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SEASON
UPCOMING EVENTS
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Teacher's Carmen Guide
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By Bonnie Corman, Ph.D. October
2001 Opera Santa Barbara¹s Education Program for Bizet¹s
Carmen: Winter 2002
I.
Introduction II.
Carmen: Synopsis III. The Creation of the Opera A. Georges Bizet, the Composer B. Prosper Mérimée C.
Ludovic Halévy & Henri Meilhac IV. Background of the Opera A. Seville B. The Bullfight C. Gypsies D.
Historical Background V.
Study Questions for Carmen Introduction
The study materials for Carmen are designed to enhance your pleasure in the production which Opera Santa Barbara presents. These materials by no means exhaust all of the possible sources which complement this work. Although our own philosophy is that an interdisciplinary approach is especially suitable, we invite teachers and students to adapt the material as they consider appropriate to their curriculum and goals. Bonnie R. Corman PhD Chairperson, Education Committee Opera Santa Barbara Winter 2002 Carmen, who has stabbed
Manuelita, is brought out by Don José. When Zuniga asks who is
to blame, Carmen, with great insolence, sings but will say nothing.
The Captain warns her and she angrily strikes out at the nearest
woman. Zuniga then binds her wrists and places her in Don José¹s
charge. As Zuniga leaves,
Carmen tells Don José that he will bow to her and help her because
he loves her. When he protests, she tells him the flower she gave
him has done its work; he is in her power. When he forbids her
to talk, she sings instead the seductive Seguidilla (Près de ramparts de Séville‹By the ramparts of Seville)
in which she taunts him and tells him of how she will dance and
drink at the inn of Lillas Pastia with the one she loves. In a
sudden fit of passion, Don José asks Carmen if she will love and
be true to him. He frees her wrists and demands her promise of
love. Zuniga appears with
Don José¹s orders in hand. Carmen quietly reveals her plot to
Don José: she will push him and, when he falls, she will escape.
She reminds him of their rendezvous at Lillas Pastia¹s inn, and
as they start to leave, Carmen executes her plan and runs off
laughing. ACT II: A room in Lillas Pastia¹s Inn, two months later Joined by Frasquita and Mercédès, Carmen entertains
the assembled soldiers, dancers, Gypsies, and smugglers with a
Gypsy song (Les tringles des sisters tintaient‹The tinklings
of the systra sound). Zuniga invites Carmen to leave with him.
Zuniga infers that her refusal is because of her relationship
with Don José. Much to her delight, he tells Carmen that the corporal
has just been set free. The crowd outside is heard welcoming the toreador,
Escamillo, and Zuniga invites him for a drink. People crowd around
him as he sings the famous Toreador Song (Votre toast‹Your
toast). The chorus joins him and, as the song ends, Escamillo
approaches Carmen. She warns him that he is wasting his time with
her, and he leaves, followed by the crowd. The smugglers discuss
plans for a raid and in the Quintet, Carmen, Frasquita,
Mercédès, El Dancaïro, and El Remendado tell how a successful
plot must have the cooperation of women (Quand il s¹agit de
tromperie‹When it¹s a case of deception). Frasquita and Mercédès
agree to help them, but Carmen ignores their pleas. She admits
that she is in love and is waiting for the soldier who went to
prison for her. Don José is heard in the distance. Carmen is overjoyed,
and the smugglers suggest she ask him to join them. Don José enters
and swears his love for Carmen. When he admits he is jealous,
she lures him by performing a provocative dance for him alone.
Bugles are heard sounding retreat and Don José tells Carmen he
must obey the call. When Carmen taunts him about his devotion
to duty rather than to her, he takes her flower from his shirt
and sings the Flower Song (La fleur que tu m¹avais jetée‹The
flower which you threw to me). She tells him that if he loves
her, he will leave with her. A knock is heard and Zuniga bursts
into the room. He sees Don José and orders him to leave, but Don
José challenges the Captain, drawing his own sword. Carmen calls
for the gypsies, and Zuniga is disarmed and led away by the smugglers.
