Carmen
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| Operas by Georges Bizet |
|---|
Les pêcheurs de perles (1863) |
Carmen is a French opera by Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Meilhac and Halévy, based on the story of the same title by Prosper Mérimée.
The opera premiered at the Opéra Comique of Paris on March 3, 1875. For a year after its premiere, it was considered a failure, denounced by critics as "immoral" and "superficial".
The story is set in Seville, Spain, circa 1830, and concerns the eponymous Carmen, a beautiful Gypsy with a fiery temper. Free with her love, she woos the corporal Don José, an inexperienced soldier. Their relationship leads to his rejection of his former love, mutiny against his superior, turn to a criminal life, and ultimately, out of jealousy, murder of Carmen. Although he is briefly happy with Carmen, he falls into madness when she turns from him to the bullfighter Escamillo.
Several well-known pieces from this opera have taken on a life separate to the work: the Prélude (overture), the Toréador Song, and the Habanera.
Today, it is one of the world's most popular operas[1] and a staple of the standard operatic repertoire. Carmen appears as number four on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America.[2]
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[edit] History
Camille du Locle, the artistic director of the Opéra-Comique commissioned Bizet to write an opera based on Mérimée's novel in early 1873 to be premiered at the end of the year. However, difficulty in finding a leading lady caused rehearsals not to begin until August 1874. Bizet bought a house at Bougival on the Seine, where he finished the piano score in the summer of 1874, and took a further two months to complete a full orchestration.[3]
The difficulty in casting the title role arose from the scandal that erupted when the libretto was published. The artistic community almost universally condemned the story, denouncing it as "immoral". The scandal led at least one famous (unnamed) singer to refuse the role. However, the famous mezzo-soprano Galli-Marié accepted it in December without having seen the score.
During rehearsals, du Locle's assistant De Leuven voiced his discontent about the opera's plot, and pressured Bizet and the librettists to alter the tragic ending. De Leuven felt that families would not dare to go to see such a "debauched" opera. The Comique had a reputation as a family-friendly theatre, with many boxes used by parents to interview prospective sons-in-law. The librettists agreed to change the ending, but Bizet refused, which led directly to De Leuven's resignation from the production in early 1874.
Full rehearsals finally began in October, and continued for an unexpected five months. The Comique's orchestra declared the score unplayable, and the cast were having difficulty following Bizet's directions. However, the greatest opposition came from du Locle,[4] who liked Bizet personally, but hated the opera. At this stage, the Comique was in dire financial straits, leading du Locle to believe the opera would topple the ailing company, which had failed to produce a true success since Gounod's Faust.
The librettists, for whom Carmen was merely a sideshow, secretly tried to induce the singers to over-dramatise in order to lessen the impact of the work. However, much to Bizet's delight, the final rehearsals seemed to convince the majority of the company of the genius of the opera.
The first performance took place on March 3, 1875, the same day Bizet was presented with the Légion d'honneur. The four principals were:
- Galli-Marié as Carmen
- Lhérie as Don José
- Jacques Bouhy as Escamillo
- Mlle. Chapay as Micaëla
According to Halévy's diary, the premiere did not go well. Act I was fairly well received and the entr'acte to Act II was applauded. However, with the exception of Micaëla's aria in Act III, the Acts II, III and IV were greeted with deafening silence. The critics were scathing, claiming that the libretto was inappropriate for the Comique. Bizet was also condemned by the musical community for following Wagner in making the orchestra more important than the human voices.[5]
However, a few critics, such as the poet Théodore de Banville, praised the work for its innovation. Banville lauded the librettists for writing characters that were more realistic than those normally acted at the Comique. Nevertheless, the negative reviews caused the opera to only have 48 performances in its first year. Towards the end of its run at the Comique, the management was selling tickets wholesale in a vain attempt to make a profit. Afterwards, the principals, particularly Galli-Marié, became unemployable.
