When Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” debuted in Paris at the Opéra Comique in 1875 it was cause for scandal.

Critics panned it. Audiences, expecting the family fare typical of the venue, were shocked by its depiction of criminals, lowlifes and a sexually liberated woman. Depressed by its failure, Bizet developed a high fever and suffered two heart attacks. He died shortly after the opera’s 33rd performance unaware of how successful his masterpiece would eventually become.

Today, it’s a staple of the operatic canon. Three of its songs, “Habanera,” “Seguidilla” and the “Toreador Song,” are still so prevalent in pop culture that even people who have never attended the opera can probably recognize them.

“It’s the gateway opera,” says Adam Turner, Virginia Opera’s artistic director, of “Carmen’s” enduring popularity. “For anyone who’s never seen an opera, this is the one. It might be in the top five, maybe in the top three, of all-time greatest hits. Full of all the quintessential elements that you would associate with opera in your head.”

On Nov. 20, Virginia Opera’s production hits the stage at the Dominion Energy Center. Set in Seville, Spain, “Carmen” tells the story of a rebellious young woman who works in a cigarette factory. With multiple suitors vying for her attention, Carmen guilts and woos men to get what she desires. The jealousy she inspires has tragic consequences by the time the curtain falls.

Though this production is set in 1820s Spain, the conventional time period of the work, director Kyle Lang shies away from using the word “traditional” to describe how the opera is staged. To Lang, the word suggests older, staid ways of staging the opera: “park and bark” performances where singers stand statically while delivering their arias.

“It was just snapshots of images,” he says of that style. “I’m not traditional in the sense of dramaturgy. I interpret the work in more of a real-life, cinematic way.”

Lang says that Bizet’s score is timeless.

“Every moment of the music is so planned out and so thoughtful and so artistic,” he says. “The music is wonderful. The story is so well detailed and thorough, just from an architectural point of view. It constantly ebbs and flows. It builds the intensity, then stops for a breath, then moves back in.”

With this production, mezzo-soprano Lisa Marie Rogali makes her debut as Carmen.

“She is so natural for the role,” Lang says. “She’s beautiful, she has a gorgeous voice, but she’s a very instinctual actor as well. She’s just fantastic. This is going to be the first of many, many Carmens for her.”

For her part, Rogali is thrilled to tackle Carmen.

“She’s such an iconic role,” Rogali says. “I’m having a lot of fun dissecting the character for the first time. She’s so much more than this femme fatale character that people think of her. It’s so easy to boil her down to an uninteresting character who’s just a seductress or something like that.”

She adds that the appeal of “Carmen” will be evident to all.

“It’s a show that’s full of drama and energy and spectacle,” Rogali says. “This opera is a very human opera. It’s very relatable. That’s why we sing, because we feel human emotions, and I think that this show can be very relatable to people. It’s about a toxic relationship, and I think people can see themselves in one of the characters onstage.”

Playing opposite Rogali is tenor Zach Borichevsky as Don José, a corporal for the Spanish Dragoons who falls for Carmen. Turner says the performers are excellent fits for their roles.

“They’re both stage animals and have such wonderful chemistry. Zach Borichevsky is a wonderful tenor whose career I’ve been following for a long, long time,” says Turner, who first worked with him during a guest conducting spot with another opera company. “I was just overwhelmed by his stage presence, his vocal power, and the ease and the beauty with which he sings.”

Since the pandemic, Turner says Virginia Opera has seen a generational shift in its audiences, many of whom have been drawn by more contemporary offerings like “Sanctuary Road” and “Fellow Travelers.” Restaging “Carmen” for the first time in a decade is partially an effort to introduce new operagoers to the masterwork.

“It’s one of the greatest operas of all time,” Turner says. “You don’t want to wait another 10 years to see this iconic opera come back to the stages. Don’t miss this opportunity to see this wonderful opera.”

Virginia Opera’s “Carmen” plays Nov. 22 and 24 at the Dominion Energy Center, 600 E. Grace St. For more information visit vaopera.org or call (866) 673-7282.