![\"\"](\"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Merola-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\n\u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u201d at Merola Program
Carol Benet
The 2026 Merola Summer Festival presents the first of the two operas, \u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u201d, on July 9 and July 11.
This is the Peter Brook\u2019s reinterpretation of Bizet\u2019s masterpiece, an opera that has lasted for decades and is one of the most produced at all opera companies. Peter Brook was the enfant terrible of the theater and film director who, based in Paris, changed the way the traditional masterpieces that he created to those that exemplified his idea of \u201cempty space\u201d, a pared down version. Before his death in 2022 he created plays, operas, films from 1943 through 2013.
The Merola participants presented an 80 minute without intermission opera on a bare stage highlighted with wonderful projections (Camilla Task). The principal cast of seven was substituted for what is usually a crowded, busy with movement, chorus, dance in a many peopled version. Brook\u2019s \u201cCarmen\u201d consists of the most famous arias and duets and whips along with what the Merola portrays as a psychological drama about Carmen (Ariana Maubach) and Don Jos\u00e9 (Charles Styles) tragic relationship.
Starting with the sweet Mica\u00ebla\u2019s (Anna Thompson) message to the Don from his mother, it is evident that she loves him but this is unrequited as he is fixated one the beautiful and tempestuous romani Carmen who has other suitors that arouses his jealousy. The suiitors are the bullfighter Escamillo (Ra\u00fcl Morales Velazco), Zuniga (Ryan Bryce Johnson) along with John Mburu as Garcia and Logan Wagner as the bartender Lillas Pastia.<\/p>\r\n
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A former Merola \u201909 winner Stephanie Rhodes Russell conducts the fine Marius Constant chamber orchestra, with some chosen from the SF Ballet as is gifted harpist Annabelle Taubl plus the pianist a current Merola artist Deven Shah at the piano. The Brook idea of adding a recording of Bizet\u2019s Overture is an innovation.
The director Mo Zhou (Merola \u201915) was inspired by Buddhist scripture in this version of Carmen with its ideas of the reoccurrence of the Don\u2019s love for Carmen and his eternal desire for what he cannot possess.
The Merola participants for \u201cCarmen\u201d are ready for their professional careers as they are excellent singers and convincing actors as well. In the future we will see them often on the opera stages worldwide.
The second Merola opera this summer is Ricardo Strauss\u2019 \u201cAriadne aug Naxos\u201d on July 30 and August 1. The operas takes place at the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street near Davies Symphony Hall. Tickets merola.org or box office 415 864 3330.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u201d at Merola Program Carol Benet The 2026 Merola Summer Festival presents the first of the two operas, \u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u201d, on July 9 and July…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[726],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-carol-benet"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"