Bizet: Carmen

Bizet: Carmen

EMI Classics studio opera recording of Bizet s Carmen<br>marks the 10th anniversary of the artistic dreamteam <br>partnership of Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner<br>Philharmoniker. Sir Simon Rattle, who recently appeared<br>at the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony in London<br>conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, directs the<br>Berliner Philharmoniker in this incredible interpretation<br>of the Oeser edition, as used in Vienna in 1964, of this<br>timeless opera. This fascinating performance features a<br>stellar cast of soloists, including Magdalena Kozená in<br>the title role and Jonas Kaufmann as Don José.<br>Bizet s Carmen tells the story of the mesmeric but<br>ultimately fatal attraction of the gypsy girl Carmen,<br>and the tragedy of Don José, who falls in love, but is<br>ultimately rejected. Unable to live in a world without<br>her, Don José kills Carmen, to the accompaniment of<br>the triumphs of her new lover, the bullfighter, Escamillo.<br>Carmen is packed with some of the most familiar and<br>striking melodies ever written, including Carmen s<br>Habanera, Séguedille, Chanson bohème , Don José s<br>poignant Flower Song and Escamillo s swaggering<br> Toreador Song. <br>With more than 32 years and 250 works - Sir Simon<br>Rattle is an exclusive EMI artist and many of his<br>recordings, principally with the Berliner Philharmoniker,<br>the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the<br>Wiener Philharmoniker, have been ground-breaking<br>and award-winning. Rattle has received three Grammy<br>Awards in the United States, three Classical Brit and<br>Gramophone Awards in the UK and two Echo Klassik<br>Awards in Germany to date.