Again Carmen asks Don José to join them, and he agrees; after
attacking an officer, he has no other choice. They leave and Micaëla, led by a guide, appears.
She swears to find Don José and sings of her need for strength
and guidance (Je dis que rien ne m¹épouvante‹I said that
nothing would frighten me). As she sees Don José in the distance,
he aims and fires at someone. Escamillo appears, a bullet hole
in his hat, identifies himself to Don José, and tells of his search
for his love, Carmen. Don José soon realizes Escamillo is his
rival and challenges him. They fight with knives, and, as Don
José is about to kill Escamillo, Carmen appears and stops him.
El Dancaïro sends Escamillo away and the toreador invites all
to his next bullfight. When El Remendado discovers Micaëla, who
has been hiding, she pleads with Don José to return home with
her. Carmen sneeringly tells him to go, but he says only death
can part them. However, when Don José is told his mother is dying,
he leaves with Micaëla, warning Carmen that they will meet again. ACT IV: A square in Seville by the bullring Crowds wait in the square to enter the bullring.
The procession of bullfighters appears, and Escamillo enters with
Carmen. They sing of love (Si tu m¹aimes, Carmen‹If you
love me, Carmen). Frasquita and Mercédès appear and warn Carmen
that Don José is in the crowd. She says she is not afraid, and
that she will wait for him. The others enter the bullring and
suddenly Don José and Carmen face one another alone. Don José
again protests his love for her. He asks her to leave with him
and start anew, but she refuses his pleas, even though she knows
he will kill her. She will live and die free. He continues to
plead to no avail. When she says she loves Escamillo, his fury
erupts. Carmen hurls the ring he gave her to the ground and, as
she tries to enter the bullring to meet the victorious Escamillo,
José curses and stabs her. As the crowd cheers the triumph of
Escamillo, José is left sobbing beside Carmen¹s lifeless body. Georges
Bizet Georges
Bizet, the composer of Carmen, was born in Paris on October
25, 1838 and lived on the southern slopes of Montmartre all of
his Paris life. His was a happy home which appeared to have music
at its center. His father, Adolphe, originally a hairdresser and
wig-maker, became a voice teacher who composed on a small scale
but did not seem to have any special abilities. His mother, Aimée,
was a talented pianist and came from a musical family. At
four, Georges learned notes and at the same time he learned letters,
and by age eight, he could sing at sight. As a child, he showed
such an interest in literature that his parents hid books to prevent
him from neglecting his music. (When he practiced the piano, his
mother changed his shirts for him while he was playing so that
he would not lose any time.) He soon mastered all his parents
could teach him. At nine, he applied to the conservatory and was
admitted. The normal age was ten, but he so impressed the officials
that they waived the admission requirement for him. His
academic career was successful, and he was soon recognized by
the composer Charles Gounod, who paid Bizet to arrange many of
his works. The relationship left a lasting mark on Bizet¹s style
and became a very important part of his life. Bizet
developed into a brilliant pianist and he rapidly won praise from
Liszt, Berlioz, and many other musicians. His talent was evident
in some of his early compositions although it took eighty years
before these were performed, and most are as yet unpublished.
In 1855, at age seventeen, he wrote his Symphony in C, but it
was not performed until 1935. Themes appear in that symphony that
were later to recur in Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl
Fishers) and Carmen. He was encouraged to enter the Prix
de Rome at age seventeen. His work was judged the best, but
he was awarded second prize, free tickets to all the lyric theatres
of Paris. It was believed that he was held back because of his
age. In 1856, Offenbach offered a prize for a one-act musical
and thus came Bizet¹s first experience for the public stage. The
title was Le Docteur Miracle. The prize was divided between
Bizet and a senior colleague. This short opera has had a number
of revivals in recent years. In
1857 Bizet shared first place in the Prix de Rome for his
cantata, Clovis et Clotilde. He spent three years in Rome
on the proceeds. They were perhaps the happiest days of his life.
He loved Italy and the mild climate. His health was never good
and he suffered from a chronic throat ulceration as well as rheumatism
that probably resulted from rheumatic fever. Because of this and
a lack of faith, he had a great fear of death which he never understood.
