Carmen 2025
Others
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Date
01 Mar - 31 Oct 2025
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Organiser
Department of English and Communication
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Time
00:00 - 23:59
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Venue
Please refer to the Carmen 2025 thematic website
Summary
Carmen 2025 - a captivating series of events celebrating the timeless allure of Bizet's 'Carmen.' Experience the passion of music and flamenco performances, alongside insightful opera talks and singing demonstrations. Discover what makes 'Carmen' a unique blend of diverse European influences, with its vibrant Spanish setting, the evocative French libretto and Bizet's masterful composition, innovating an art-form with strong Italian roots. This program offers a unique opportunity to delve into the cultural and artistic significance of one of opera's most enduring masterpieces.
Upcoming events
21 & 22 Oct, Carmen Opera (click here)
More events coming soon...
Past events
4 Mar, The Enchantment of Spanish Music (click here)
About Dúo Belcorde
The Spanish Dúo Belcorde consists of Manuel Briega, violin, and Adrián Fernández, Spanish guitar. Violin and guitar form a duo of great interest, thanks to the versatility of these two instruments, the tune, melody and harmony of the same variety ant perfect symbiosis that develops between them. Dúo Belcorde has made numerous national and international tours such as Japan, Brazil, Morocco, Turkey, Australia, New Zeland, the United States of America, China, Portugal, Brazil, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Mexico, etc, organised by important public and private institutions as well as different governments around the world.
This event marks the beginning of the "Carmen 2025" programme, offering a series of cultural events centred around the timeless Opera Carmen. Stay tuned for more exciting happenings!
About the Talk
Back in the day, opera was popular rather than elitist entertainment. And if any one opera illustrates why, it’s George Bizet’s “Carmen”: this now iconic story of the eponymous gypsy seductress and the fatally-besotted soldier Don José combines drama that is both metaphorically and literally gut-stabbing with music that is sensuous, hummable and entirely unforgettable. The opera has a backstory — it is based on the 1845 novella by the French writer Prosper Mérimée, who claimed the story was told to him by the Countess of Montijo — and an afterlife, having inspired numerous films, musicals, orchestral compositions, ballets, even a “Hip Hopera” starring Beyoncé.
Carmen is one of the most iconic characters ever created. This talk will tell her story, as she moves from best-selling novel to opera stage to Broadway and the silver screen. To seek an understanding of who Carmen really is, we’ll sample some of Mérimée’s vivid French prose and Bizet’s memorable music... as well as the tantalising tales that lie behind each.
About the Speaker
Peter Gordon, lived in Hong Kong since 1985, works with leading opera companies in Hong Kong and Guangdong and gives regular opera talks at the Dante Alighieri Society as well as at Alliance Française, Opera Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong and the Asia Society.
27 Mar, Flamenco Dance: demonstration and workshop - (click here)
About the Artist
Clara Ramona, the esteemed Spanish dancer and flamenco artist with a profound respect for tradition and a liberal and accommodating attitude towards modernism, breathes life to both pure and energizing flamenco thus gaining recognition for her original stage productions. Clara began her dance journey at age 5 in the Philippines, studying ballet and traditional dance. After moving to the U.S., she trained at the Aina Janson Ballet Academy, Boston Ballet, and Boston Conservatory, earning a BFA in dance. Her studies focused on choreography, pedagogy, and technique across various dance forms. She further honed her flamenco skills with masters in Boston, Mexico, and Spain.
10 May, The Story of Carmen: Europe Day 2025 Performance - (click here)
About the Performance
2025 is the 150th anniversary of Georges Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, the now iconic story of the eponymous seductress and the fatally besotted soldier, Don José – a story that combines drama, both metaphorically and literally gut-stabbing, with music that is sensuous, hummable and entirely unforgettable. On her birthday, Carmen remains 150 years young. In celebration, this multimedia presentation offers a new rendition of the timeless story. Centred on selections from the opera sung by some of Hong Kong’s most acclaimed vocalists, infused with narrative from the original novel by Prosper Mérimée (itself celebrating its 180th anniversary!) , it brings to life one of Europe’s most fascinating literary characters.
Sung in French with English surtitles and English narration, this ‘Europe Day’ event is the first major performance of ‘Carmen 2025’, a year-long programme of opera, literature, music and dance, commemorating the dual anniversaries of the novel and opera.
27 May, An Evening of Opera (click here)
About the Event
Join world-renowned tenor Dr Warren Mok and renowned Chinese soprano Ms. Bing Bing Wang for an unforgettable evening of opera and a masterclass!
