Year after year, Georges Bizet’s Carmen ranks as one of the several most produced operas in the world.  And why not?  Its music, based largely on Spanish folk tunes, is perhaps the most familiar and hummable of any opera.  Patrons in many countries, especially throughout Latin America, can relate to the Spanish culture, while the admix of Carmen’s Roma community yields an international exoticism.  Its heroine is one of the most dynamic and demonstrative in the idiom.  And the triangle created by her suitors, the complex soldier Don José, both hot headed and an infatuated puppy dog, and Escamillo, a renowned and adulated bullfighter, careens inevitably to tragedy.

In 1981, famed minimalist theater and film director Peter Brook engaged composer Marius Constant to abridge the score of Carmen to reduce the storyline to its essence.  The resulting 80-minute opera focuses on the intimate and psychological moments of Prosper Mérimée’s source novel.  Merola Opera, the highly-vaunted apprenticeship program associated with San Francisco Opera, has produced the adaptation with a highly successful version driven by a cast of fine voices.

Unlike Puccini’s heroines from other “Top 10” most popular operas, Mimi, CioCio San, and Tosca, Carmen is independent and unruly, with an imperiousness more like another Puccini heroine, Turandot.  Carmen’s freedom from entanglements that she can’t control makes this in a sense a very feminist story, which is one of the draws to Director Mo Zhou who tries to de-sanitize the traditional patriarchal opera scrim.

The shortened opera goes by in no time which appeals to a modern short-attention-span audience.  All of the finest music and wonderful arias are a feast for the ears from José’s “La fleur que tu m’avais jetté” and Carmen’s Habañera (“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”) to Escamillo’s Toreador Song.  But they come by in such rapid succession that it is like watching a highlights reel rather than a complete work.  Those patrons not already familiar with the story will not realize the richness in the original libretto and may leave with more questions than answers.

Thus, the narrative is bumpy as backstory and motivations are lost and dramatic tension doesn’t build as well as in Bizet’s fully-scripted version.  For instance, Carmen’s fiery temperament in her fight with a co-worker at the cigarette factory is missing; the meet-cute between Carmen and José lacks characterizations or setup; and his friend from his home town, Michaela, twice appears and disappears from the story, the second time without sufficient explanation.

Apart from the music, what makes La Tragédie de Carmen engaging is the cast.  The captivating Ariana Maubach as Carmen offers a rich mezzo voice with pleasant quaver in the mid and upper ranges and a haughty chestiness in the low end, very fitting for the role.  Tenor Charles Styles as José seemed a little underpowered to begin with, especially in the duet with soprano Anna Thompson’s demure Micaela, “Parle-moi de ma mere”, but he impressed as time went on.  Carmen is the unusual opera in which the soprano plays second fiddle to the mezzo, but with Thompson’s powerful and mellifluous voice, she is already booked for bigger things.  Finally, with a resounding bass voice, Raúl Morales Velazco vocally acquitted himself well as Escamillo.

Conductor Stephanie Rhodes Russell leads the orchestra adeptly.  While chamber adaptations to the orchestration that emphasizes soloists works well, the simple piano accompaniment (no reflection on the pianist) sounded empty.  The mandated use of canned music for the overture, presumably because it is supposed to come from inside the arena, adds no value as the orchestra sits on its hands.

One question to be asked is what is unique about Carmen for Brook to create this type of adaptation?   As a wildly successful opera, it wasn’t desperately in need of a facelift, while other cherished operas that drag on and have smaller audiences could benefit more from a little sculpturing.  It should be noted that Brook’s philosophy of theater is from the ancient Greek tradition that all that is needed is actors.  Audience members who value expansive scenery, lavish costumery, and a large cast and chorus will not find them here.

Another matter is why this piece was chosen by Merola.  One appeal must be that the cost and effort of full staging is not required, as the set is comprised of projections on panels plus a few props.  However, the number of principals is reduced from around 16 to 7, meaning that few Merolians perform listed roles.  Also, the elimination of group scene action of the soldiers, cigarette girls, and Roman encampment, means no chorus opportunities for other apprentices.

A final issue is whether this production of this adaptation merits attendance.  Despite its shortcomings, the answer is yes.  Its assets, particularly the music and cast, are compelling and the experience worthwhile.

La Tragédie de Carmen is composed by Georges Bizet, with libretto by Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy, as adapted by Peter Brook & Marius Constant, produced by Merola Opera Company, and plays at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA through July 11, 2026.