He worked on a great many compositions during this time but few
have survived. Bizet
confessed that he had no feeling for sacred music and consequently
his efforts reflected
that indifference. Bizet actually opposed organized religion but
was never able to find a personal philosophy to replace it. It
was during this period that he began to have doubts about his
work. He did, however, feel his prospects were promising and said,
³I can declare that I am a musician. . . . I am young enough not
to lose the hope of enjoying my successes.² In
1860, Bizet left Rome to return to Paris when news reached him
of his mother¹s serious illness. Her death shortly after his return
was very traumatic for Bizet. He first decided to teach then abandoned
that in favor of becoming a concert pianist. Liszt called him
one of the greatest pianists in Europe but Bizet never went beyond
playing for parties or charity concerts. His
first important opera, Les pêcheurs de perles, was composed
between April and August of 1863. Audience reception was lukewarm
and the critics with exception of Berlioz, were critical: they
accused him of copying Wagner and Verdi. Although Berlioz praised
the scoring and said the opera did Bizet the greatest honor, it
was not a success and after eighteen performances, it vanished
until its revival in 1886. Adolphe
Bizet, the composer¹s father, moved a few miles from Paris and
it was in his home that Georges met the actress Mogador. It is
believed she may have been a model for Carmen and indeed her memoirs
do reveal certain similarities. It was at this time in his life
that Bizet composed two operas, Ivan IV and Nicolas
Flamel; both failed. His next attempt came in 1866 when he
signed a contract for La jolie fille de Perth (The Fair
Maid of Perth). At this time, he announced his plans to marry
Geneviève Halévy, the daughter of the composer Fromantel Halévy.
His joy was brief, however, because her parents disapproved and
made them break the engagement. In
1867, La jolie fille de Perth was produced and was the
only one of Bizet¹s operas given favorable reviews by the press.
1868 found Bizet again in a period of crisis. He attempted several
operas that were never produced. He suffered from severe attacks
of ulcerated throat. The illness may have prompted him to take
another look at his attitude toward religion and ethics, but he
did so with little conviction. In 1869, Bizet finally married
Geneviève. Her mother and aunt both suffered from mental imbalance,
and Geneviève had frequent breakdowns. Their only son inherited
his mother¹s weakness and eventually took his own life. The couple
was caught up in the Siege of Paris during the Year of Terror
(1870-71). In a letter Geneviève wrote, ³We are not yet dying
of hunger. . . . I have not yet eaten cat or dog or rat or mouse,
as is being done in the best society; I shall taste some
donkey for the first time today.² The need to shield and protect
his wife made great demands on Bizet¹s time, energy, and health. L¹Arlésienne
premiered in 1872 and ran for only twenty-one performances, a
failure. Bizet rescored it as a Suite for Orchestra, and it became
a success, recognized as one of his masterpieces and a favorite
with symphony audiences. The opera Carmen was composed
for the Opéra-Comique. After 1870 almost every important
new operatic work was produced for the Opéra-Comique rather
than for the more grand Opéra. The composition of Carmen
met with many obstacles and delays. From the first, Meilhac and
Halévy had reservations about Mérimée¹s story. When the directors
of the Opéra-Comique, Adolphe de Leuvan and Camille du
Locle (who was involved in persuading Verdi to compose Aïda)
were approached with the idea the reaction was: Isn¹t
she killed by her lover? And that background of thieves, gypsies,
cigar-makers!‹At the Opéra-Comique, a family theatre! The
theatre where marriages are arranged! Every night five or six
boxes are taken for that purpose. You will frighten off our audience.
It¹s impossible. Halévy
promised to tone it down, introduce the pure character of Micaëla,
and delay the death scene until the very end. The gypsies would
be ³comic gypsies.² Still de Leuven demurred, ³Death on the stage
of the Opéra-Comique! Such a thing has never been seen!.
Don¹t make her die!² In the end, he resigned in protest. The first
act of Carmen was completed by the summer of 1873. Work
on the opera stopped when Bizet responded to a request by J. B.
