When Georges Bizet premiered his opera Carmen, he could not have imagined that his beautiful and seductive cigarmaker would become a myth, the precursor of a feminine behaviour that broke all conventions. It is one of the most frequently performed titles at the Teatro Real and is a constant presence in the opera seasons of theatres all over the world.

Stage director Emilio Sagi uses the imaginative costumes of designer Jesús del Pozo to emphasise the sensuality, the features, the party and the tragic ending. His original conceptions depict the almost beehive-like atmosphere of the tobacco factory, the warmth of the Sevillian light, the cold of the camp in the mountains...

García Navarro, musical director of the Teatro Real at the time of this recording (8 April 1999), brings together under his baton the Chorus of the Community of Madrid, the children of the Escolanía Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo, the Madrid Symphonic Orchestra and a cast led by Agnes Baltsa, Neil Shicoff, Geer Grimsley and Andrea Dankova.