Witness live coaching of aspiring opera singers on stage, featuring PolyU student, staff and alumni singers. During this interactive session, Dr Warren Mok and Ms Bing Bing Wang will provide personalized feedback and guidance, helping students refine their techniques and bring their performances to life. Experience the magic of opera as these renowned artists share their expertise and passion. Singers from Opera Hong Kong will perform excerpts from Bizet’s “Carmen” in celebration of its 150th anniversary.
About the Speakers
Dr Warren Mok, Artists’ Alliances member, Honorary Professor at the Department of English and Communication, acclaimed international operatic tenor, and founder of Hong Kong’s premier opera company, Opera Hong Kong, will visit PolyU not only to discuss opera but also to regale audiences with romantic selections from Western operatic repertoire.
Ms Bing Bing Wang, renowned Chinese Soprano actively performing in Europe, also a member of the Artists’ Alliance, will share her artistic journey in Europe and beyond.
23 Jun, Film Screening: Carmen by Carlos Saura (click here)
Synopsis
Art imitates art in the Bafta-winning Carmen. Based on Georges Bizet's opera of Prosper Mérimée's story, Carmen follows a choreographer (Antonio Gades) looking for someone to play the lead in his new dance work.He spots a young dancer named Carmen (Laura del Sol) whose skills are unrefined but whose wildcard spirit is perfect for the operatic gypsy heroine who inspires lust and jealousy in a soldier. As Carmen is put through the paces of rehearsal, Antonio falls in love with her, but their affair begins to crack as Carmen's true character is slowly discovered and Antonio questions her loyalty. The lines between passionate illusion and real life become intricately entwined as the off-stage affair and the choreographed drama become inseparable.
4 Sep, Carmen: From the Opera Stage to a Cultural Icon (click here)
About the Lecture
The lecture will explore the evolving portrayal of Carmen, tracing the transformation of this iconic character across three key works: Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella, Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera, and Peter Brook’s 1981 La Tragédie de Carmen. These works, spanning over a century, reflect not only distinct artistic forms and visions but also shifting cultural attitudes and societal perceptions, as well as differing audience and public expectations.Central to this discussion is the character of Carmen. Her depiction varies significantly across the three versions, shaped by dramaturgical priorities and the prevailing social and psychological discourses of each era. Through this evolution, Carmen emerges as a mirror of society’s fluctuating views on female autonomy, desire, and transgression.Equally pivotal is the figure of Don José, whose psychological depth and narrative role are reinterpreted in each adaptation. From Mérimée’s violent and morally conflicted narrator to Bizet’s romanticised and emotionally unstable soldier, and finally to Brook’s stripped-down and brutal characterisation, Don José’s transformation plays a key role in the development of the tragic arc.
The lecture will also examine how dramaturgical choices, narrative structures, and character dynamics are determined by the specific cultural contexts in which each version was produced. Particular attention will be given to how these elements reflect varying degrees of societal resistance to female independence, as well as shifting notions of morality, passion, and control. In this regard, Carmen is not merely a fictional character but a cultural symbol whose meaning is continuously negotiated and redefined. The analysis will be supported by short video excerpts from opera performances and selected passages from Mérimée’s novella, offering a comparative perspective that highlights both continuities and ruptures in the representation of Carmen and Don José. By examining these texts, the lecture aims to foster a deeper understanding of how literature, music, and theatre interact, and at times conflict, in constructing gendered narratives.
About the Speaker
Paola Tiberii is a musicologist, lexicographer, and translator. She is the author of the Dizionario delle collocazioni, published by Zanichelli, a comprehensive reference work on Italian word combinations. She recently translated Prosper Mérimée’s novella Carmen into Italian. Ms. Tiberii is regularly invited by universities and cultural institutions to give lectures, lead workshops, and conduct seminars on a range of topics, including musicology, language interaction, lexical proficiency, and innovative methods for foreign language teaching.
15 Sep, Film Screening: Carmen (2003) (click here)
Synopsis
Director Vicente Aranda based the plot on Mérimée's original 1847 novella about jealousy and passion, not its famous operatic adaptation by Bizet from 1875, changing some details about the love story between Carmen (Paz Vega) and José (Leonardo Sbaraglia).
As in the novella, author Mérimée (Jay Benedict) is portrayed as a French writer who finds the "real" Carmen in early 19th century Spain.
