TRAGEDY, DISTILLED

Peter Brook pares Bizet’s
masterpiece to its emotional essence

Ariana Maubach and Anna Thompson

Since 1957, the San Francisco Merola Opera Program, in collaboration with the San Francisco Opera Center, has offered an extensive training program for talented opera singers, conductors, and directors. Every summer, it showcases its emerging artists in a series of public performances. This season includes La Tragédie de Carmen, Peter Brook’s 1981 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, conducted by Stephanie Rhodes Russell and directed by Mo Zhou, both Merola alumni. Rather than presenting the full-scale opera audiences know, Brook’s version pares the work down to an intimate, 80-minute chamber drama, using a revised score by Marius Constant and a libretto by Jean-Claude Carrière (still in French) that more closely follows Prosper Mérimée’s original novella. Presented at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, the production’s smaller scale and the building’s excellent acoustics create the feeling of a private performance.

Raúl Morales Velazco and Ariana Maubach

In the title role, mezzo-soprano Ariana Maubach is a feisty and sexy Carmen. It’s easy to see why so many men want her. With her silky skin, beautiful hair, and form-fitting dress, her presence commands attention. Tenor Charles Styles, as Don José, is unrelenting in his jealousy, seeing her as his one and only. Baritone Raúl Morales Velazco is a handsome and charming Escamillo. Carmen’s husband, Garcia, is played by John Mburu. Soprano Anna Thompson is the kind and sensitive Micaëla.

Charles Styles and Anna Thompson

Brook’s retelling offers a riveting, psychologically charged take on the familiar story. Dispensing with much of the spectacle associated with Bizet’s opera, it places the emotional conflict between Carmen and Don José front and center. Carmen’s fierce independence makes her all the more enticing and ultimately tragic as she refuses to conform to society’s expectations.

Raúl Morales Velazco and Charles Styles

This was definitely a special evening for a select audience. The San Francisco Merola Opera Program never disappoints in showcasing talented and hopeful young artists at the beginning of their careers.

Ariana Maubach and Charles Styles

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photos by Kristen Loken

La Tragédie de Carmen
Merola Opera Program
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street
performed July 9 & 11, 2026
for future performances, visit Merola Opera Program

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