Based on the novel by Prosper Merimee.

The town of Verona nestles among the slopes of the Lessini Mountains and the shores of Lake Garda. Each year people come to the town in their thousands to gaze in wonder at the home of the most famous love story 'Romeo and Juliet', to visit the church of S. Tomaso Cantuariense, where Mozart gave concerts at the tender age of eight, and not least to experience in the amphitheatre of Verona - also known as the 'arena' - the art of the Italian bel acnto and the stars of the international opera scene. Here gladiators used to fight for honour and for their lives, officers fought their duels, and many a bull fight took place in this arena. The amphitheatre, which is the second largest of its kind after the Colosseum in rome, has been a spledid stage for opera festicals since 1913, as the size of the arena is the ideal venue for all kinds of events and spectacles, the two axes measuring almost 74 and 45 meters respectively. On the 45 steps of the 'cavea', which are each 45 centimetres high, there is room for tens of thousand of spectators. It was time for another Festival in 2004. On a warm summer's evening thousands of spectators had assembled to see the passionate tale of the self-willed gypsy Carmen, the scene in front of the imposing backdrop of a Roman amphitheatre lit by the flickering flames of candles. No less a person thant he renowned film director Franco Zeffirelli, well-versed in historical subjects, had been won over to do produce George bizet's most famous opera, and indeed the result was a gloriously colourful feast for the eyes that was true to its source....(from insert).

DVD.