to go when told that his mother is dying. As he departs, vowing he will return, Escamillo is heard in the distance, singing the toreador's song.

Act 4

A square in Seville. At the back, the walls of an ancient amphitheatre

Zuniga, Frasquita and Mercédès are among the crowd awaiting the arrival of the bullfighters ("Les voici ! Voici la quadrille!"). Escamillo enters with Carmen, and they express their mutual love ("Si tu m'aimes, Carmen"). As Escamillo goes into the arena, Frasquita and Mercedes warn Carmen that José is nearby, but Carmen is unafraid and willing to speak to him. Alone, she is confronted by the desperate José ("C'est toi ! C'est moi !"). While he pleads vainly for her to return to him, cheers are heard from the arena. As José makes his last entreaty, Carmen contemptuously throws down the ring he gave her and attempts to enter the arena. He then stabs her, and as Escamillo is acclaimed by the crowds, Carmen dies. José kneels and sings "Ah! Carmen! ma Carmen adorée!"; as the crowd exits the arena, José confesses to killing the woman he loved.

Venue Info

Royal Theatre of La Monnaie - Brussels
Location   5, Place de la Monnaie

The Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (or la Monnaie) in French, or The Koninklijke Muntschouwburg (or de Munt) in Dutch, is a leading opera house in Brussels. Both of its names translate as Royal Theatre of the Coin. Today the National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of the theatre in which it is housed - La Monnaie or De Munt refers both to the building as well as the opera company.

History

In the last three decades la Monnaie has reclaimed its place amongst the foremost opera houses in Europe thanks to the efforts of the successive directors Gerard Mortier and Bernard Foccroulle and music directors Sylvain Cambreling and Antonio Pappano.

The current edifice is the third theatre on the site. The façade dates from 1818 with major alterations made in 1856 and 1986. The foyer and auditorium date from 1856, but almost every other element of the present building was extensively renovated in the 1980s.

The theatre of Gio-Paolo Bombarda, 1700 to 1818

The first permanent public theatre for opera performances of the court and city of Brussels was built between 1695 and 1700 by the Venetian architects Paolo and Pietro Bezzi, as part of a rebuilding plan following the bombardment of Brussels. It was built on the site of a building that had served to mint coins. The name of this site la Monnaie ("the Mint") remained attached to the theatre for the centuries to come. The construction of the theatre had been ordered by Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, at that time Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. The Elector had charged his "trésorier", the Italian Gio-Paolo Bombarda, with the task of financing and supervising the enterprise. The date of the first performance in 1700 remains unknown.

The first performance mentioned in the local newspaper was Jean-Baptiste Lully's, Atys, which was given on 19 November 1700. The French operatic repertoire would dominate the Brussels stage throughout the following century, although performances of Venetian operas and other non-French repertoire were performed on a regular basis. Until the middle of the 19th century, plays were performed along with opera, ballet and concerts.

By the 18th century la Monnaie was considered the second French-speaking stage after the most prominent theatres in Paris. Under the rule of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, who acted as a very generous patron of the arts, the theatre greatly flourished. At that time it housed an opera company, a ballet and an orchestra. The splendour of the performances diminished during the last years of the Austrian rule, due to the severe politics of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II.

After 1795, when the French revolutionary forces occupied the Belgian provinces, the theatre became a French Departmental institution.

Amongst other cuts in its expenses, the theatre had to abolish its Corps de Ballet. During this period many famous French actors and singers gave regular performances in the theatre during their tour of the provinces of the Empire. Still a consul, Napoleon on his visit to Brussels judged the old theatre too dilapidated for one of the most prestigious cities of his Empire. He ordered plans to replace the old building by a new and more monumental edifice, but nothing was done during the Napoleonic rule. Finally, the plans were carried out under the auspices of the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Bombarda building was demolished in 1818.

The theatre of Louis Damesme, 1818 to 1855

The old theatre was replaced by a new Neo-classical building designed by the French architect Louis Damesme. Unlike the Bombarda building, which was situated along the street and completely surrounded by other buildings, the new theatre was placed in the middle of a newly constructed square. This gave it a more monumental appearance, but it was primarily the result of safety concerns since it was more accessible to firemen, reducing the chance that fire would spread to surrounding buildings. The new auditorium was inaugurated on 25 May 1819 with the opera La Caravane du Caire by the Belgian composer André Ernest Modeste Grétry.

As the most important French theatre of the newly established United Kingdom of the Netherlands, la Monnaie had national and international significance. The theatre came under the supervision of the city of Brussels, which had the right to appoint a director charged with the management its management. In this period famous actors like François Joseph Talma and singers like Maria Malibran performed at la Monnaie. The Corps de Ballet was reintroduced and came under the supervision of the dancer and choreographer Jean-Antoine Petipa, father of the famous Marius Petipa.

