By Margot Thomas

YOU DON’T  have to be a highbrow music aficionado  to welcome the news that the next presentation of the Panama Opera Foundation will be scenes from Bizet’s Carmen, along with other melodies with a“gypsy”  flavor from Opera’s and Operetta’s

With its tale of seduction passion, jealousy and murder Carmen is one of the world’s most frequently performed operas and the "Toreador song" from act 2 is among the best known of all operatic arias. The music of Carmen has been widely acclaimed for its brilliance of melody, harmony, atmosphere and orchestration, and for the skill with which Bizet musically represented the emotions and suffering of his characters.

With visiting performerslike the Czech tenor Jakub Puskina, Mexican soprano  Patricia Perez, and  the stars of Opera Panama bringing  all that emotion to  the stage of  the Teatro Nacional on Wednesday, July 16, that should be enough to  speed up the pulse  of even those who claim not to like opera.

Martin Yazdzik, the New York music director, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Polyphonic Choir of Panama complete the promise of an enjoyable evening out, and I guarantee that you will still be humming some of the arias the next day.

Tickets are on sale at Ticket Plus