Carmen - Background

Following the disaster of the Franco-Prussian War (1870) and the turmoil of the Paris Commune (1871), musical life arose again in Paris. Georges Bizet, born on October 25, 1838, could continue his work as a composer. A winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome, Bizet was friendly with many of the musical masters of his day and, as a guest at Rossini's Parisian soirées, was praised by Liszt for his skill as a pianist. In spite of these connections, Bizet in the 1860s had not found success as a composer. His operas Les Pêcheurs de perles (1863) and La Jolie fille de Perth (1866) had runs of only 18 performances each at the Théâtre-Lyrique and neither had a revival in Paris during the composer’s lifetime. Between 1867 and 1871, Bizet began and abandoned a number of operas, including Grisélidis based on Boccaccio and Clarissa Harlowe based on Samuel Richardson’s epistolary novel.

The composer earned his living by preparing transcriptions of operatic scores and teaching. Finally, his contributions to two pieces won critical praise: the one-act opera, Djamileh, and the incidental music to Alphonse Daudet’s play, L’Arlésienne. Bizet was finding his voice as a mature artist and the management of the Opéra-Comique showed its faith in him by commissioning a new opera. This work would be Carmen.

Carmen was a bold choice for Bizet and his librettists. Based on an already classic story by Prosper Mérimée, it contained sex, violence, and murder. However, the Opéra-Comique was a family theater that produced entertainment for the bourgeoisie and although the librettists promised to soften their material, one of the company’s impresarios left in protest. The first singer approached to sing the title role refused, finding it scandalous.

Bizet worked closely with his librettists in creating the opera's text and wrote the words for the “Habanera” himself and contributed to the “Seguidilla” and “Card Aria.” For parts of his new score, including Don José’s “Flower Song” and the Act III finale, Bizet adapted material from some of his incomplete operas. When Célestine Galli-Marié, the first Carmen, did not like the music for the “Habanera,” he rewrote it 13 times. Finally, Bizet adapted a song, “El Arreglito,” believing it a folk piece. A Spanish-American composer, Sebastián Yradier, turned out to be its creator and Bizet acknowledged his debt to Yradier in a footnote in the score.

Delays in the rehearsals and premiere of Carmen occurred several times due to the Comique’s financial troubles. The chorus grumbled that its music was not singable. Finally, the opera faced its first audience on March 3^rd, 1875, with the composers Gounod, Thomas, Delibes, Offenbach, and Massenet in attendance. The audience greeted the first act with enthusiastic applause, but each succeeding act drew less approval. By the end of the performance, many in the audience had already left: Carmen was a long opera, and its second intermission that night lasted 42 minutes. The press was savage, denouncing the music and the immorality of the libretto. Soon afterwards, Bizet signed a contract to have the work presented in Vienna, but three months after Carmen’s premiere, the composer was dead at the age of 36.

As was the custom for operas at the Opéra-Comique, Bizet wrote Carmen with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers. Ernest Guiraud, the New Orleans-born composer and Bizet’s friend, took the task of turning Carmen into a grand opera (a work sung throughout). Carmen’s grand opera version premiered in Vienna in the fall of 1875. It proved a success, as it did again the following year in Brussels. Productions of Carmen in its new version continued, and the United States saw the opera for the first time in New York on October 23, 1878. Critics, audiences, and composers now hailed Carmen not only as Bizet’s masterpiece, but also as one of the masterpieces of the entire operatic literature.

Greg Trupiano (1955-2020) joined Sarasota Opera in 1987 and was with the company until his death. He was also founder and artistic director of The Walt Whitman Project.

ACT I 
In a square in Seville 

Moralès and other soldiers observe the array of people that passes by. A peasant girl, Micaëla, asks for Don José but she runs off after the soldiers flirt with her. Soon Don José arrives with the changing of the guard. Zuniga, a lieutenant stationed in Seville for the first time, asks him about the women who work at the cigar factory, but Don José confesses that these women do not interest him since he loves Micaëla. The factory bell rings announcing the end of the workers’ break, and the return of the women. 

Carmen, a Gypsy employed at the factory, sings about the unpredictability of love. She flirts with Don José and throws a flower at him. Outraged at Carmen’s behavior, Don José nonetheless keeps the flower. 

On her return, Micaëla finds Don José and gives him a letter and a kiss from his mother.  

Women rush out from the factory telling Zuniga conflicting stories about a fight. Don José goes inside to investigate and returns with Carmen who haughtily answers Zuniga’s questions with a song. Alone with Don José, Carmen convinces him to let her escape and, as Don José leads her to jail, the Gypsy pushes him away and runs to freedom. 

INTERMISSION 

ACT II 
Lillas Pastia’s inn 

Carmen and her friends, Frasquita and Mercédès, entertain Zuniga who tells Carmen that Don José, who was sent to jail for helping her escape, has been demoted and released from prison. 

The bullfighter Escamillo and his retinue come to the inn, and he makes his attraction to Carmen clear. As the crowd leaves, Zuniga informs Carmen he will return. 

The smugglers Dancaïre and Remendado join Carmen and her friends and hope the women will help with handling some contraband.  However, Carmen refuses to join the plan, stating that she is waiting for her new lover. Dancaïre suggests that Carmen convince Don José to join the smugglers. 

Don José arrives and, while Carmen dances for him, he hears the bugles that announce he must return to the barracks. The Gypsy taunts him when he attempts to leave. Zuniga enters and the two men fight, but the Gypsies disarm the lieutenant and send him away. Left with no choice, Don José now joins Carmen. 

INTERMISSION 

ACT III 
A wild spot in the mountains 

The Gypsies are smuggling contraband through the mountains. Carmen no longer loves Don José, but he refuses to leave her. 

When GypsFrasquita and Mercédès read their futures in cards, Carmen sees one fate repeatedly predicted for her: death.  

After they all leave, Micaëla finds the smugglers’ camp and prays for courage. She hides when Don José fires his gun as he stands guard nearby. Entering, the bullfighter Escamillo complains that Don José has almost killed him; soon the two men fight with knives after Escamillo announces he is there to see Carmen.  

Carmen and her friends intervene and, before leaving, the bullfighter invites all to see him in the bullring in Seville. Remendado discovers Micaëla in hiding and the peasant girl explains to Don José she has come to bring him home. He agrees to leave Carmen only when he learns that his mother is dying.  

PAUSE 

ACT IV 
A square in Seville 

On the day of Escamillo’s bullfight, vendors sell their wares. The crowd hails Escamillo as he makes his way to the bullring. Escamillo and Carmen express their love to each other, and Frasquita and Mercédès warn their friend that Don José is nearby. 

After everyone goes into the bullring, Don José confronts Carmen. He tells her they can start a new life together, but she responds that everything between them is over. She throws the ring he had given her at him, and in a rage, Don José stabs Carmen to death. 

World Premiere: Opéra-Comique, Paris, March 3, 1875