The Carmen Case

“You can arrest me. I’m the one who killed her!” José, Carmen’s former partner, has confessed: a femicide. The trial begins. The accused gives his account. What do the defence, the experts and those close to the victim have to say? And above all… what does the audience —which has been a witness for 150 years and is now the jury—have to say?

The Carmen Case offers a fresh perspective on a masterpiece of the French repertoire, centred on a pressing question: how should we understand Carmen from the perspective of our own time? The libretto by Alexandra Lacroix, who also directs the production, weaves Meilhac and Halévy’s original dialogue into her own dramatic structure, while composer Diana Soh’s music reworks or responds to Bizet’s score, casting the opera’s most famous arias in a new light.

Inseparable, the original work and its courtroom “double” shed new light on one another. Named “Best New Artist” at the 2023 Victoires de la Musique, Lucie Leguay leads the discussion, bringing together nine characters and the musicians of the Ars Nova ensemble under her baton.

Libretto Alexandra Lacroix
Based on Carmen by Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy, and actual criminal trial proceedings

Musical director Lucie Leguay
Concept and staging Alexandra Lacroix

Ensemble Ars Nova

Scenic design Mathieu Lorry-Dupuy
Costumes Olga Karpinsky
Lighting Flore Marvaud
Video creation Jérémie Bernaert

Carmen Anne-Lise Polchlopek
Franck, Don José François Rougier
Carlos, Escamillo René Ramos Premier
Micaëla, counsel for the defence Angèle Chemin
Ludovic, José the accused Xavier de Lignerolles
Laura, Frasquita, Expert Élise Chauvin
Béatrice, Prosecutor, Expert Anne-Emmanuelle Davy
President Guilhem Terrail
Mercedes / Jean-Luc / Expert Fiona McGown

Recreation Angers Nantes Opera
Coproduction La Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, La Cie MPDA, Ensemble Ars Nova, TAP – Scène nationale de Grand Poitiers, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, La Monnaie / De Munt, OARA, United Instruments of Lucilin, European Networks of Opera Academies
Construction of stage sets Les Ateliers des Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg

^{Photo © Pascal Gely}