Richmond Symphony: Carmen in Concert with Denyce Graves

Join the Richmond Symphony for a spectacular final event of their Altria Masterworks series, featuring Mezzo-Soprano Denyce Graves in a concert performance of Bizet’s Carmen (un-staged), in partnership with Virginia Opera.

Recognized worldwide as one of today’s most exciting vocal stars, Denyce Graves continues to gather unparalleled popular and critical acclaim in performances on four continents. USA Today identifies her as “an operatic superstar of the 21st century,” and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution exclaims, “If the human voice has the power to move you, you will be touched by Denyce Graves.”

Bizet’s Carmen was the most famous of the composer’s operas, introducing an unfamiliar element of realism to the form. Audiences were taken aback by the female protagonist’s unscrupulous behavior. Displays of crude femininity are augmented by staged knife fights and choruses of smoking cigarette-factory girls. Set in 19th century Spain, the opera presents themes of love, jealousy, and free will, as Carmen operates on her own agenda: seductive and intimate on one note, sardonic and hedonistic the next. Though she meets an untimely death at the hands of a discarded lover, this powerful character is immortalized in the operatic cannon; defined by her passionate nature, respected for strong will, and remembered for the music that carries her story.

Guest Artists: Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony Chorus