Bizet did not live to see the success of his opera: he died on June 3, just after the thirtieth performance. Before the year was out three of the greatest composers in Europe would be counted among his admirers : Wagner, Brahms and Tchaikovsky. The day before his death he signed a contract with the Viennese Imperial Opera for the production of Carmen.[citation needed]
Over the following century, it became a staple of the standard operatic repertoire. Although the title role was written for a mezzo-soprano, many famous sopranos (including Leontyne Price, who also overcame institutionalized racism along the way) have performed and recorded the role, causing much debate over the best vocal type for the role. In addition to the standard mezzo-sopranos and the select group of sopranos that have essayed the role, contraltos have also portrayed Carmen, though not as often. The singer must not only have a great range, capable of frequently going to the bottom of her voice range, but also exhibit superior dramatic skills in order to portray Carmen's complex character, and beyond all that be an extremely good dancer.
[edit] Dramatic elements
Carmen was extremely innovative in its drama: no longer was French Opera confined to one-dimensional comic characters. The descent of Don José from a faithful lover and soldier to an obsessed lunatic is portrayed through both music and libretto. The music also ensures that Carmen does not become a destructive figure like Elektra or Lulu: she does not chase men; they run after her.[6] Because Bizet shied away from the traditional image of an operatic femme-fatale, Carmen became a difficult character to understand (or portray on stage). She is fatalistic and hedonistic, living entirely in the present moment. Her beauty unintentionally entraps men, who are then led to their downfall by their own misguided ideas of love. Carmen's character is best illustrated in the card-playing scene, in which she accepts the premonition of death as unavoidable. José is ill-suited to Carmen's whims, desiring constancy in the form of fidelity: upon hearing that Carmen danced for the men in Act II, he becomes greatly distressed. The inconstancy of her character is anarchy to José, and being a soldier, he removes it.
Carmen and José have three duets, which represent three stages of their relationship. The first in Act I is the seduction, the second in Act II is the conflict, and the last in Act IV is the tragic resolution. Musically, the duets are not in the style of the traditional French or Italian duets, where two voices become one. They show the incompatibility of Carmen and José, as they almost never sing together.
The supporting characters, Micaëla and Escamillo, are not as developed as the two protagonists, and are used to reflect upon the leads. Micaëla represents José’s naïve past, whereas Escamillo represents Carmen's exciting future. Micaëla is from Gounod's lyric operas, whereas Escamillo is from the traditional opera buffa. Micaëla has a slight aria in Act III which shows her significance in the story is not great: she was created to be Carmen's opposite, but she also represents José's mother. Escamillo has the famous "Toreador Song"—Bizet knew that the song would be popular, but he secretly despised it, saying “They want their trash, and will get it”.
[edit] Musical elements
When asked if he would visit Spain to research his score, Bizet replied "No, that would only confuse me." Bizet worked elements of Spanish music into the score; keeping the music obviously French. Several pieces, especially the Seguidilla and the Gypsy Song make use of the elements of flamenco music. Also, the Act IV entr'acte seems to be influenced by a Spanish song by Manuel García, incorporating elements of gypsy music.[citations needed]
Bizet worked several popular Spanish songs directly into the score. These include El arreglito which became the habanera, and the folk-song Carmen impudently sings when interrogated by Zuniga; both written by Yradier.[7] The habanera was written to replace an aria that Galli-Marié disliked, and Bizet supposedly wrote over ten revisions.[4]
Bizet uses a very slight leitmotif system, preferring to use new material for each scene. There are two motifs associated with Carmen. The first is the Carmen Fate motif, and owes its augmented 2nds to Spanish music. It is ominously heard directly after the Prelude, and prefigures the ending of the opera. It is heard in this form when Carmen chooses José as her lover, at the beginning of the Flower Song, and during the opera’s final moments. It is also heard, in a faster form, at the entrance of Carmen. This theme is more often heard in the strings, and is used when the slower version would stop the flow of the music. It is notably heard during the card playing scene (No.20).
The other theme associated with Carmen represents her influence over José. It is heard after José is chosen as Carmen’s lover, and when Carmen is taken away by the police to José and Zuniga. In a sequence cut from the original edition, placed in the frenzied chorus of women in Act I, the two themes are played contrapuntally.
[edit] Revisions
Bizet’s original design of Carmen had dialogue in place of recitative. After Bizet's death, the musical community felt it would be more appreciated in the form of Grand Opera rather than opéra comique. Bizet’s friend Ernest Guiraud wrote recitatives for the Vienna premiere performance in 1875, that were used up until the 1960s. (Except at the Opéra-Comique, where the dialogue Carmen remained in repertory into the 1950s.) They are today seen as damaging to the work as a whole. The recitatives destroyed Bizet’s careful pacing, and disrupted the process of characterization significantly. The recitatives do seem to be coming back into fashion in large theaters, such as the Metropolitan, where spoken dialogue is difficult to project.