La Monnaie would play a prominent role in the formation of the Kingdom of Belgium. Daniel Auber's opera La Muette de Portici was scheduled in August 1830 after it had been banned from the stage by King William I, fearing its inciting content. At a performance of this opera on the evening of 25 August 1830, a riot broke out which became the signal for the Belgian Revolution and which led to Belgian independence. The Damesme building continued to serve for more than two decades as Belgium's principal theatre and opera house until it burnt to the ground on 21 January 1855 leaving only the outside walls and portico.

The theatre of Joseph Poelaert, since 1856

After the fire of January 1855, the theatre was reconstructed after the designs of Joseph Poelaert within a period of fourteen months. The auditorium (with 1,200 seats) and the foyer were decorated in a then-popular Eclectic Style; a mixture of Neo-Baroque, Neo-Rococo and Neo-Renaissance Styles. The lavish decoration made excessive use of gilded "carton-pierre" decorations and sculptures, red velvet and brocade. The auditorium was lit by the huge crystal chandelier that today still hangs in the centre of the domed ceiling. It is made of gilded bronze and venetian crystals. The original dome painting – representing "Belgium Protecting the Arts" – was painted in the Parisian workshop of François-Joseph Nolau (Paris 1804-1883) and Auguste Alfred Rubé (Paris, 1815-1899), two famous decorators of the Parisian Opera House. In 1887 this dome painting was completely repainted by Auguste-Alfred Rubé (Paris, 1815-1899) himself and his new associate Philippe-Marie Chaperon (Paris, 1826–1907), because it was mostly tainted by the CO2 emissions from the chandelier. This dome painting stayed untouched until 1985, when it was taken down during extensive rebuilding activities and replaced by a bad copy, painted by the Belgian painter Xavier Crolls. From 1988 until 1998 the dome painting of Rubé and Chaperon was in restoration. In 1999, it was reinstated and decorates today one of the most beautiful opera houses of Europe. The sober whitewashed exterior we see today was done many decades later. Poelaert never intended to whitewash these outer walls. In 1856, the exterior did not have any whitewashing at all, which is proved by many photographs of that time.

The new Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie opened on 25 March 1856 with Fromental Halévy’s Jaguarita l'Indienne. In the middle of the 19th century the repertoire was dominated by the popular French composers such as Halévy, Daniel Auber, and Giacomo Meyerbeer, and the Italian composers, Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi who had considerable success in Paris.

The opera house in the 20th century

Renovations on the Poelaert building were required shortly after the opening due to faulty foundation work; the early 20th century saw an additional story added; and in the 1950s, a new stage building was added. By 1985 it was determined that complete renovation was needed. Features such as raising the roofline by 4 metres and scooping out the stage building area - in addition to creating a steel frame to strengthen the load-bearing walls and increasing backstage space - characterized this two-year project. However, the red and gold auditorium remained basically the same. The canvas of the ceiling painting was temporarily removed for restoration and only put back in 1999. It was temporarily replaced by a copy in much brighter colors that was painted directly on the stucco ceiling.

The entrance hall and the grand staircase underwent a radical makeover, although original features such as the monument by Belgian sculptor Paul Du Bois honouring manager and musical director Dupont (1910), and a number of monumental paintings (1907-1933) by Emile Fabry were preserved. The Liège architect Charles Vandenhove created a new architectural concept for the entrance in 1985-86. He asked two American artists to make a contribution: Sol LeWitt designed a fan-shaped floor in black and white marble, while Sam Francis painted a triptych mounted to the ceiling. Vandenhove also designed a new interior decoration for the Salon Royal, a reception room connected to the Royal box. For this project he collaborated with the French artist Daniel Buren.

Now seating 1,125, the renovated opera house was inaugurated on 12 November 1986 with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

In 1998 the major part of the vacant Vanderborght Department Store building (c. 20,000 m2) and a neo-classical mansion, both situated directly behind the opera house, were acquired by la Monnaie. The edifices were renovated and adapted to house the technical and administrative facilities of la Monnaie, previously spread all over the city. The building also contains large rehearsal halls for opera, the Malibran, and orchestra, the Fiocco. They can also be adapted for presenting public performances.

La Monnaie in the 21st century

The opera house was renovated again from May 2015 to September 2017: the stage was levelled, a new fly system was put in place and two scene lifts were installed. This allowed the opera house to stage more technically-demanding productions. Although most of the renovations took place backstage, the opera house used this opportunity to replace all of its worn out seats with new velour seats.

Dadaocheng Theater

No. 21, Section 1, Dihua St, Datong District

Dadaocheng Theatre is a small theater that focuses on the performance and development of traditional Taiwanese opera. Originally, it occupied one floor of Yongle Tower; it now has expanded to two floors, with a performance hall that can hold 506 audience members.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Brussels, Belgium
Starts at: 14:00
Acts: 4
Sung in: French
Titles in: Dutch,French
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