May 21, 2026
Athens, GR 14 C
Expand search form
Blog

Carmen Jones, RIP

Carmen Jones, RIP

In my very early teens, I sneaked into an over-16s ‘A’ film of an all-black casting of Bizet’s opera Carmen.

Never having seen Carmen in an opera house, I was overwhelmed and not a little confused by the sexual energies that swirled through Carmen Jones and I still call it to mind when watching yet another live Carmen in the opera house.

The star of Otto Preminger’s film – and the only one who sang her part rather than having it dubbed, was Olga James. She just died, aged 95. Olga never got offered another film role.

I got caught and banned from that cinema.

The post Carmen Jones, RIP appeared first on Slippedisc.

Previous Article

Paris mourns opera chorusmaster, 99

Next Article

Baltimore is mired in further misery

You might be interested in …

Muti’s daughter rising

Muti’s daughter rising

Stefana Atlas at Arabella Arts has taken on general management for the stage director Chiara Muti, daughter of the Italian conductor. Chiara was previously on the books of the secretive Swiss firm, Ariosi. Chiara, who […]

Second maestro scratches Tanglewood

Second maestro scratches Tanglewood

The loss of Esa-Pekka Salonen early in the festival was a serious blow. Now Zubin Mehta has pulled out. He has ‘personal reasons’ for not conducting Beethoven’s 9th symphony. Here’s the official notice: Regrettably, guest […]