Faure, a baritone at the Opéra. Don Rodrique based
on the life of the Spanish hero, El Cid, was the result. Another
illness added to the delay but the score for Carmen was
finally completed in late summer of 1874. Rehearsals lasted five
months and conflicts were numerous. Bizet¹s first choice for the
role of Carmen, Marie Roze, refused the part because she did not
feel suited for the ³scabrous² role. Orchestra and chorus declared
the music impossible. The training of the chorus was particularly
difficult. They had to sing and move at the same time,
unheard of until then. They were accustomed to stand completely
still, with their eyes on the conductor and their ³thoughts elsewhere.²
They almost revolted. Since the chorus plays a very important
role in Carmen, this was indeed a serious problem. Bizet
rewrote the Habanera thirteen times, including the words.
He also changed the words of the Card Aria to emphasize
Carmen¹s rebellious acceptance of her fate. On
March 3, 1875, the first performance took place with Marie-Célestine-Lawrence
Galli-Marié in the title role. In the audience were most of the
important musicians of Paris, including Gounod, Thomas, Delibes,
Offenbach, and Massenet. The public loved the first act, but by
the end their reaction was ³glacial.² They did not understand
what they had seen. The second performance met with enthusiastic
bravos, and later audiences loved it. However, the opening-night
critics had done their work. Most of the reviews were scathing,
much directed at the libretto. Comettant wrote: A
plague on these females vomited from Hell!. . . . It is a delirium
of castanets. . . of provocative hip-swinging, of knife-stabs
gallantly distributed among both sexes; of cigarettes roasted
by the ladies; of St. Vitus dances, smutty rather than sensuous.
. . . The pathological condition of this unfortunate woman. .
. more likely to inspire the solicitude of physicians than to
interest the decent spectators who come to the Opéra-Comique
accompanied by their wives and daughters. . . . .At the Opéra-Comique,
a subsidized theatre, a decent theatre if there ever was one,
Mlle. Carmen should temper her passions. Other
critics found fault with the music: The
orchestra was perpetually babbling and saying interminable things
that were not needed. . . . The music lacks novelty and distinction.
There is no plan, no unity in the style. . . . It is neither dramatic
nor scenic. Much
of this reaction has been blamed on du Locle, who manipulated
the press for his own ends. (He admitted that he hated the music.)
Later reviews were much better but, although Carmen ran
for forty-eight performances, audiences were small. Bizet¹s peers
were more favorable. Delibes, Saint-Saëns, and Massenet all praised
the work. In
the original version of Carmen, spoken dialogue was used
for the main action. After Bizet¹s death, Ernest Guiraud set the
dialogue to music as recitatives and Carmen became a grand
opera. His version became the standard, sometimes even including
his ballet for the last act. The
recent discovery of the conducting score and some of the parts
used in 1875 has led to a reappraisal of the dialogue version.
The noted conductor Sir George Solti says, ³One reason why the
dialogue version is so much more effective than Guiraud¹s is because
of the balance between words and music that Bizet used to such
brilliant dramatic purpose. . . . Guiraud¹s recitatives destroy
that wonderful balance between words and music.² Carmen
opened in Vienna in October; 1875, it was originally planned to
use the recitatives written by Guiraud, but they were not yet
ready. The Viennese public loved the opera. Wagner praised it:
³Here, thank God, at last for a change is someone with ideas in
his head!² Later, he wrote: Yesterday
I heard‹would you believe it?‹Bizet¹s masterpiece for the twentieth
time. . . . This music seems perfect to me. . . . It is rich.
It is precise. It builds, organizes, finishes. . . . With this
work one takes leave of the damp north. . . . In every respect
the climate is changed. Carmen
opened in New York at the Academy of Music on October 23, 1878,
in Italian, with Minnie Hauk in the title role. Marie Roze, who
had earlier declined the role as ³scabrous,² played it to great
acclaim in San Francisco. In spite of the success of Carmen,
its reputation remained.. In an 1888 Australian book, the synopsis
begins: The
moral tone of the piece is low. . . . Carmen is a gypsy girl whose
virtue has been scattered to the winds before the opera opens.
