One can't get away from Carmen. The happy combination of unforgettable tunes, the exotic ambience, and a psychologically plausible plot (by no means a sine qua non in the genre) have ensured that Georges Bizet's masterpiece is among the top three most performed operas worldwide nowadays. Even by these standards, however, Sydney's recent Carmen fixation is noteworthy. In the last four years, there have been no fewer than three separate stagings by Opera Australia: Gale Edwards's flashy harbour-side production in 2013, the return of Francesca Zambello's version in the Opera House in 2014 , and now John Bell's brand new take on the story. With Edwards's staging returning in 2017, the national company seems no more able to avoid Carmen than Don José can resist Carmen herself.