Verbal description of the musical image of Carmen. Quotes. History of the opera Carmen

Now let's talk about the main character.

Carmen is a gypsy, a cigar factory worker. She is beautiful, passionate, loves freedom. Carmen in the opera is the embodiment of female beauty and charm, passion and courage. J. Bizet masterfully conveys the fiery temperament of the gypsy, her indomitable character, beauty and enthusiasm. Carmen's vocal part is full of intonations and rhythms of Spanish folk songs and dances. Carmen's entrance is preceded by the sound of an orchestra. The musical characteristic of the freedom-loving Carmen, the habanera, contains the rhythms of this folk dance.

“Habanera” from J. Bizet’s opera “Carmen”

Habanera is a free love song that sounds like a challenge to Jose. At the end of the scene, Carmen throws a flower to Jose, the young soldier, thereby recognizing him as her chosen one, and promises love.

In Act 3, another characteristic of Carmen appears. The difference between Jose and Carmen is too great. Jose dreams of a quiet life as a peasant, but Carmen no longer loves him. A gap between them is inevitable. She and her friends are telling fortunes with cards. What will they tell her? Only fate does not promise anything good for Carmen; she saw her death sentence in the cards. With deep sorrow she reflects on the future.

The image of Carmen in literature

Carmen- Spanish gypsy Carmencita. The narrator, a French historian, meets her in 1830 in Andalusia, and later learns her story from her lover, an awaiting execution robber called José Navarro. José, who served as a non-commissioned officer in Seville, met K. when she worked in a tobacco factory there. Forced to arrest her for a fight with another worker, he lets her go, succumbing to a sudden passion; K. becomes his mistress. Having become jealous of her for the officer of his regiment, he kills his rival and is forced to hide from court. K. hides him and introduces him to a gang of robbers and smugglers who rob rich travelers, whom the gypsy lures into a trap with her beauty. Here Jose has a new rival - “husband” Carmen, a cruel bandit who escaped from prison; Having killed him in the fight, Jose himself becomes her “husband,” but Carmen does not accept his claims to power and sole possession. In Cordoba, she meets the bullfighter Lucas, and then Jose, who is “tired of killing Carmen’s lovers,” takes her to the mountains to put her to death; she refuses the offer to go to America together and dies courageously, without trying to escape or beg for mercy. Jose, unable to survive the death of his beloved, surrenders to the authorities and goes to the scaffold. Karme is a robber, she participates in robberies and murders and herself finds death from a dagger. The love she inspires in men is a romantically cruel and frantic passion. Carmen's inconstancy is interpreted in Merimee's novel not as a manifestation of weak female nature, but as a fanatical devotion of a romantic individual to the idea of ​​freedom.

The image of Carmen in art and literature

Often writers, poets, composers and artists turn to eternal images of literature and art. Each author has the right to introduce other features into an already existing image, and to remove the old ones altogether. But still, the brightest facets of this eternal image remain unchanged. The so-called “wandering” plots and images are interesting in all the diversity of these transformations.

There are many eternal images known: Don Juan, Don Quixote, Sancho Panzo, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello and many, many others. One of the most recognizable, popular and, perhaps, even the most beloved is the image of Carmen.

When you see a dark-haired girl with a scarlet flower in her hair at a carnival, the name Carmen pops up at the level of association, and along with the name, everything else that is associated with this name comes to mind: the girl’s love of freedom, pride, charm, divine beauty, insidiousness, cunning, - everything that defeated Jose and that defeats other men.

Carmen became the first world-famous femme fatale in literary history, although there are other popular characters. The “femme fatale” has been popular at all times and comes across us, in one form or another, in every culture.

It seems that Merimee wrote a story that could very well have happened in reality. Merimee does not idealize her heroes. In the image of Carmen, he embodies all the “bad passions”: she is insidious and evil, she betrays her husband, the crooked Garcia, she is merciless towards her abandoned lover. Why then does she attract men so much?

Carmen is an integral person with a love of freedom, a protest against all violence and oppression. It was these character traits that impressed the composer Georges Bizet, who continued the development of the image in his opera.

Immediately after the premiere of the opera, which took place in 1875, many negative reviews followed, but at the same time, great geniuses appreciated Bizet’s opera.

P. I. Tchaikovsky wrote: “Bizet’s opera is a masterpiece, one of those few things that are destined to reflect to the greatest extent the musical aspirations of an entire era. In ten years, Carmen will be the most popular opera in the world.” These words turned out to be truly prophetic. Nowadays, the opera is included in the repertoire of all opera troupes and is performed in all languages ​​of the world, including even Japanese.

"Carmen" is one of the masterpieces of opera. Bizet masterfully recreated the Spanish flavor, the peculiarities of the gypsy nature, and the drama of conflicts.

The image of the beautiful, unpredictable gypsy Carmen is very mysterious. Many writers and poets tried to understand what exactly was so enchanting about her.

The name Carmen is associated with beauty, deceit, love of freedom, rose, habanera, Spain, love - that is why there are so many interpretations in different fields of art. And yet, for many, Carmen is a symbol of love of freedom and the trampling of all violence.

