Bernard Haitink conducts Maria Ewing and Barry McCauley in an interpretation of Bizet's Carmen.

Maria Ewing's electric portrayal of the gypsy Carmen is one of the finest in recent memory. Her dark alluring looks and feline grace are exactly suited to playing the hot-blooded Spanish temptress who charms men with her sensuous wild spirit. Peter Hall's production, filmed in 1985, reveals Bizet's opera as a torid drama of passion, blood and squalor, with sets by John Bury that capture the earthy warmth of Spain in an unglamorised view of the factory girls of Seville. Barry McCauley is a thrilling Don Jose, Micaela is sung by Marie McLaughlin, with Bernard Haitink conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra.