© Anthony Kearns, March 17, 2002-2010, All Rights Reserved, All Copyright Laws Apply...lynnco.lc
The French opera Carmen, one of the most popular and most produced operas in the world, had a slow beginning. First performed in Paris in the Spring of 1875, it moved away from the more stagnant and traditional French opéra-comique to that of the serious, sophisticated, and intensely tragic. Carmen is sexy, sensuous, and sinful, and Bizet was never to know how popular it became! Dying tragically himself at the young age of 37 just three months after Camen’s ignominious opening, he knew only of its first denunciation by the Paris opera critics and audiences. The first run of this controversial opera, considered grossly immoral by the population of the day, managed only 48 performances to which Paris’s Opéra-Comique couldn’t even give away tickets.
That same year, a mere four months after Bizet’s death, it was staged again in Vienna to critical acclaim, setting the opera on its path to worldwide popularity and universal esteem, eventually earning the number FOUR spot on Opera America’s top 20 most-performed operas.
Bizet should perhaps be credited with the beginning of Verismo as an opera style, having predated by 15 years the Italian movement toward such realism, beginning in 1890 with Mascagni’s Cavalleria.
* The characterization of Don José illustrates the complete destruction of a fine young soldier who has always been honorable and obedient. He is engaged to the lovely Micaëla who is from his own village. He finds himself tempted by the beauty and willfulness of Carmen, a gypsy so unlike any of the girls he has known in his village. Once he falls under her spell, his downfall is irrevocable and his descent into murder and despair, inevitable. The flower song, one of the most famous pieces in an opera full of melody and passion, is a wonderful example of Bizet’s ability to combine sweetness and drama within the one composition. In it, José sings of his love and longing for Carmen; yet he is ashamed and tormented by the force of his passion for her, knowing the dangers that lie in his path should he pursue her. The aria ends with the desperate declaration of his love for her, which unfortunately for him is ultimately unrequited.
CARMEN
An opera in four acts, by Georges Bizet
Libretto: Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
Based on a novel of the same name by Prosper Mérimée.
(Article written by the webmaster and Patrick Healy for exclusive use within
The Anthony Kearns Official Website....11.17.2009)
"Anthony Kearns proved a top-notch Don José,
rising to each decisive moment with quality to spare.."
Carmen: An Illustrated Synopsis including Night Three of ~
From a poster c. 1896
Carmen sees Don José arrive and is smitten by the dashing young soldier, throwing a flower at his feet as she returns to the factory. Turmoil suddenly erupts: Carmen has assaulted a fellow cigarette girl and José is ordered to arrest her! The sultry and saucy Carmen seduces José; he lets her escape and is himself arrested and imprisoned.
ACT II:
After a month, José is released. Carmen is at a local inn frequented by smugglers, where she awaits her lover, Don José. The Toreador Escamillo enters and is love-struck at the site of Carmen. When José arrives, the bar empties of all but the lovers. As Carmen dances for him, José reveals the flower she had thrown at his feet and which he has kept with him during his imprisonment. José pledges his love as his captain arrives to order him away. José refuses and swords are drawn, tho’ no blood is shed. As a result of his disobedience of a direct order, José is disgraced and must now join the smugglers band.
ACT III:
The smugglers are found in the outskirts of town where the shameless Carmen has grown bored with José. She has fallen in love with the Toreador, who claims to be her lover. José is approached by his ex- fiancée Micaëla: he must leave, for his mother is dying. But he warns Carmen: I will return!
ACT IV:
The bull-fighting ring in Seville hosts a parade at the end of which comes the Toreador Escamillo with Carmen! Don José finds her there. Pledging his love, he pleads with her. She mocks him, tossing his ring to the dirt. José, his jealousy blinding him, stabs the gypsy woman in the heart ~ at the very moment of Escamillo’s bullfighting victory, she dies.
FINIS
It is interesting to note that through the music of Bizet, the vocal styles written for and sung by the Tenor Don José stunningly mirror the descent of the honorable corporal down to the madness of a murderer. From his first lyrical piece sung with Micaëla, until the dramatic torment expressing obsession and defeat as he confesses his guilt, it is all interpreted by the Tenor who must expertly sing Don José to illustrate to the audience his descent to the depths of desperation.
Synopsis
ACT I:
The Tragic French Opera: Carmen opens outside a cigarette factory in Seville [Spain]. Micaëla is searching for her fiancé, the army corporal Don José. Exasperated by the flirting soldiers, Micaëla flees before José arrives. The cigarette girls exit the factory for lunch led by the provocative gypsy Carmen, who relishes the flirting aggressiveness of the soldiers.
Anthony will sing the beautiful “Flower Song,” a tenor aria:
La Fleur Que Tu M’avais Jetée
Setting: a Tavern near Seville
The flower that you threw to me
Remained with me while I was in prison.
Withered and dried, the flower
Always maintained its sweet scent.
And for hours,
My eyes, with eyelids closed,
I became intoxicated by this smell
And in the night I saw you!
I began to curse you,
I detested you, to saying to myself:
Why is it necessary for fate
To put herself there in my path?
Then I accused myself of blasphemy
And I felt only within myself
I felt but one desire
A single desire, a single hope
To see you again, oh Carmen,
To see you again!
For you had only to appear
Only to throw your glance at me
In order to take a hold of all my being
Oh my Carmen!
And I was owned by you.
Carmen, I love you!
The characters in Carmen
Carmen, (mezzo soprano)
Don José, (tenor)
Toreador Escamillo (bass-baritone)
Don José's fiancée Micaëla (soprano)
Zuniga, Captain of the Dragoons (bass)
Officer Morales (baritone)
Frasquita a gypsy friend of Carmen's (soprano)
Mercedes a gypsy friend of Carmen's (mezzo soprano)
El Dancaïro, a smuggler (baritone)
El Remendado, a smuggler (tenor)
With deepest thanks to Patrick Healy for his
contributions to this article's publication. The marked paragraph [ * ] was written in its entirety by Patrick, and his editing/proofing of the rest of the article added to its credibility. His assistance is sincerely appreciated.
.....Webmaster
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published photo from Carmen
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