Woodhouse Opera presents Bizet's perennially popular tale of the untameable gypsy girl and her rival lovers – the soldier Don José, torn between desire and duty, and Escamillo, the flamboyant bull-fighter. The fully-staged production is directed by Monika Saunders and presented in the picturesque lakeside surroundings of Woodhouse Copse in Holmbury St Mary, Surrey. With full orchestra and professional chorus under Márcio da Silva. Design and costumes by Monika Saunders; and set painter María Inés Aguirre.
Starring mezzo-soprano Cátia Moreso in the title role, with tenor Leonel Pinheiro (Don José), bass-baritone Nicholas Morris (Escamillo), soprano Filipa van Eck (Micaëla), bass Lancelot Nomura (Zuniga), baritone Leo Saleck (Moralès), soprano Bárbara Barradas (Frasquita), mezzo-soprano Leila Moreso (Mercédès), baritone Alexander Duliba (Dancaïro) and tenor Michael Butchard (Remendado).
(There is a dress rehearsal on Sept 5, tickets £30. Grounds and access to lake available from 3pm, plus an extended opera interval allows for leisurely picnics in the Gertrude Jekyll gardens or restaurant tavernas.)