Georges Bizet is considered to be "Carmen". Its story was not simple, and this wonderful work did not immediately resonate with the public and critics. After all, “Carmen” is an opera where one of the fundamental principles of plot construction at that time was violated. For the first time, not aristocrats, but ordinary people with their sins, passions, and vivid feelings were brought onto the stage.

The play premiered at the Opera Comique in Paris in 1875. The reaction that followed left its creator bitterly disappointed. Georges Bizet, author of the opera Carmen, was considered one of the talented composers of his time. He created his opera at the peak of his career. The libretto was written by L. Halévy and A. Meillac based on the novel by P. Mérimée. The audience who attended the premiere performance had divided opinions. The first performer of the role of the gypsy Carmen was the singer Celestine Galli-Mathieu. She managed to perfectly convey the courage of the heroine. Some were delighted by this, while others were outraged. The newspapers called the opera ugly, scandalous and vulgar.

However, Carmen is an opera whose genius was appreciated much later and truly loved. Our classical composer P.I. spoke about this. Tchaikovsky, he called it a masterpiece. One of the most memorable melodies that fill the opera is the heroine’s aria “Love, like a bird, has wings.” The composer created it based on the habanera melody and the seductive description of the gypsy woman in P. Merimee’s short story. In addition to this aria, “Toreador March” and Suite No. 2 became truly popular.

Due to its atypicality for that time, the opera turned into a popular performance. Carmen describes the life of ordinary people, and at the same time, the opera is not devoid of romanticism. If we describe a brief summary of the opera “Carmen”, we can summarize it in a few phrases. The plot is based on the third chapter of the novel of the same name by P. Merimee, and it is about love. The play takes place in Spain, so the composer filled the opera with classic Spanish melodies: flamenco, paso doble, habanera.

The main character of both the short story and the opera is the gypsy Carmen. The opera presents her as uninhibited, free, and does not recognize laws. The gypsy is capable of changing the fates of everyone who happens to be close to her. She attracts the attention of men, enjoys their love, but does not consider their feelings. According to the plot, a beautiful gypsy works at a cigarette factory. A fight lands her at the police station. Her guard was Sergeant Jose. She was able to make him fall in love with her and convince him to let her go. For the sake of the gypsy, Jose lost everything: his position, respect in society. He became a simple soldier. Carmen collaborated with smugglers and flirted with the bullfighter Escamillo. She was tired of Jose. He tried to return his beloved, but she abruptly told him that it was all over. Then Jose killed his beloved Carmen so that no one would get her.

J. Bizet was very upset by the failure of the premiere performance of “Carmen”. The opera, later recognized as a masterpiece, took a lot of energy from the composer. Shortly after the premiere, 3 months later, the composer died at the age of 37. On the verge of death, J. Bizet said: “Jose killed Carmen, and Carmen killed me!”

Nevertheless, the story of a free life, unbridled passions and accidental death due to jealousy has been attracting audiences to theaters for many years. To this day, Carmen is successfully performed on the most famous opera stages in the world.

Georges Bizet (lived 1838-1875) “Carmen” based on the short story of the same name by Prosper Merimee has now gained worldwide fame. The popularity of the musical work is so great that in many theaters it is performed in the national language (including in Japan). The summary of the opera “Carmen” by Bizet generally corresponds to the plot of the novel, however, there are some differences.

Opera production

It may seem surprising to a modern listener that the first production of the opera, which took place on March 3, 1875 in Paris (Opera-Comique Theater), was a failure. The scandalous debut of "Carmen", accompanied by an abundance of accusatory comments from French journalists, nevertheless had its own positive effect. The work, which received such a wide response in the press, could not help but attract the attention of the world. About 50 performances took place on the stage of the Comic Opera Theater alone during the premiere season.

Nevertheless, after some time the opera was withdrawn from the show and returned to the stage only in 1883. The author of the opera “Carmen” himself did not live to see this moment - he died suddenly at the age of 36, three months after the premiere of his great work.

Opera structure

Bizet's opera Carmen has a four-part form, each act of which is preceded by a separate symphonic intermission. All overtures of the work in their development contain musical material that, to one degree or another, represents the given action (general picture of events, tragic premonition, etc.).

Place of action and specific characters

The plot of the opera "Carmen" takes place in the city of Seville and its environs (Spain) in the beginning. 19th century. The specific character of the characters chosen by the author of the opera was somewhat provocative for that time. The images of ordinary tobacco factory workers behaving rather cheekily (some of them smoke), soldiers, police officers, as well as thieves and smugglers ran counter to the strict requirements of secular society.

In order to somehow smooth out the impression created by such a society (women of easy virtue, fickle in their affections; men sacrificing honor in the name of passion, etc.), the author of the opera “Carmen”, together with the authors of the libretto, introduce a new character into the work. This is the image of Michaela - a pure and innocent girl, who was not in Prosper Merimee's novel. Due to this heroine, touching in her affection for Don Jose, the characters acquire greater contrast, and the work, in turn, acquires greater drama. Thus, the summary of the libretto of the opera “Carmen” has its own specifics.

