At the end of a new production of the Bizet opera at the Maggio Musicale theater in Florence, instead of being knifed by Don José, Carmen steals his gun and shoots him. By German standards of Regieoper this is very minor, but “afterwards theatrical purists, media pundits and conservative politicians derided the change as an example of political correctness going too far. … With a general election due in Italy in early March, this debate quickly moved to the political stage.”