Karajan conducts Bizet: Carmen

Herbert von Karajan was a pioneer in countless ways, and few great 20th-century conductors were swifter to embrace the possibilities of film and television. Even today, this 1967 movie of Karajan’s Salzburg Festival production of Bizet’s Carmen feels ahead of its time – a wonderfully colourful reimagination of the original staging, which combines the immediacy of a live theatrical performance with a truly cinematic flair. But at its heart is a line-up of performers who practically set the stage on fire, with two unquestioned greats – the American mezzo Grace Bumbry and the inimitable Jon Vickers – as Carmen and Don José.

Soloists: 

Grace Bumbry (Mezzo-Soprano), Kurt Equiluz (Tenor), Mirella Freni (Soprano), Julia Hamari (Contralto), Robert Kerns (Baritone), Jon Vickers (Tenor), Justino Díaz (Baritone), Olivera Miljakovic (Soprano), Milen Paunov (Tenor), Anton Diakov (Bass)

Ensembles: 

Chor der Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Philharmoniker

Conductor: 

Herbert von Karajan