When Carmen appears, soldiers gather around her and pay her compliments
of the worst kind. In
many ways, Carmen introduced the verisimo movement,
in which the seamy side of life is portrayed realistically. Leoncavallo¹s
I Pagliacci is the epitome of this style. For the first
time, the characters in Carmen reacted, not as artificial
stage figures, but as ³normal² people. Furthermore, they did not
repent their misdeeds and promise to mend their ways to provide
a happy ending. Of course, the result was shocking! In
late March of 1875, Bizet suffered from a severe attack of quinsy*.
The criticism of Carmen and his obsession with death seemed
to add to his condition. He left Paris for his home in Bougival.
After bathing in the Seine, he suffered from severe rheumatism
and a high fever and, two days later, had a heart attack. The
doctor said there was no need for concern but the following night
a second attack took his life. It
happened at two a.m. on June 3, his wedding anniversary. At the
Opéra-Comique the curtain had fallen on the thirty-third
performance of Carmen. Galli-Maríe, playing the scene where
Carmen foretells her death in the cards, was so overcome with
unaccountable foreboding that she fainted on leaving the stage. Carmen
was Bizet¹s supreme achievement and arguably the most popular
opera in the world. Yet, ironically he died thinking it a failure. *a
throat ulceration Prosper
Mérimée Prosper
Mérimée, a prolific writer, scholar, and confidant of the French
royal family during the Second Empire, is best known today as
the author of Carmen, the story of the tempestuous Gypsy
and the young Corporal who loves her. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic
Halévy adapted the tale for the libretto of Bizet¹s opera. Prosper
Mérimée, the only child of an unsuccessful painter, was born in
Paris in 1803. A loner, he seemed to have some artistic ability
and was fascinated by adventure stories, especially those about
outlaws and disasters. He was a mediocre student in secondary
school and began to study law half-heartedly. He became interested
in linguistics, learning English, Spanish, and Greek, as well
as classical literature, art history, and archaeology. He immersed
himself in Spanish literature; never interested in practicing
law, he entered the civil service. He
began his literary career in 1825, writing a series of short plays
entitled Le Théâtre de Clara Gazul, using the pseudonym
³Joseph l¹Estrange² and presented it as a translation of a work
of a young Spanish woman. He even posed for a portrait of her
dressed in typical Spanish costume, mantilla and all. This hoax
was a great success. He
continued writing anonymously or with a pseudonym and in 1829,
he published the historical novel Chronique du Règne de Charles
IX, one of the earliest French works to show the influence
of the Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott. After that, having found
his true vocation, he used his own name on his writings which
were noted for their diversity: novels, plays, and poetry at first,
and later, history, archaeology, critical essays, and a voluminous
correspondence with many of the prominent people of his time. Mérimée
visited Spain in 1830, the beginning of a lifelong passion for
that country. It was during that trip that he met the Count and
Countess de Montijo and their two young daughters. The Countess
told Mérimée a story about a Málaga bandit who had killed his
Gypsy mistress and also the story about a cigarette girl who had
been in love with the Countess¹ brother-in-law. Mérimée, passionately
interested in Spain, its history, literature, language, and dialects‹including
the difficult Basque and that of the Romany (Gypsies)‹pursued
studies on these subjects. On
March 8, 1869, the French paper, Le Figaro, announced Mérimée¹s
death, and he read, with amusement, the eulogies published in
several newspapers. Mérimée survived, however, until September
23, 1870. Ludovic
Halévy and Henri Meilhac Henri
Meilhac was born in Paris in 1831 and at first worked as a bookseller.
