Amor Matador takes the arena as its point of departure: the last masculine stronghold, a place where aggression is still considered a virtue, courage a condition for survival, and anger seemingly the only acceptable emotion. Doubt equals weakness, tenderness a liability. Face to face with a raging beast and dancing with death, one can only survive through violence. Yet it is precisely there that space emerges for another story.

In this groundbreaking opera, the perspective shifts radically. The heroic matador no longer takes center stage; instead, Carmen and Maria – José’s lover and mother – become the focus. While he clings to revenge and the endless repetition of violence, they refuse to accept fate. They search for a world in which blood no longer has to be shed to prove strength, but continues to flow in order to live.

Raw, poetic, and disruptive
Silbersee and Het Muziek (formerly Asko|Schönberg) present a contemporary reinterpretation of Carmen – a story of love, revenge, and the cost of violence. Actress Ariane Schluter lends her voice to Maria: clear, timeless, and multilingual. Burkinabe multi-instrumentalist Kaito Winse embodies Carmen, moving fluidly between voice and body. And matador José resounds in the arias of Argentine tenor Jonatan Alvarado.

A new sonic world
American composer and drummer Brendan Faegre deconstructs Bizet’s classic, reassembling the material into a fresh soundscape featuring acoustic guitar, electric harp, and the ominous roar of a bull. Director Aïda Gabriëls merges music theatre, opera, dance, and visual art into a ritual where the arena exists only as an echo.

“Language, rhythm, breath, and sound collide around the question of what happens when someone refuses to fight. When softness claims the stage.” – Aïda Gabriëls, director

Amor Matador is a co-production with Silbersee.