A new edition in 1964 edited by Fritz Oeser claimed to have restored Bizet’s original vision by including material previously cut from the premiere as well as restoring the dialogue. Unfortunately, Oeser did not realise that a great deal was cut by Bizet himself, and subsequently included several sections that were not required. He also made great changes to the stage directions and rewrote some of the libretto. Today, the only adequate score is a vocal score by Bizet himself, published in 1875. There is still no accurate full score, and each production is judged on the skills of the conductor in choosing a score.
Most recordings since the publication of Oeser edition juggle the Opéra-Comique, Oeser and Guiraud versions. Fruhbeck's 1970 version (pure Opéra-Comique) contains a pantomime scene with Moralés and chorus that was cut from the original production but remained in the score.
In 2003, a recording was made by Michel Plasson that features an earlier variant of Carmen's Habanera ("L'amour est un enfant bohème"), as well as the familiar one.
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, March 3, 1875 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Carmen, A Gypsy Girl | mezzo-soprano | Galli-Marié |
| Don José, Corporal of Dragons | tenor | Lhérie |
| Escamillo, Toreador | bass-baritone | Bouhy |
| Micaëla, A Village Maiden | soprano | Mlle. Chapay |
| Zuniga, Captain of Dragoons | bass | M. Dufriche |
| Moralés, Officer | baritone | M. Duvernoy |
| Frasquita, Companion of Carmen | soprano | Mlle. Ducasse |
| Mercedes, Companion of Carmen | soprano | Mlle. Chevalier |
| Lillas Pastia, an inkeeper | spoken | M. Nathan |
| Le Dancaïro, Smuggler | baritone | |
| El Remendado, Smuggler | tenor | |
| A Guide | spoken | |
| Soldiers, young men, cigarette factory girls, Escamillo's supporters, Gypsies, merchants and orange sellers, police, bullfighters, peoples, urchins. |
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[edit] Synopsis
Note: in the Oeser version, Acts III and IV are played as Act III scene i and Act III scene ii respectively
[edit] Act 1
A beautiful square in Seville with a cigarette factory, a guard house, and a bridge. Morales and the soldiers are on guard, very bored ("Sur la place, Chacun passe"). Micaëla appears seeking José, her fiancé, but is accosted by the impudent soldiers who desire her company, causing her to run away. As José approaches with the new guard, he and the soldiers are imitated by the street-children ("Avec la garde montante"). The cigarette girls emerge from the factory, greeted by their men ("La cloche a sonné"). Carmen appears, and all the men ask her when she will love them ("Quand je vous aimerai?"). She replies that she loves the man that does not love her in the famous Habanera ("L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"). When asked to choose a lover, she throws a flower in front of José ("Carmen! sur tes pas, nous nous pressons tous!"). José is temporarily transfixed until Micaëla brings him a letter and kiss from his mother ("Parle-moi de ma mère!"). José longingly thinks of his home. As soon as she leaves, screams are heard from the factory and the women run out, singing chaotically ("Au secours! Au secours!"). Don José and his superior, Zuniga find that Carmen has been fighting with another woman, and slashed her face with a knife. Zuniga attempts to interrogate Carmen who impudently sings a folk song, ignoring him ("Tra la la"). Zuniga instructs José to arrest her, and escort her to the jail. Carmen seduces José with a Seguidilla ("Près des remparts de Séville"), and convinces José to let her escape. José is arrested for letting Carmen escape.
