Photo Gallery for Alice as Carmen

(Alice, commenting on her double European debut, taking over performances of Carmen for an ailing Elena Obratsova with Josè Carreras,
then her official debut as Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri, with Ruggero Raimondi, ten days later.)

"Production week we got on the actual set, and the rake was considerably steeper than the one we rehearsal on, and now being outdoors, every night at exactly 10:30, the dew would hit the stage and sure enough, we'd start to slide down it. Now if this had been comedy, the effect would have been hilarious. It was so precise you could set your watch by it. We tried anti-skid stuff, the crew sprayed the rake, I tried bracing myself in various ways, but evening dew and gravity prevailed. Opening night off came the shoes. This is the only Carmen I ever met who lived her entire life barefoot: in the winter, in the mountains, even in the bull ring--now that's what I call moxy."