Characters

First action

Let's look at the summary of the opera "Carmen". Seville, city square. Hot afternoon. Off-duty soldiers stand outside the barracks, next to a cigar factory, cynically discussing passers-by. Michaela approaches the soldiers - she is looking for Don Jose. Finding out that he is not there now, she leaves, embarrassed. The changing of the guard begins, and Don Jose appears among those who took up the guard. Together with their commander, Captain Zuniga, they discuss the attractiveness of cigar factory workers. The bell rings - it's a break at the factory. The workers run out into the street in a crowd. They smoke and behave quite cheekily.

Carmen comes out. She flirts with young men and sings her famous habanera (“Love has wings like a bird”). At the end of the singing, the girl throws a flower at Jose. Laughing at his embarrassment, the workers return to the factory.

Michaela appears again with a letter and a gift for Jose. Their duet “What the Relatives Said” sounds. At this time, a terrible noise begins in the factory. It turns out that Carmen slashed one of the girls with a knife. Jose receives orders from the commander to arrest Carmen and take her to the barracks. Jose and Carmen are left alone. The seguidilla “Near the Bastion in Seville” sounds, in which the girl promises to love Jose. The young corporal is completely fascinated. However, on the way to the barracks, Carmen manages to push him away and escape. As a result, Jose himself is taken into custody.

Second act

We continue to describe the summary of the opera “Carmen”. Two months later. The tavern of Lilyas Pastya, Carmen's friend, is the very place where the young gypsy promised to sing and dance for Jose. Unbridled fun reigns here. Among the most important visitors is Captain Zuniga, Commander Jose. He tries to woo Carmen, but he doesn't succeed very well. At the same time, the girl learns that Jose’s period of detention is ending, and this makes her happy.

The bullfighter Escamillo appears and performs the famous couplets “Toast, friends, I accept yours.” The tavern's patrons join in his singing in unison. Escamillo is also fascinated by Carmen, but she does not reciprocate.

It's getting late. Jose appears. Delighted by his arrival, Carmen escorts the remaining visitors from the tavern - four smugglers (bandits El Dancairo and El Remendado, as well as the girls Mercedes and Frasquita). A young gypsy performs a dance for Jose, as he was promised before his arrest. However, the appearance of Captain Zunig, who also came on a date with Carmen, destroys the romantic atmosphere. A quarrel breaks out between the rivals, ready to escalate into bloodshed. However, the gypsies who arrive in time manage to disarm the captain. Don Jose has no choice but to abandon his military career. He joins a smuggling gang, to Carmen's delight.

Third act

What else does the summary of the opera “Carmen” tell about? An idyllic picture of nature, in a secluded place among the mountains. The smugglers have a short break. Don Jose yearns for home, for peasant life, the smugglers' trade does not appeal to him at all - only Carmen and his passionate love for her attract him. However, the young gypsy no longer loves him, and things are approaching a breakup. According to the fortune telling of Mercedes and Fransquita, Carmen is in danger of death.

The halt is over, the smugglers go to work, only Jose remains to look after the abandoned goods. Suddenly Michaela appears. She continues to look for Jose. Her aria “I assure myself in vain” sounds.

At this time, the sound of a shot is heard. Frightened, Michaela hides. It turns out that the shooter was Jose, who saw Escamillo. A bullfighter in love with Carmen is looking for her. A fight begins between the rivals, which inevitably threatens Escamillo’s death, but Carmen, who arrives in time, manages to intervene and save the bullfighter. Escamillo leaves, finally inviting everyone to his performance in Seville.

The next moment, Jose discovers Michaela. The girl tells him the sad news - his mother is dying and wants to say goodbye to her son before her death. Carmen contemptuously agrees that Jose should leave. In anger, he warns her that they will meet again, and only death can separate them. Roughly pushing Carmen away, Jose leaves. The bullfighter's musical motif sounds ominously.

Act Four

The following is a summary of the opera “Carmen” about the festive festivities in Seville. Residents of the city in smart clothes are all in anticipation of the bullfighting performance. Escamillo is scheduled to perform in the arena. Soon the bullfighter himself appears, arm in arm with Carmen. The young gypsy woman is also dressed with great luxury. A duet of two lovers sounds.

Escamillo, and behind him all the spectators rush into the theater. Only Carmen remains, despite the fact that Mercedes and Fransquita manage to warn her about Jose hiding nearby. The girl defiantly says that she is not afraid of him.

Jose enters. He is wounded, his clothes have turned into rags. Jose begs the girl to return to him, but receives only a contemptuous refusal in response. The young man continues to insist. An angry Carmen throws him the gold ring he gave him. At this time, a choir sounds behind the stage, glorifying the victory of the bullfighter, Jose’s lucky rival. Losing his mind, Jose takes out a dagger and plunges it into his lover just at the moment when the enthusiastic crowd in the theater welcomes Escamillo, the winner of the bullfight.

The festive crowd pours out of the theater onto the street, where a terrible picture opens before their eyes. A mentally broken Jose with the words: “I killed her! Oh, my Carmen!..” - falls at the feet of his dead lover.