[edit] Act 2
Evening at Lillas Pastia's inn, frequented by smugglers. Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès sing and dance ("Les tringles des sist–res tintaient" Gypsy Song). Zuniga attempts to woo Carmen, but she can only think of José, who has been in jail for a month and is due to be released that day. The Matador Escamillo is greeted with great enthusiasm by the patrons ("Vivat, vivat le Toréro"). He sings the Toreador song ("Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre") and also attempts to woo Carmen. Carmen refuses him as well. The smugglers Dancaïro and Remendado discuss plans with Carmen and her gypsy friends ("Nous avons en tête une affaire" – Quintet). Carmen refuses to accompany them, for she only can think of José. José arrives singing a folk song (Halte là!), and he and Carmen are left alone. Carmen vexes him with stories of her dancing. She then dances for him alone ("Je vais danser en votre honneur...Lalala"), but is interrupted by the trumpets calling the soldiers to the barracks. Carmen's temper flares when José begins to leave, causing him to pledge his devotion to her in the Flower Song ("La fleur que tu m'avais jetée"). Carmen asks him to join the smugglers if he really loves her ("Non, tu ne m'aime pas"). He refuses and begins to leave when he is surprised by Zuniga. He draws his sword upon his superior officer, but the Gypsies disarm both of them and take away Zuniga ("Mon cher monsieur"). José is forced to flee with Carmen ("La bas dans le montagne").
[edit] Act 3
A rocky gorge, where the smugglers ply their trade. José arrives with the smugglers ("Écoute, écoute, compagnon"), but Carmen loves him no longer, realizing that he is not her match. She now turns to Escamillo. Carmen, Frasquita and Mercedes read the cards ("Mêlons! Coupons!"). Frasquita and Mercedes foresee love and romance, wealth and luxury in their cards; but Carmen's cards foretell death for her and José ("En vain pour éviter les réponses amères"). The smugglers plan their actions ("Quant au douanier, c'est notre affaire"). Micaëla arrives with a guide seeking José ("Je dis, que rien ne m'épouvante"), and hides in the rocks when she hears a gunshot. Escamillo arrives and tells José that he is infatuated with Carmen and tells José the story of her affair with a soldier, not knowing that José is the soldier. A fight between José and Escamillo over Carmen is narrowly averted by the smugglers ("Holà, holà José"). Escamillo leaves, but invites Carmen and the smugglers to the bullfights. Micaëla emerges and tells José that his mother wishes to see him. At first he refuses to go ("Non, je ne partirai pas!"), until Micaëla tells him that his mother is dying. Vowing that he will return to Carmen, he leaves. As he is leaving, Escamillo is heard singing in the distance. Carmen rushes to the sound of his voice, but José bars her way.
[edit] Act 4
A square before the arena at Seville. The general populace prepare for the bull fight ("A deux cuartos!") (occasionally played as a ballet with a different text: "Dansez, dansez") and they see the cuadrilla arrive ("Les voici! voici la quadrille"). Carmen and Escamillo are greeted by the crowds and celebrate love and victory, Carmen adding that she had never loved one so much ("Si tu m'aimes, Carmen"). Frasquita warns Carmen that José is in the crowd ("Carmen! Prends garde!), and that he intends to kill her, but Carmen says she will speak to him. Before she can enter the arena she is confronted by the pale and despairing José ("C'est toi! C'est moi!"). For the last time, half-crazed he demands her love and fidelity, even after she repeatedly explains that she loves him no longer. When she scornfully throws back the ring that he gave to her ("Cette bague, autrefois"), he stabs her to the heart ("Eh bien, damnée") and she dies at the moment that Escamillo triumphs in the arena. The spectators exit the arena and José, completely broken, confesses his action to all, exclaiming: "Ah! Carmen! ma Carmen adorée!".
[edit] Selected recordings
Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company; "ASIN" is amazon.com product reference number.
[edit] Adaptations
[edit] Fantasies
A number of classical composers have used themes from Carmen as the basis for works of their own.
Some of these, such as Pablo de Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy (1883) for violin and orchestra, Franz Waxman's Carmen Fantasie (1946) for violin and orchestra and Vladimir Horowitz's Variations on a theme from Carmen for solo piano are virtuoso showpieces in the tradition of fantasias on operatic themes.
Ferruccio Busoni wrote a Sonatina (No.6) for piano named Fantasia da camera super Carmen (1920), which uses themes from the opera. There are also two suites of music drawn directly from Bizet's opera, often recorded and performed in orchestral concerts.
[edit] Film
In 1915, Cecil B. DeMille directed a 59-minute silent film version of the opera.
In 1943 , in the United States, it was adapted by Oscar Hammerstein II into an African-American setting as Carmen Jones, which was a success firstly as a stage production and in 1954 as a feature film.
In 1960, it was adapted into the Hong Kong film, The Wild, Wild Rose.
In 1967, the conductor Herbert von Karajan directed a Technicolor film of the opera.
