A ‘Carmen’ for which all of Seville’s a stage

SEVILLE, Spain — Producers are making a $15-million bet that Carmen, one of the world’s favorite opera heroines, will seduce fresh fans with an extravagant new production on the streets of her hometown.

A world-famous conductor, an Oscar-nominated director and a cast of international stars are working to bring the fiery, cigar-rolling star of Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen” back to her native Spanish city of Seville in September.

This time, the tale of doomed love, best known for its “toreador song,” will be played out in the city’s streets and squares, climaxing in a bullring where Carmen’s soldier-lover murders her in a fit of jealousy over a bullfighter rival. About 4,000 spectators will be carried from act to act in horse-drawn carriages or will stroll along the city’s cobbled streets to watch the drama develop.

“The public will actually be drawn into the event as if they were actors, protagonists, singers themselves,” said Lorin Maazel, music director of the New York Philharmonic and conductor for “Carmen.” “I love presenting music in a way that makes a different type of sense to music lovers,” he added.

The event is the brainchild of Michael Ecker, whose Opera on Original Site firm stages operas in the places where their plots unfold. He previously persuaded China’s Communist government to allow a production of “Turandot” in Beijing’s Forbidden City. Inspired by working on a production of “Aida” in Luxor, Egypt, he sees the extravaganzas as a way to bring opera to a new audience.

“Around 70% of visitors who came to ‘Aida’ in Luxor and ‘Turandot’ in China never visited an opera before,” Ecker said.

Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura will direct the 10 performances, scheduled as part of the first Seville International Music Festival. The cast includes mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves as Carmen and tenor Neil Shicoff as her lover Don Jose.

“I love ‘Carmen’ -- it is the musician’s opera, the public’s opera, the music lover’s opera. Everyone loves ‘Carmen,’ ” says Maazel, who estimates he has conducted it more than 45 times.

A powerful recent film version starring Seville-born siren Paz Vega as a mysterious, cruel and sexy Carmen was a reminder of the power of the story even without Bizet’s music. The composer’s recipe of passion, jealousy, beauty and death -- based on a book by Frenchman Prosper Merimee -- did not, however, meet such a rapturous response at its 1875 premiere.

“ ‘Carmen’ ... was a flop, and there is a good reason. There were hours and hours of scenes of spoken text,” Maazel said.

It only started to win popular devotion when large chunks of text were cut or set to music, he added. Now firmly established as an opera favorite, Bizet’s work, and the book it is based on, have inspired many other artists.

As well as dance and theatrical versions, tens of “Carmen” films have made her story familiar to people who have never seen the opera. Ecker and his team are hoping Carmen’s return to Seville will help turn devotees of the bold, sensual heroine into fans of the art form that made her famous.