Thus, “Carmen” is an opera, the summary of which can be described in almost two sentences. However, the range of human feelings and passions that the heroes of the work experience cannot be conveyed in any words - only with music and theatrical acting, which Georges Bizet and the opera actors managed to masterfully accomplish.

Georges Bizet's Carmen is one of the most striking opera heroines. This is the personification of passionate temperament, feminine irresistibility, and independence. “Opera” Carmen bears little resemblance to its literary prototype. The composer and librettists eliminated her cunning, thievery, everything small, ordinary that “reduced” this character of Merimee. In addition, in Bizet’s interpretation, Carmen acquired features of tragic greatness: she proves her right to freedom of love at the cost of her own life.

The first characterization of Carmen is given already in the overture, where the main leitmotif of the opera appears - the theme of “fatal passion”. In sharp contrast to all previous music (the themes of the folk festival and the leitmotif of the Toreador), this theme is perceived as a symbol of the fatal predestination of the love of Carmen and Jose. It is distinguished by the sharpness of extended seconds, modal tonal instability, intense sequential development, and the absence of cadence completion. The leitmotif of “fatal passion” subsequently appears in the most important moments of the drama: in the scene with the flower (commencement), in the duet of Carmen and Jose in Act II (first climax), before the “arioso of fortune telling” (dramatic turning point) and especially widely - in the finale of the opera (denouement).

The same theme accompanies Carmen’s first appearance in the opera, acquiring, however, a completely different shade: a lively tempo and dance elements give her a temperamental, fiery, spectacular character, associated with the appearance of the heroine.

Carmen's first solo number - famous Habanera. Habanera is a Spanish dance, the predecessor of modern tango. Taking an authentic Cuban melody as a basis, Bizet creates a languid, sensual, passionate image, which is facilitated by a descending movement along the chromatic scale and the free ease of the rhythm. This is not only a portrait of Carmen, but also a statement of her life position, a kind of “declaration” of free love.

Up to the third act, the characterization of Carmen is maintained in the same genre and dance plan. It is performed in a series of songs and dances, permeated with the intonations and rhythms of Spanish and Gypsy folklore. So, in interrogation scene Carmen Zuniga uses another musical quote - a famous humorous Spanish song. Bizet connected its melody with Pushkin’s text translated by Merimee (Zemfira’s song about a formidable husband from the poem “Gypsies”). Carmen sings it almost unaccompanied, boldly and mockingly. The form is verse, as in Habanera.

The most significant characteristic of Carmen in Act I is: Seguidilla(Spanish folk dance-song). Seguidilla Carmen is distinguished by a unique Spanish flavor, although the composer does not use folklore material here. With virtuosic skill, he conveys the typical features of Spanish folk music - the variety of modal colors (comparison of major and minor tetrachords), characteristic harmonic turns (S after D), and “guitar” accompaniment. This number is not purely solo - thanks to the inclusion of Jose's lines, it develops into a dialogic scene.

Carmen next appearance is in gypsy song and dance, which opens Act II. The orchestration (with a tambourine, cymbals, triangle) emphasizes the folk flavor of the music. The continuous increase in dynamics and tempo, the widespread development of active fourth intonation - all this creates a very temperamental, playful, energetic image.

In the center of Act II - duet scene of Carmen and Jose. It is preceded by Jose's soldier's song behind the scenes, on which the intermission of this action is based. The duet is structured in the form of a free stage, including recitative dialogues, arias, and ensemble singing.

The beginning of the duet is permeated with a feeling of joyful agreement: Carmen entertains Jose song and dance with castanets. A very simple, ingenuous melody in the folk spirit is built on the singing of tonic foundations; Carmen hums it without any words. Jose admires her, but the idyll does not last long - a military signal reminds Jose of his military service. The composer uses here the technique of two-layeredness: when the melody of the song is repeated for the second time, counterpoint, the signal of a military trumpet, is added to it. For Carmen, military discipline is not a valid reason for ending a date early; she is indignant. In response to her hail of reproaches and ridicule, Jose speaks of his love (a gentle arioso with a flower “You see how sacred I preserve...”). Then the leading role in the duet goes to Carmen, who tries to entice Jose with a free life in the mountains. Her big solo, accompanied by Jose’s laconic remarks, is built on two themes - “there, there to your native mountains” (No. 45) and “leaving your harsh duty here” (No. 46). The first is more song-like, the second is dance-like, in the character of a tarantella (the ensemble of smugglers that concludes the entire II act will be built on it). The juxtaposition of these two themes forms a 3-part reprise form. “Arioso with a flower” and “hymn to freedom” are two completely opposite ideas about life and love.

In Act III, along with the deepening of the conflict, the characterization of Carmen also changes. Her part departs from genre means and becomes dramatized. The deeper her drama grows, the more genre (purely song and dance) elements are replaced by dramatic ones. The turning point in this process is the tragic arioso from fortune telling scenes. Previously busy only with the game, striving to conquer and subjugate everyone around, Carmen for the first time thought about her life.

