Georges Bizet - Carmen
Libretto: Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
Stage-Director: Alessio Pizzech
Conductors: Karen Kamenšek, Simon Robinson
Slovenian People's Theater
Georges Bizet (1838–1875) knew early on that musical theatre was to be his destiny. When the heads of famed Paris Opéra Comique ordered he compose a new opera for them in 1873, Bizet knew that he was ready to craft his life masterpiece. With the decision to put to sound the tragic story of the beautiful and lively gypsy from P. Mérimée’s novel Carmen, he unpleasantly surprised his benefactors, who labelled the libretto as »immoral« and wholly unacceptable to be played at an opera house known as providing »theatre for the whole family«. Despite these initial setbacks, Bizet’s Carmen had its first stage run in 1875 and received mixed feedback while part of the audience sat through it with disgust, a handful immediately realized its true value. Bizet’s untimely death meant that he never had a chance to see that Carmen was to become a true success. The composer namely managed to create a realistic opera, which even the masterpieces of the closely-linked Italian verismo style have difficulty competing with.
The opera’s characters and tragic dramatic plot, most likely one of the best in operatic history, are incredibly convincing, because they can be found in the opera’s music – in its Spanish rhythms and gypsy melodies, which though not always of an original nature, paint a rich local colour, the environment from which Carmen hails and one she cannot escape, as it completely determines her character and actions. The story tells of a beautiful gypsy, Carmen, and her unbridled passion. To Carmen, love is merely a game, causing the downfall of many of the men surrounding her. One of the men she seduces is Corporal Don José, convincing him to rebel against his superiors for the principle of love. Don José forgoes his reputation and joins a group of smugglers, amongst which Carmen lives. The couple does not live in bliss for long, as Carmen is unfaithful and leaves him in pursuit of new love. Don José loses his sanity and avenges her betrayal through bloodshed.
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