Invited to open the 1995/96 season at the Polish National Opera, Lech Majewski stages Bizet’s Carmen. His novel reading of the dark, self-destructive emotions of the Carmen-Jose-Escamillo triangle is allegorically represented by a 24 feet high figure of a bull. Towering above the stage the gigantic bull, a symbol of a night crowned with a crescent of horns, falls down in front of the audience at the end of the emotional corrida.

Carmen is created by Małgorzata Walewska, winner of Pavarotti’s Singing Contest. Canal+ transmits the opening night live. The prestigious magazine Opera International cites the staging among the world’s best opera productions of 1995, singling out the director who created “a magnificent power of dramatic expression”.

with Małgorzata Walewska, Marta Abako, Ewa Podleś, Marcin Bronikowski, Andrzej Dobber, Izabela Kłosińska, Krzysztof Bednarek, Stanisław Kowalski, Bożydar Nikołow, Wiesław Bednarek, Krzysztof Borysiewicz, Ryszard Cieśla, Jan Dobosz, Adam Zdunikowski, Józef Stępień, Ryszard Morka, Włodzimierz Zalewski, Robert Dymowski, Andrzej Zagdański, Dorota Radomska, Jeanette Bożałek, Teresa Krajewska, Jadwiga Skoczylas, Anna Lubańska, Adam Marszalik, Chorus, Ballet and Orchestra of the National Opera, Alla Polacca Chorus, Supernumerarhies

music Georges Bizet libretto Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy based on Prosper Mérimée’s short story staged & directed by Lech Majewski musical direction Tadeusz Wojciechowski sets Janusz Kapusta costume Hanna Bakuła choreography Janina Niesobska chorus director Jan Szyrocki