The fortune-telling scene is built in a harmonious three-part form: the outer sections are a cheerful duet of friends (F-major), and the middle part is an arioso of Carmen (F-minor). The expressive means of this arioso differ sharply from the entire previous characterization of Carmen. First of all, there are no connections with dance. The minor scale, the low register of the orchestral part and its gloomy color (thanks to the trombones), ostinato rhythm - all this creates a feeling of mournful marching. The vocal melody is distinguished by the breadth of breathing and is subject to the wave principle of development. The mournful character is enhanced by the evenness of the rhythmic pattern (No. 50).

In the last, IV act, Carmen participates in two duets. The first is with Escamillo, he is imbued with love and joyful agreement. The second, with Jose, is a tragic duel, the culmination of the entire opera. This duet is essentially “monologue”: José’s pleas and desperate threats are swept away by Carmen’s inflexibility. Her phrases are dry and laconic (in contrast to Jose’s melodious melodies, close to his arioso with a flower). A huge role is played by the leitmotif of fatal passion, which sounds again and again in the orchestra. The development follows the line of a steady increase in drama, heightened by the technique of invasion: 4 times the welcoming cries of the crowd from the circus burst into the duet, each time in a higher key. Carmen dies at the moment when the people praise the winner, Escamillo. The “fatal” leitmotif here is directly compared with the festive sound of the bullfighter’s marching theme.

Thus, in the finale of the opera, all the themes of the overture receive a truly symphonic development - the theme of fatal passion (for the very last time it is carried out in a major key), the theme of a national holiday (the first theme of the overture) and the bullfighter theme.

Bizet. "Carmen" Prelude (Orchestra of the National Opera, Paris. Conductor Georges Prêtre)

Opera in four acts by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Henri Milhac and Ludovico Halevi, based on a short story by Prosper Mérimée.

CHARACTERS:

CARMEN, gypsy (soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto) DON JOSE, corporal (tenor) ESCAMILO, bullfighter (baritone) MICÁELA, peasant woman (soprano) EL DANCAIRO, smuggler (baritone) EL REMENDADO, smuggler (tenor) ZUNIGA, captain JOSE ( bass) MORALES, officer (bass or baritone) FRASCITA, gypsy (soprano) MERCEDES, gypsy (soprano)

Time period: around 1820. Location: Seville and its surroundings. First performance: Paris, Opéra Comique, March 3, 1875.

Carmen is, I am sure, the most popular of all operas. There is an opinion that the cause of Bizet’s death was the mental trauma he received from the failure of the opera at its premiere (the composer died three months after it). But it is a fact that this opera was received much better than any of Bizet’s previous works (already in the year of its production at the Opera Comique, Carmen was given thirty-seven times and has since been performed on this stage more than three thousand times). In fact, Bizet died - aged just thirty-seven - from illness; it was probably an embolism (blockage of a blood vessel). Nowadays, this opera is included in the repertoire of all opera troupes and is performed in all languages, including Japanese. Her popularity is not limited only to the opera stage. It has expanded into the repertoire of restaurant music, and exists in piano transcriptions as well as film versions (the latest and most successful, Carmen Jones, is based on an operetta version that was a hit on Broadway).

It is not difficult to understand the reason for such popularity. The opera has many great melodies! She is extraordinarily dramatic. She is so brilliant and clear! In addition, all these characteristic features are already revealed in the overture. It starts bright and clear - like a sunny day in Spain. Next, the famous melody of the bullfighter's couplets sounds, and finally it unexpectedly becomes dramatic - at the moment when the theme of fate is heard in the orchestra, the very theme that characterizes Carmen and her frantic love.

History of creation

Bizet began working on the opera Carmen in 1874. Its plot is borrowed from the short story of the same name by the French writer Prosper Merimee (1803-1870), written in 1845. The content of the novella has undergone significant changes in the opera. Experienced writers A. Melyac (1831-1897) and L. Halévy (1834-1908) masterfully developed the libretto, filling it with drama, deepening emotional contrasts, and creating prominent images of characters that were in many ways different from their literary prototypes. Jose, portrayed by the writer as a gloomy, proud and stern robber, acquired different features in the opera; a peasant boy who became a dragoon, he is shown as a simple, honest, but hot-tempered and weak-willed person. The image of the strong-willed, courageous bullfighter Escamillo, barely outlined in the novella, received a bright and juicy characterization in the opera. Compared to the literary prototype, the image of Jose Micaela's bride is even more developed - a gentle and affectionate girl, whose appearance sets off the unbridled and ardent character of the gypsy. The image of the main character has also been significantly changed. Carmen in the opera is the embodiment of female beauty and charm, passionate love of freedom and courage. Cunning, thieves' efficiency - these features of Merimee's novel Carmen were eliminated in the opera. Bizet ennobled the character of his heroine, emphasizing the directness of her feelings and independence of actions. And finally, expanding the scope of the narrative, the authors of the opera introduced colorful folk scenes. The life of a temperamental, motley crowd under the burning sun of the south, the romantic figures of gypsies and smugglers, the elevated atmosphere of a bullfight with particular poignancy and brightness emphasize in the opera the original characters of Carmen, Jose, Micaela and Escamillo, and the drama of their destinies. These scenes gave the tragic plot an optimistic sound.

