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 Carmen
by Georges Bizet
Libretto Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
based on Prosper Mérimée’s novel
Premiered: Opéra-Comique, Paris, March 1875
April 7, 8, 14, 15, 8:00 p.m.
With Opera Insights at 7:00 p.m.
Guest Conductor: Mark Gibson
Guest Stage Director: Jonathon Field
Designer: Robert O'Hearn |
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PROGRAM NOTES
About the Opera by Kristen Strandberg
Upon hearing of Bizet’s proposal to write an opera based on Prosper Mérimée’s novella Carmen, a director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris reacted with the following outburst: “Carmen! The Carmen of Mérimée? Wasn’t she murdered by her lover? And the underworld of thieves, gypsies, cigarette girls-at the Opéra-Comique . . .” He went on to state that at such a performance, a fight would surely break out. The production of Carmen was indeed a risky venture for the venerable Opéra-Comique in 1875. In spite of his training at the Paris Conservatoire and the accomplishment of winning the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857, Bizet was not yet a well-established composer. Unfortunately, due to the initially negative reception of Carmen, followed by his untimely death at the age of 36 only three months after the opera’s première, Bizet never lived to see the immense success of Carmen that followed a few years later.
Bizet was first approached to write an opera for the Opéra-Comique in 1872. In Paris, the Opéra-Comique historically catered to a bourgeoise audience, as opposed to the more elitist Opéra. In recent years, however, the Opéra-Comique had become a venue that attracted an even more conservative crowd. This was an audience that was accustomed to sentimentality, moral plots, happy endings, and elements of the supernatural and exotic. In this context, the story of Carmen both adhered to and departed from these expectations. Many deemed it to be too “realistic,” with its amoral characters, tragic ending, and absence of fantasy. However, the opera’s depictions of exoticism fit in very well with the recent tendencies of the Opéra-Comique.
The depiction of what were seen as “exotic” locales was a popular means of artistic expression in France throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. Literary and artistic figures such as Hugo and Ingres, along with composers including Debussy and Saint-Saëns, often looked to non-Western or Spanish culture for artistic inspiration. In the case of Bizet’s Carmen, this exoticism manifests itself in its Spanish setting in Seville, as well as in the depiction of gypsies such as Carmen herself. Musically speaking, Bizet’s use of Spanish idioms, in songs such as the Habañera in Act 1 and the Toreador Song that recurs throughout the opera help, to evoke the exotic Spanish locale. This is accomplished through dance rhythms, chromatic melodies, and the occasional use of instruments such as castanets. Carmen’s Gypsy Song in Act 2 exemplifies a similar evocation of exoticism.
But along with her display of exotic intrigue, Carmen also exemplifies the stock character of a bold, reckless, dangerous female. These character traits also fit in with the notion of exoticism, as gypsies were often described in similar terms in French society. Regardless of the further implications of exoticism, depictions of such careless, manipulative female figures regularly appeared in nineteenth-century literature. The character of Carmen, however, proved to be a little too risqué for the Opéra-Comique, as the opera was not initially well-received. Contrary to the director’s predictions, no fights broke out during the première of Carmen at the Opéra-Comique, but the audience was not as enthusiastic as the opera’s creators had anticipated. The press was even less receptive to both the music and the plot. While, perhaps not surprisingly, they found the depiction of reckless prostitutes and sleazy venues to be in poor taste, they also criticized Bizet’s supposed Wagnerian influence. Several months after the 1875 première in Paris (and, unfortunately, after Bizet’s death), the opera was performed in Vienna and received a much more positive response. Carmen soon became a part of the operatic canon and contains what are still some of the most recognizable melodies in the entire operatic repertoire. |
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