We close our season with the most celebrated tale of passion, jealousy, and fatal attraction, set against the sultry backdrop of Seville: Bizet’s Carmen. In this high-stakes collision of autonomy and obsession, the bold, free-spirited Carmen refuses to be possessed, drawing the soldier Don Jose into a dangerous world of defiance that ends in a seismic reckoning of the heart. From the defiant “Habanera” to the triumphant “Toreador Song,” this production pulses with an intensity and sensuality that persists until the final, bitter moments. Alex Boyer, fresh from his Met debut, returns to the California Theatre stage as the obsessed Don José. This beloved Opera San José production, which has introduced the transformative force of opera to thousands, remains an essential experience for a city that values radical independence and the unfiltered spirit.