The premiere of "Carmen" took place in Paris on March 3, 1875 and was not a success. The author was accused of immorality: the free expression of the feelings of the heroes - ordinary people from the people - was abhorrent to sanctimonious bourgeois morality. One of the first among Bizet’s great contemporaries to appreciate the music of “Carmen” was P. I. Tchaikovsky. “Bizet’s opera,” he wrote, “is a masterpiece, one of those few things that are destined to reflect to the greatest extent the musical aspirations of an entire era. In ten years, Carmen will be the most popular opera in the world.” These words turned out to be prophetic. If in 1876 “Carmen” disappeared for a long time from the repertoire of Parisian theaters, then abroad - in Vienna (1875), St. Petersburg (1878) and many other European cities, its success was truly triumphant. In Paris, the production of Carmen was revived in 1883 in the edition of E. Guiraud (1837-1892), who replaced spoken dialogue with recitatives and added ballet scenes at the opera's finale, taking music from other works by Bizet.

"Carmen" is one of the masterpieces of opera. Music, full of life and light, vividly affirms the freedom of the human person. The drama of clashes and conflicts is deeply truthful. The characters of the opera are depicted juicily, temperamentally, in all the psychological complexity of their characters. The national Spanish flavor and setting of the drama were recreated with great skill. The strength of Carmen's optimism lies in the inextricable internal connection between the heroes and the people.

The opera opens with an overture, which juxtaposes images of sunny Spain, jubilant folk festivals and the tragic fate of Carmen.

The beginning of the first act is serene and clear. The opening folk scenes are rich in movement and color: a choir of soldiers, a fervent march of boys. A choir of girls, factory workers, prepares for Carmen's exit. Her habanera “Love has wings like a bird” is close to proud Spanish song-dances. The duet between Michaela and Jose “I Remember a Day in the Mountains” is designed in idyllic tones. The song about a formidable husband, the seguidilla and the duet of Carmen and Jose create a multifaceted image of a freedom-loving gypsy.

The second act, like all subsequent ones, is preceded by a colorful symphonic intermission. The gypsy dance that opens the act is full of fiery fun. Escamillo’s energetic, courageous march “Toast, friends, I accept yours” (his music was first heard in the overture) outlines the brave hero of the bullfight. The smugglers' quintet (featuring Carmen) "If we need to deceive" is kept in a light, lively character. The duet of Carmen and Jose is the most important scene of the opera, a clash of two human wills, characters, views on life and love. The embodiment of the heroes’ life ideals is Jose’s “aria about a flower” (“You see how sacredly I preserve the flower that you gave me”) and Carmen’s song, her hymn to freedom “There, there, to my native mountains.” If the characterization of Jose is dominated by the element of song-romance, emphasizing his spiritual gentleness, then the rebellious spirit of Carmen is revealed in the temperamental rhythms and melodies of Spanish folk songs. The act ends with the melody of the freedom-loving song of Carmen, heard by the choir.

The symphonic intermission for the third act paints a poetic picture of nature - the peace and quiet of the slumbering mountains. A gloomy, wary sextet with a chorus-march of smugglers “Bolder, bolder on the road, friends, go!” - and another chorus - of a lively and cheerful character, “The customs soldier is not afraid of us”, outline the world in which Carmen and Jose live. The central episode of the third act is the fortune telling scene (terzetto); the cheerful chirping of Frasquita and Mercedes sets off the mournful reflection of Carmen, who appears here in an unusual, tragic form. Michaela's lyrical aria “I assure myself in vain” takes on a decisive character. José's meeting with Escamillo creates a dramatic build-up and sets up the climax of the third act (Carmen's breakup with José). The finale of the act conveys the ominous alertness and tension of the situation, foreshadowing the inevitable denouement.

The symphonic intermission for the fourth act, in keeping with the character of the Spanish folk dance "polo", is one of the remarkable examples of Bizet's penetration into the spirit of folk music. The act breaks down into two halves: the pictures of a bright, sparkling national holiday are contrasted with the personal drama of the characters; life's contrasts are extremely exposed. The action opens with a lively folk scene, reminiscent of the beginning of the opera in its bright and sunny coloring. A solemn heroic march and choir accompany Escamillo's triumphal procession. The melody of the duet “If you love, Carmen” by Escamillo and Carmen flows widely and freely, full of hot feelings. In the second half of the act, especially in the duet between Jose and Carmen, the dramatic tension quickly increases. Throughout the entire scene, the contrast between popular rejoicing and personal drama intensifies. Four times the intruding festive cheers of the crowd intensify the duel between the heroes, leading to a tragic outcome.

