The Latest Breaking News from Don José

How brutal wildfires, violent rivalries and controversial reforestation are transforming rural Mexico

RUPERT CORNWELL AWARD: Samuel McIlhagga ventures deep into the Mexican countryside to discover how rampant wildfires have intensified local tensions, inspired questionable replanting schemes and seen high-powered rail projects carve up the land

The Independent UK · Feb 27

Carmen review – big on noise but short on chemistry

ENO’S fourth revival of Calixto Bieito’s classic production starts at an exhilarating gallop but is thrown off course by its ill-fitting translation and onstage clamour

The Guardian - UK · Oct 9, 2025

Opera Australia gives us a rocking Carmen for the post-#metoo era

The story of Carmen, in the 19th century opera by French composer George Bizet, is, at its simplest, the story of a developing tension between Carmen, a stereotypically racialised woman attempting to break free from society’s impositions and her already-written fate.

The Conversation · Jul 21, 2025

The week in classical: Carmen; National Youth Chamber Choir/ OAE/Jeannin; LSO/ Roth review – from Habanera to doo-wop

Aigul Akhmetshina steals the show in Damiano Michieletto’s uneven new 70s-set Bizet. And in a good week for world premieres, four composers take on Handel while the London Symphony Orchestra channels death metal

The Guardian - UK · Apr 13, 2024

Carmen at the Royal Opera review: where was the animal magnetism and dark underbelly of sexual passion?

The castanets, bullring and pelvic thrusting aren’t missed but the tightening and release of dramatic tension very much is

Evening Standard · Apr 8, 2024

Carmen review – Aigul Akhmetshina is electrifying in simmering, naturalistic staging

Conjuring the oppressive Mediterranean heat and the claustrophobia of a fraying close-knit community, Damiano Michieletto’s new production of Bizet’s tragedy is rich with drama and potent

The Guardian - UK · Apr 7, 2024

Carmen; California Connections review – sharp moves

Johan Inger’s cool take on Bizet’s tragic heroine is given its UK premiere by English National Ballet, while LA’s Yorke Dance Project celebrates three California dance pioneers

The Guardian - UK · Mar 31, 2024

Carmen review – a true-crime thriller with an uneasy heroine

Scottish Opera’s new production makes the most of the work’s reinstated spoken-word sections, but suffers from a lack of charisma in its star

The Guardian - UK · May 14, 2023

Characters don’t always connect in Lyric’s straightforward and suitably grand ‘Carmen’ revival

Ryan Opera Center grad J’Nai Bridges brings fiery stage presence and a stunning voice to her signature role, but her performance does not completely click.

Chicago Sun-Times · Mar 12, 2023

Carmen review – vivid revival finds ENO on fighting form

With Bizet’s opera’s menace and casual cruelty to the fore, cracking performances from soloists and chorus alike ensure that this is a tense and atmospheric production

The Guardian - UK · Feb 2, 2023