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| Christine Rice as Carmen. Photo by Mike Hoban © 2010 Royal Opera House at Covent Garden |
The Royal Opera House of Covent Garden is planning the first ever movie theater broadcast of Carmen to be shown in 3D, coming to a theater (hopefully) near you on March 5.
Although series like the Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD have gained in popularity in recent years, opera has been relegated to just two dimensions on the screen. This film will use the Real3D technology developed for and featured in James Cameron's smash science ficton epic Avatar.
With its kinetic, memorable music, crowd scenes and passionate title character, Carmen is one of the most popular French operas of the 19th century. Georges Bizet's score is packed with famous melodies, but the real glory of Carmen is in the masterful overall structure, the brilliant orchestration, and the inexorable power of the story, which sets four passionate people hurtling along the path to inevitable destruction.
Carmen 3D preserves the acclaimed Francesca Zambello production of the opera, a co-production between the ROH, the Den Norske Opera based in Oslo, Norway and Opera Australia. Christine Rice sings the title role opposite Bryan Hymel as Don José. Aris Argiris sings Escamillo. No word on whether the Act IV bullfight will actually be staged, just because it would look cool in 3D.