M. Druskin

One of the most outstanding works of world opera classics. After the scandalous premiere, which ended in failure, already in the autumn of the same year the Vienna premiere (for which Guiro wrote recitatives instead of spoken dialogues) was a great success, which the composer was not destined to see (Bizet died suddenly in the summer of 1875). Recently, a number of theaters have returned to the “talk” version. The Russian premiere took place in 1885 (Mariinsky Theatre, conductor Napravnik, as Carmen Slavina). Carmen has enjoyed unprecedented popularity for over 100 years. Her fiery melodies: habanera “L'amour est oiseau rebelle”, couplets of the bullfighter “Votre toast”, heartfelt lyrical episodes (José’s aria “with a flower” from 2 d., etc.) are heard as well as the most popular folk and pop songs . In 1967, Karajan staged the film-opera “Carmen” with the participation of Bumbry, Vickers, and Freni. A new version of the opera was filmed in 1983 by F. Rosi (director Maazel, soloists Migenes-Johnson, Domingo, etc.). Among the productions of recent years, we note the 1996 performances at the Metropolitan Opera (Graves in the title role) and at the Mariinsky Theater (director Gergiev).

ACT I

The overture ends with a dramatic dissonant chord. The curtain rises. In front of us is a square in Seville (almost 180 years ago). Sultry afternoon. At the barracks there is a group of soldiers off duty, they look at passers-by and cynically discuss them. There is a cigar factory right across from the barracks. Michaela appears. She is not local and is looking for her friend Corporal Don Jose here and, when she finds out that he is not here, embarrassed by the offers of his colleagues to stay with them, she leaves. There is a changing of the guard, during which a group of street urchins pose as soldiers. Among those replaced are Don Jose and his commander, Captain Zuniga, who, in a short conversation with Don Jose, is interested in the girls working at the cigar factory. They are obviously attractive, as a group of young men (today we would call them country cowboys) are gathered at the factory gates, waiting for them to come out for their lunch break. The ringing of the bell at the factory announces the beginning of the break, and a crowd of broken, cheerful workers pour out of the gates, they smoke cigars - a rather bold activity for a girl in the twenties of the 19th century! But the assembled young men are waiting first of all for the most attractive of them - Carmen.

The orchestra announces Carmen's appearance with a short version of the theme of her fate; here, finally, she herself. She flirts with boys and sings. The famous habanera sounds (“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” - “Love has wings like a bird”). This is a frank warning that Carmen's love is a dangerous business. Don Jose (he always seemed to me to be some kind of formalist and pedant) does not pay any attention to Carmen, and at the end of her song she disdainfully throws a flower at him. The girls return to work and laugh at his embarrassment.

Michaela arrives, still looking for Don Jose. she has a letter to him from his mother and a gift - a good reason for a very tender duet (“Parle moi ma mere” - “What did the relatives say?”). Before they have time to finish their duet, a terrible noise is heard in the factory, and the workers run out into the street. Captain Zuniga, trying to restore order, finds out that the reason for Carmen’s panic: she attacked one of the girls and slashed her with a knife. He orders Don José to arrest the culprit, bring her to him for trial in the barracks and guard her until he decides what to do with her. Left alone with Don José, Carmen finally wins the heart of the young soldier with an intoxicating seguidilla (“Pres de la porte de Seville" - "Near the bastion in Seville"). In it, she promises to sing and dance for him - and love him! - in a tavern near Seville (not a very good reputation), which is kept by her friend Lillas Pastya. Zuniga returns, he gives the order to Don Jose to take Carmen to prison. On the way there, she manages to push Don Jose away and escape. As a result, the young corporal was arrested.

ACT II

Each of the four acts of Carmen is preceded by its own symphonic introduction, or intermission. The intermission for the second act is based on a short soldier's song, which Don José later sings. As the curtain rises we see Lillas Pasta's tavern. Gypsy dance is full of fiery fun. Captain Zuniga, this boss of Jose, is also here. Of the visitors, he is the most important person. Now he is trying to win Carmen over. He doesn't succeed very well - Carmen prefers a less respectable society. However, she is pleased to hear that the sixty-day period of Don Jose’s guardhouse, which he received for connivance in her escape, is ending.

Suddenly a popular athlete appears on the stage. This is Escamillo, the bullfighter, and, of course, he sings his famous “Toreador Couples” (“Votre toast, je peux le rendre” - “Toast, friends, I accept yours”); everyone joins him in unison. Like Zuniga, he is captivated by the sparkle in Carmen's eyes. The same one, for her part, can give him no more hope.

But it’s already late, and it’s time to close the tavern. Soon everyone leaves, and no one remains except Carmen and four smugglers - two girls named Frasquita and Mercedes, and a couple of bandits - El Dancairo and El Remendado. Together they sing a light, lively quintet (“Nous avons en tete une affaire” - “We want to offer you a job”). Everyone talks about the need for girls to carry out smuggling raids, because this is their business. Where it is necessary to deceive, to divert attention, women are irreplaceable. At this moment, the voice of Don Jose is heard behind the stage, singing his soldier’s song.

