The I-Hate-Opera-Guide to Carmen - by Philip Eisenbeiss

The I-Hate-Opera-Guide

By

Philip Eisenbeiss

- for Opera Hong Kong, March 2018 What’s to hate about Carmen? Nothing. It’s just too popular to hate.

- It’s one of the three most frequently performed operas - It features two of the world’s best-known arias, the Habanera and the Toreador Song - It’s about love, passion, jealousy and liberty - It features lustful factory girls, lovelorn soldiers, tarot-reading gypsies, a macho matador and even an innocent country girl - At two and a half hours, you won’t even have a chance to fall asleep When French composer Georges Bizet premièred this opera in 1875, the Parisian audiences were used to comfortable stories of royalty, loyalty, love and piety. But then Carmen came along, featuring a sexy Spanish temptress, showing the life of the female working class, glorifying the world of the lawless gypsies, and acting out a crime of passion right in front of the audience. It was a shocker!

Today, Carmen thrills audiences of all ages. Opera Hong Kong’s Carmen, in cooperation with Le French May, will boast a new production directed by Jean-Romain Vesperini and successful young singers, mostly from France. *** You’ll know lots of the music from Carmen already. But take the time to learn it in under 30 minutes, so you will enjoy the live performance even more: The opera opens with a traditionally structured overture which introduces most of the famous tunes you will hear throughout the opera.

The setting is Seville in the south of Spain (but all the singing is in French), where a group of soldiers are loitering in front of the cigarette factory, waiting to check out the attractive factory girls as they come out for their break. The star among the workers is Carmen, who teases the men, singing that she is the one making the choices, rather than the men. A modern woman!

Her famous song, the Habanera, is an operatic chart-topper. Check out Latvian super-star Elina Garanca. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2snTkaD64U. Take note that Carmen is a mezzo-soprano, lower than a soprano, but many sopranos showcase this aria in concerts as well, the most famous being Maria Callas, who frequently sang this at recitals but never performed the full role on stage.

Carmen chooses to pursue the one man who shows no interest, the soldier Don José, who is dreaming of the village girl Micaëla who he is due to marry. Carmen throws a flower at him as a sign of her interest.

The innocent village girl Micaëla shows up and sings of her home. By now, Carmen has caused a riot at the factory and injured a colleague. The soldiers arrest her and Don José is instructed to guard her. Carmen quickly beguiles Don José, convincing him to let her escape, which causes the soldier untold problems that will unfold in the next three acts. *** In Act Two, set in a local tavern, Carmen and her gypsy friends are entertaining the soldiers and locals, when a handsome and boisterous man shows up, the Torero Escamillo. He sings his famous Toreador song, toasting the locals and describing his life of adventure and danger.

Watch the late Russian über-baritone Dimitri Hvorostovsky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-snRz5L3Ups. A singer of such charisma needs no sets or costumes. You will definitely recognize this song.

Carmen is still smitten by Don José, and rather than follow her smuggling gypsy friends

into the mountains, she waits for her new romantic interest who soon is recalled by a bugle to the barracks. She challenges him for proof of his love for her. Don José pulls out the by now very dry flower that Carmen had thrown at him and sings one of the all-time most romantic arias.

Watch Jonas Kaufmann sing this treacherous aria, with a scary diminishing high note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1dafrlt10w Don José is tempted to defy the orders to return to his barracks, gets into a fight with a lieutenant, and now has no choice but to desert the army and follow Carmen and the smugglers. *** Act Three depicts the gypsies and smugglers in the mountains. Don José has straddled along out of love for Carmen. The gypsies read tarot cards for fun, but Carmen always pulls the same card: death. But she is now also bored of the stiff soldier Don José and taunts him to go back to Mommy and marry his sweetheart. Indeed, Micaëla soon shows up.

Watch Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu sing this delicate aria, representing goodness, loyalty and true, clean love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Dnu5NaFmM. Escamillo arrives and quickly clashes with Don José when the Toreador announces his love for Carmen and invites everyone to his next bullfight. *** Act Four, the last act, takes place in front of the bullfighting ring. Bizet cleverly juxtaposes the deathly bullfight in the ring and the roaring spectators, with the dramatic action taking place outside the ring, where Don José confronts Carmen. He refuses to let her enter the ring to watch Escamillo, trying desperately to win her back. Refusing to be tied down by the passion-crazed soldier, Carmen dismisses Don José who pulls a knife and stabs her as she tries to force her way past him. The crowd emerges and a distraught Don José gives himself up.

The finale is one of the most chilling pieces of opera ever written, and even without any preparation, your hair should stand on end. My absolute favorite recording of the finale is also the oddest. Watch Italian legendary tenor Mario Del Monaco performing live at the Bolshoi in 1959. He sings his part in Italian. His Carmen sings in Russian. With artists of such dramatic force, the language just ceases to matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkTLoAsOS7c&t=1s. They don’t make singers like this anymore!

If you want to prepare more fully, watch the complete opera with full subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46JIeRbVlRA in a wonderful performance from 1978 featuring a youthful Placido Domingo and the sultry Russian powerhouse Elena Obraztsova. It is a Franco Zeffirelli production, which means it is super traditional.

Don't miss Opera Hong Kong's production on the occasion of Le French May on May 16 to 20. Tickets are on sale now on: https://ticket.urbtix.hk/internet/en_US/eventDetail/35012