He was attracted to writing, at first drawing caricatures for
several humorous journals and then pieces for the theatre. For
over twenty years, he collaborated with Halévy on opera-comique
librettos. Their collaboration was easy and friendly. Meilhac
had the freer imagination of the two and was especially good at
comedy, while Halévy was more craftsman like in developing dramatic
situations. Together they created more than seventy-five librettos. Reluctant
at first to take Mérimée¹s Carmen, they never ceased to
try to make it more acceptable. During rehearsals, Meilhac carried
on a running battle with Galli-Marié, who sang the role of Carmen,
trying to get her to tone down her vulgar, unrestrained acting. Seville Long
one of Spain¹s most important cities, beautiful Seville is now
its fourth largest. It stands about fifty-five miles from the
mouth of the Guadalquivir River. Beginning as the Iberian town
of Hispalis, it was seized by the Vandals in the fifth century,
and after the fall of Rome it became the capital of the Visigoths.
The Moors captured the site in 711 and held it until it was freed
by Ferdinand III of Castile in 1248. After the discovery of the
New World, Seville became the headquarters of the Council of
the Indies and was given a monopoly on trade with the new
colonies. The
appearance of the picturesque old quarters is very Moorish and
the climate allows flowers to grow there year round. The painters
Murillo and Valasquez were born in Seville and four very popular
operas (Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di
Figaro, and Carmen)are set there. The
oldest standing building is the Alcázar, started by the Moors
in 1181, and added to over the years. Seville¹s Cathedral is one
of the largest of the world and is the resting place of many of
Spain¹s kings and queens. There is a large monument to Christopher
Columbus, but the true location of his remains is uncertain. The
Old Cigarette Factory, built from 1750-66, the site of the first
act of Carmen, is now part of the University of Seville. The
Bullfight Bullfighting
is a sport like no other. If this is not a tradition which you
think is humane and ceremonious, try to forget for a moment how
you may feel about this ancient pastime and accept the sport as
a test of man against beast. In
Greece bullfighting began in prehistoric times. As early as 2400
BC at Knossos on Crete, women danced with bulls, leaping over
their backs. Gladiators in the time of Julius Caesar fought bulls
in the Roman Colosseum. Bullfighting was not performed then as
it is now, nor were the gladiators like those you see on television!
The gladiators in Caesar¹s time were fighting for their lives,
as well as for the honor of their leader. The
bullfight has gone through many evolutions since the time of the
gladiators and has become the national pastime of Spain and Mexico.
Other countries do have bullfights, but it is in these two countries
where you will discover a passion for it. An accomplished bullfighter
can become a national hero and be treated as a celebrity, if he
lives long enough! The bulls used in bullfighting, like the ³matadors² and the ³cuadrilla² (the apprentices) are not born with the knowledge of how to perform in a bullfight. Bulls are carefully bred and trained to create a truly mean animal. They are taught to charge and gore and are not allowed into the ring until they are mean enough to put up a good fight. The
matadors are also specially trained, usually from a very young
age. Becoming a matador requires great agility, concentration,
and a passion for the sport. It is very dangerous, and a momentary
daydream can mean death or maiming. There are training schools
for youths to learn how to become bullfighters. Once they have
shown enough skill and concentration, they are allowed to begin
as cuadrilla, or apprentices, usually in smaller rings and work
their way up to becoming cuadrilla in a larger, better-known ring
where they may have a chance to become apprentice to some of the
great bullfighters and possibly become matadors themselves! Today,
while still unusual, there are a few women bullfighters. The
bullfighting event traditionally begins with a parading of the
participants. They all wear very colorful clothing with sequins
and jewels and make for a beautiful parade. Act IV of Carmen
starts with such a parade. In it are the ³matadors,² like Escamillo,
the expert bullfighters and main attraction; the ³cuadrilla,²
apprentice bullfighters; ³picadors,² After
the parade, the first bull enters the ring, and his statistics,
such as weight, age, and training ground are displayed. He is
then taunted by three matadors, who encourage him to charge by
waving their ³muletas,² or capes, at him. This is just the warm-up! Once
the bull is dead and the prize ears and tail have been awarded,
if a bull has been especially fierce, he is dragged around the
ring in a celebration of man¹s triumph over animal, and the crowd
cheers the bull¹s tenacity as he goes by. During festivals or
special holidays, the bull is often cooked and shared in a ceremony
of the people in the streets outside the bullfighting arena. Gypsies Carmen
was a Spanish Gypsy and, as such, an outcast from ³decent society.²
Who are the Gypsies? Where did they come from? Why are they still
shunned in much of the world? The
name ³Gypsy² comes from Egyptian. They themselves claimed Egypt
as their ancestral home, but more probably they came from India.