Carmen, waiting for Jose, escorts everyone out of the tavern and warmly greets Don Jose, who came here after his release from arrest. As she promised, she sings and dances for him. In the midst of her dance, the sound of a trumpet is heard, which for Don Jose is a signal to report to the barracks. He wants to go, but this inflames Carmen even more. “Is this how you treat a girl?” - she shouts to him. Carmen is angry: she no longer wants to see a man for whom there is something more important than her love. Touched by her reproaches, he takes out the flower that she once threw to him, and in a very passionate “aria about the flower” he talks about how it inspired him all those days that he spent in prison (“La fleur que tu m’ avais jete” - “You see how sacredly I preserve the flower that you gave me”). Touched and softened in heart, Carmen again addresses him with affection. But what she could not achieve with affection, jealousy achieves: Zuniga, Don Jose’s commander, appears on the threshold of the tavern: an officer has come to see Carmen on a date, and the corporal has nothing else to do here. He arrogantly orders Don José to go to the barracks. Well, this is too much! Don José, having lost his head, draws his saber; he is ready to attack the senior officer. At this moment, the gypsies burst in and disarm the captain. Don Jose has no choice: he abandons his military career and joins a gang of gypsies - smugglers - this is exactly what Carmen planned. The second act ends with a chorus glorifying free life. Everyone sings it enthusiastically except Zuniga.

ACT III

The flute solo, which begins the intermission for the third act, paints a poetic picture of nature - the peace and quiet of the slumbering mountains. A chorus of smugglers sounds, a song to which Don Jose was forced to join. Now they have settled down for a short rest among the mountains in a secluded place, where they are engaged in their illegal business. Don Jose suffers from homesickness (he dreams of a quiet peasant life), and he is tormented by remorse. Only his passionate love for Carmen keeps him in the smuggling camp. But Carmen doesn't love him anymore, she's tired of him. A breakup is inevitable. What do the cards predict? Frasquita and Mercedes are guessing. I must say that they have predicted a very attractive future for themselves: Frasquita is destined to meet a passionate lover, Mercedes is destined to meet a rich old man who intends to marry her, and she, Carmen, is destined to meet “spades” for the umpteenth time - death. “It’s pointless to try to escape your own destiny,” she sings in the famous “card” aria. But now the signal sounds for the smugglers to go to work, that is, to try to smuggle their goods across the border. (Their choir in this place always amazes me with its noisiness, because it is sung by criminals engaged in illegal and therefore secret operations.)

As they leave, Micaela appears, looking for Don Jose. She is very frightened and asks God for protection in a touching aria (“Je dis que rien ne m’epouvante” - “I assure myself in vain”). Suddenly Jose, who was left to guard part of the goods, shoots at someone who is sneaking here. The frightened girl is hiding. However, Jose was not aiming at Micaela, but, as it turned out, at Escamillo, who came here in search of Carmen, with whom he was in love. Recognizing him, Don Jose grabs a knife, and a fight ensues between the rivals, but Escamillo’s dagger breaks, and the bullfighter ends up on the ground. At this moment - very opportunely - Carmen appears to save the bullfighter. Having exquisitely thanked Carmen, he invites everyone to his next performance in Seville. Escamillo leaves, and then Don José discovers Micaela's presence nearby. She tells why she decided to go on this dangerous journey after the smugglers: Don Jose’s mother is dying and wants to see him for the last time. Carmen scornfully tells Jose that he better go. But before leaving, he turns to her and angrily warns that they will meet again - only death can separate them. A bullfighter's aria sounds behind the stage, Carmen tries to run towards him. But Don Jose, turning to her once again, roughly, with all his might, pushes her so that she falls to the ground. Only after this is it deleted. The orchestra repeats the bullfighter's melody quietly and ominously.

ACT IV

The last act is preceded by one of the most brilliant orchestral fragments of the entire score - a symphonic episode, captivating with its rhythmic pulsation, in the style of the Spanish folk dance of polo. Everyone is in festive clothes; everyone is ready to enjoy the magnificent performance of Escamillo in the arena in Seville. Noble ladies, officers, commoners, soldiers - it seems that the whole city has gathered, wanting to see the bullfight. Finally, the bullfighter himself appears and with him on his arm is Carmen, dressed with the luxury with which only a bull-winner at the zenith of his glory could afford to dress his beloved. They sing a short and rather banal love duet. And when Escamillo disappears inside the theater, everyone, with the exception of Carmen, rushes after him. Her friends, Frasquita and Mercedes, warn her that Don José is hiding somewhere here. She defiantly remains standing alone, declaring that she is not afraid of him.

Don Jose enters, he approaches her menacingly, in rags, wounded - a striking contrast to Carmen on the day of her triumph. He conjures her to return to him. The answer was her firm refusal. One more of his pleas - and again the answer was only contempt. In the end, she furiously throws the gold ring he gave her right in his face. Behind the stage, a jubilant chorus sounds to the victorious bullfighter - Don Jose's lucky rival. Lost by all this, Don Jose threatens Carmen with a dagger. She desperately tries to hide from him in the theater. But at that moment, when the crowd in the theater enthusiastically greets the winner - Escamillo, Don Jose here, on the street, plunges a dagger into the beloved he has lost forever. The crowd pours out of the theater. Don José, mentally broken, shouts in despair: “Arrest me! I killed her. Oh my Carmen! - and falls at the feet of the dead Carmen.