In 1983, Carlos Saura made a dance film inspired by the opera, with flamenco dances choreographed by Antonio Gades, in which the modern dancers re-enact in their personal lives the tragic love affair up to its lethal end.
In 1984, a film version was produced. This motion picture stars Julia Migenes as Carmen and Plácido Domingo as Don José, with Lorin Maazel conducting the Orchestre National de France. The powerful cast and traditional direction made it popular with audiences. It was the first film version to use Bizet's spoken dialogues in place of the recitatives. The entire soundtrack was released on CD.
MTV also made a version, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring Beyoncé Knowles as Carmen, in 2001.
A recent adaptation was U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (2005), set in Khayelitsha, South Africa; and sung in Xhosa. The film received the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Another African adaptation Karmen Gei (2001), set in Dakar, Senegal was sung in French and Wolof.
[edit] Other
- Rodion Shchedrin wrote a Carmen ballet (1967) directly based on the opera.
- Choreographer Matthew Bourne has created an updated version of Carmen, called Matthew Bourne's The Car Man.
- Eric V. Cruz of the Philippines created Carmen, a full-length ballet based on the original story and music of Carmen. The choreography now belongs to the repertoire of Ballet Manila headed by Lisa Macuja-Elizalde.
- Robert Sund choreographed a 45 minute contemporary ballet of Carmen to a score by Miles Davis for Ballet Pacifica in 1997.
- Ramón Oller wrote a Carmen ballet (2007) based on the opera [1]
- The Royal Winnipeg Ballet premiered a new version of Mauricio Wainrot's Carmen, The Passion in January, 2008. [2]
- The Hey Arnold! episode "What's Opera, Arnold?" features a version of Carmen sung by the cartoon's characters.
- The musical version scored by Martin Östergren was played as Kattemusikalen at Katedralskolan in Uppsala, Sweden, in April 2008. Finn Paulsen directed and professor Stefan Parkman conducted.
- Takarazuka Revue had adopted the opera twice: One in the name Passion: Jose and Carmen, starring Asato Shizuki and Mari Hanafusa. The other one is Freedom: Mr. Carmen, which the roles of Jose and Carmen had the genders interchanged (a male Carmen and a female Josie), starring Sakiho Juri and Asuka Tono.
[edit] Media
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The Prelude The Damrosch Orchestra performs the Prelude (including the Toreador Song) in 1903 Entr'acte to Act III Perhaps the most popular of the entr'actes Entr'acte to Act IV Also very popular is the fast-paced, very short Entr'acte that prepares the finale - Problems playing the files? See media help.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Tanner, pg 237
- ^ OPERA America's "The Top 20" list of most-performed operas
- ^ This is still record time to complete such a large orchestration project.
- ^ a b Dean, Bizet, Georges
- ^ For instance, the Gypsy Song (No. 12) relies for effectiveness on strong rhythmic and melodic support from the orchestra, and is essentially unperformable otherwise, while parts of the famous Toréador song later in Act II, cannot be heard clearly over the orchestra, even with a powerful bass singing Escamillo's part, if the conductor is careless.
- ^ Batta, pg 103
- ^ Better known as the composer of another habanera "La Paloma", written about 1860 shortly after a visit to Cuba, which was an extremely popular song in Spain, Latin America, and also the USA
[edit] References
- Winton Dean (1980). "Bizet, Georges", in Sadie, Stanley: The New Grove. Macmillan.
- Elizabeth Forbes (1992). "Carmen", in Sadie, Stanley: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan.
- Michael Tanner (1999). "Words and Music", in Robert Ainsley: The Encyclopedia of Classical Music. Carlton. ISBN 1-85868-628-8.
- Batta, András (2000). Opera: Composers, Works, Performers. Könemann. ISBN 3-8290-3571-3.
- Dibbern, Mary (2000). Carmen: A Performance Guide. Pendragon Press. ISBN 1-57647-032-6.
[edit] External links
- Recordings of Carmen
- Carmen Filmography an online resource documenting film versions of the Carmen story, hosted by AHDS Performing Arts
- Carmen was available at the International Music Score Library Project.
- Full Piano Score with notes
- Carmen, available at Project Gutenberg.
- Carmen and other works by Mérimée in English
- Further Carmen discography