Their language, Romany, derives from Sanskrit, the ancient
language of India. Over the first millennium AD, small bands had
migrated to the west and, when they reached what is today Palestine,
they split, some going to the north, through Europe, the rest
going south to Egypt and west across North Africa. They moved
in small groups rather than a concentrated mass, gradually spreading,
always shunned and forced to move on, living as second-class citizens
on the fringes of society. During the fifteenth century, elements
of each group reached Spain. The northern group officially arrived
in Barcelona in 1447. The southern group reached Andalusia (in
southern Spain) about the same time. The
accretion of legends that became attached to them during their
long journey made them pariahs in medieval Christian Europe. They
were descendants of Cain, cursed to be nomads: ³And the Lord said
unto Cain. . . now art thou cursed from the earth. . . When thou
tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her
strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.²
(Genesis IV, 9-12). Thus Gypsies could never become farmers; they
were doomed to be musicians and metal-workers. They were to bear
the mark of Cain. (This is probably the Greek letter Tau, worn
as a means of recognition, not a stigma.) Gypsies
forged the nails for the crucifixion of Christ, massacred the
children of Bethlehem, and advised Judas to betray Jesus. In punishment
they were haunted by a red-hot nail and must wander forever. Ezekiel¹s
prophesy: ³I shall scatter the Egyptians among the nations.² (Ezekiel
XXIX, 12) confirmed for them their own claim to have come from
Egypt. Some
regarded them as the descendants of the two lost tribes of Israel.
Others said Gypsies had been cursed by God because they had refused
to shelter Mary and Joseph on their flight to Egypt. The Gypsies,
in trying to mitigate this charge, did not deny it, but said they
were on a pilgrimage in penance for the crime, thus enhancing
the legend. Gypsies
were feared and driven from country to country throughout their
history. Restrictions were placed on their dress and permitted
occupations. Those who converted to Christianity were still regarded
with suspicion as not being true to the Faith. Throughout
their long history, Gypsies have maintained their constant struggle
for freedom. Like Carmen, they were willing to die rather than
submit to others. Carmen works in the cigarette factory but longs
for the freedom which the smugglers offer. As a Gypsy, when faced
with the choice between loss of freedom and death, her decision
is inevitable. Gypsies
had many ways to tell fortunes. The two most important were palm-reading
and the use of Tarot cards. In the opera, Carmen uses regular
cards, (She sings, ³Carreau! Pique! La Mort!,² or ³Diamonds! Spades!
Death!²), but surely a real Gypsy would use the Tarots. The first
Carmen, Galli-Marié, did. During the fortune-telling scene in
the thirty-first performance, she saw the card of death. That
night, Bizet died. Tarots
were used during the French Revolution by a Mademoiselle Le Normand
who accurately foretold the deaths of such noted personages as
Robespierre, Marat, and Danton. Her readings so disturbed Napoleón
that he had her imprisoned. There are twenty-two numbered cards,
which trace the history of the Gypsy wanderings. The thirteenth
is the death card but the worst of all is the sixteenth, which
shows The House of God struck by lighting and falling in
ruins. The twentieth shows the Last Judgement. The unnumbered
Fool is a pilgrim and a clown, pointing to both heaven
and earth to symbolize he belongs to both worlds. He symbolizes
madness and the blind folly of mankind. A
Final Word At
the end of the opera, Carmen is given a choice, either submission
to Don José or death. True to her Gypsy heritage, she would rather
die than forfeit her freedom. Her first words in the opera proclaim
her independence: ³When will I love you; well, I do not know.
