Salzburg Festival opens scenic music theater season with dark new production of Bizet's "Carmen"

Darkness as an artistic concept

The production is characterized by a monochromatic visual concept. "Diese ‚Carmen' ist monochrom und optisch eine große Nachtmusik," the review states. Asmik Grigorian takes on the title role, Jonathan Tetelman sings Don José.

Already at the opening of the festival just hours earlier, dark times were spoken of — this mood is also reflected on stage. The historical context of darkness in Salzburg Festival productions goes back to 1972, when director Claus Peymann and his team failed to let the world premiere of "Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige" conclude in complete darkness. This event went down in festival history as the "Notlicht-Skandal" (emergency light scandal).

Historical reference: The 1972 Emergency Light Scandal

The production uses darkness as a consistent design element. "Nun ist es im Großen Salzburger Festspielhaus so dunkel, wie man es bei Opern so gut wie nie sieht (wobei ‚sehen' diesfalls ein problematisches Verb ist)," the review states. This fundamentally calls into question seeing as a sensory experience in opera.

Despite magnificent imagery — for instance, a Marian procession that references the death of the title character — the production is also viewed critically. "Insgesamt ist diese ‚Carmen' trotz prachtvoller Bilder (zum Beispiel eine Marien-Prozession, die auf den Tod der Titelfigur verweist) allzu sehr verkunstet, entrückt, mehr generelles Statement zu dunklen Zeiten als Operninterpretation," according to the reviewer's judgment.

Critical voices on the production

Among the guests at the premiere were, among others, Doris Schmidauer and Desirée Treichl-Stürgkh. The audience at the Großes Festspielhaus experienced a production that captivates less through classical operatic interpretation than through atmospheric visual power.

Among the participants, alongside Asmik Grigorian and Jonathan Tetelman, are also artists from the Compagnie Peeping Tom, known for their physical-visual stage language. The combination of Bizet's music and the dark, choreographed production forms the kickoff of the scenic music theater series at the 2026 festival.