. . Perhaps never.² She will make the decision! However,
the men in her life cannot understand her need for freedom. In
Bizet¹s day, Carmen was condemned; today, she is understood as
a feminist. Totally liberated and self-sufficient, she insists
on being in charge of her own life. She acts as some men would,
and, when she refuses to submit or obey a conventional code, she
loses everything. In
addition to her insistence on being free, she has a strong sense
of fatalism. She can hold her own against men, but not against
destiny. When the cards foretell her death, she does not question
them or rebel; she accepts the verdict. ³In vain you shuffle the
cards! It¹s no good; the cards are sincere and don¹t tell lies.
. . . If you must die, if that fearful word has been written by
fate, you can try twenty times over, the pitiless card will still
repeat: death!² When, in Act IV, she is warned that Don José is
in the crowd, she does not seek to avoid him. She confronts him,
proudly and disdainfully, even though she knows her behavior will
result in her own end. Speaking of herself in the third person,
she proclaims, ³Free she was born and free she will die!² NOTE: In recent years a musical group from Southern France, the Gypsy Kings, has become an international success playing Spanish guitar and singing traditional Gypsy songs on the themes of love, the open road, and sorrow. Its members are all related and are actual gypsies. When one of them was asked how he would spend his newly-earned money, he responded, ³I¹ll buy a new trailer!² Study
Questions 1. This opera is named for its passionate protagonist. Do
you believe that Carmen is indeed a heroine? Is there any evidence that she has a sense of humor? Intelligence? Contemporary
thinkers would emphasize that her character has been shaped by
her tradition, heredity, and environment. What do you imagine
her childhood may have been like? Is Carmen just a beautiful femme
fatale? Is there anything to admire in Carmen? 2. Is Michaela a foil for Carmen, or does she stand on her own as a credible personality? Does she show any wit and strength? If this is an opera about love in all of its dimensions, what kind of love does Michaela demonstrate? 3. Fate is an important and potent theme in this opera. Carmen believes the cards are pitiless. How can you reconcile her independence of spirit with her superstition? 4. Does Carmen seem like a liberated woman who is in love with life or a woman who is weary of life? 5. What would it be like always to live on the margins of society? What other groups in our own generation are comparable to the gypsies? Your own generation has seen violence on a massive scale (the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York, September 11, 2001) . Is there anything in this opera which teaches you about the nature of rage on such a scale? Is there any optimism in this opera? 6. If we agree that Carmen is a complex personality, how should we characterize her? Seductress? Free spirit? Tragic heroine? 7. Bullfighting is important in this opera. Explore bullfighting in art (Goya) and literature (Hemingway). What does the bullfight add to this opera besides some colorful songs and beautiful costumes and dance? 8. How can we understand Don Jose? What conflict does he feel about duty and love? Do we have any indication that he could be violent? 9. There are numerous musical themes from this opera that have entered into a sort of musical heritage. Which are they? How do classical themes become part of advertising and popular culture? Do classical composer borrow from each other; can you give an example of a classical theme becoming easily recognized in your culture? 10. Verisimo opera deals with ordinary people in their everyday pursuits, emotions, and frustrations. If you contrast the lives of the ordinary (verisimo) with the heroic (grand opera), which has more meaning for you as a listener? Why? 11. Is this opera a tragedy? Would you grieve for Carmen? Do you think of Don Jose as a tragic victim? Is Carmen a victim? 12. Is there anyone in Carmen who displays honor? Loyalty? 13. What is the credo of the gypsies? Of the soldiers? Of the bullfighter? 14. The flamenco dance is often seen as a tour de force of discipline rhythm. What does it add to this opera? 15. Melodrama is an extravagant emotional narrative with intense, even exaggerated, emotion. Why do some say that the conclusion of Carmen, with its confrontation between Carmen and Jose, is sung melodrama? Did you predict a violent ending, and if so, what in the opera leads you to predict a dramatic conclusion? 16. Contemporary filmmakers and writers have used this narrative for their own interpretations. If you were adapting this story for contemporary life, where would you set your version? Who would be in your cast? Could you use animation for this work? 17. Carmen works in a cigarette factory. Is this significant to the historical culture of the opera? What does her work contribute to your understanding of the general tone of this work? 18. This opera takes place in Seville in 1820; what was occurring in Europe when this opera took place? What was occurring in the United States during this period? |
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