Carmen

Teacher's Score: 7.5/10


Published in 1845, the book Carmen by Prosper Merimee didn't seem like a novel that would become very famous, but Georges Bizet used the novel and Meilhac and Halevy's libretto to create an "opera comique" (lyric exotic opera) in 1875. An orchestra plays while several characters sing. Carmen, mezzo, soprano, is a seductive cigarette factory girl who plays the main character. Don Jose, tenor, is a simple soldier obsessed with Carmen. Escamillo, bass-baritone, is a handsome bullfighter who also desires Carmen. Lieutenant Zuniga, bass, is Don Jose's superior officer. He is another person who likes Carmen. Micaela, soprano, is Don Jose's girlfriend before he met Carmen. Frasquita and Mercedes are Carmen's Gyspy friends. This piece is a very good example of exoticism (for this time, Spain) because of the brilliant orchestration and rhythmic vitality. The music shows strong desire, love and hate.The overall theme is about the disintegration of a personality. Bizet expanded the opera comique with realism, sensuality, and a tragic ending. The action is swift as the characters are carried step by step towards their doom. The libretto has 4 main words: l'amour (love), jamais (never), le sort (fate), and la morte (death).

The Prelude to Act 1, in ABAC form, has a lot of themes that would be sung or played later in the piece. A (Main theme) represents the procession of bullfighters, so it is fortissimo (very loud), a major key (A+), 2/4 time, and Allegro giocoso. B (Toreador theme) plays a more graceful theme which would be sung by Escamillo in some later scenes so it is piano (soft), modulates to contrast A (F+) and is in 2/4 time. An abbreviated A (main theme) returns, followed by C (Fate motive), which has a dark and mysterious mood, which means that it is fortissimo again, in a minor key (d-), 3/4 time, and Andante moderato. This Prelude leads directly into the opening scene of Carmen.

Act I is in Seville, Spain in front of a cigarette factory. A trumpet fanfare playing a staccato march tune announces the arrival of a military guard. A crowd of street boys pretends to be like soldiers, singing a snappy tune in high register- "Ta, ra, ta, ta, ta, ta" in d-, imitating a bugle call. The factory bells ring at noon, and young men come to flirt with the factory girls. The girls enter, smoking cigarettes and blowing smoke tings. The mood suddenly changes with a few agitated measures of dramatic music, preparing the audience for Carmen's entrance - it is an alteration of the Fate motive. "Quand je vous aimerai?" (When shall I Love You?) sung by Carmen introduces her tough, impulsive and dangerous character. She says to men she doesn't know when she will love them "but not today, that's certain". The next scene has Carmen singing her aria the Habanera. A descending chromatic melody shows Carmen's seductive nature. The cellos play a Cuban dance rhythm with the 2nd note shorter than the others. It is sung in verse and chorus form with Carmen singing and the chorus echoing her. At the end of the Habanera, when Carmen stares at Don Jose, the Fate motive reappears in the cellos.


In Act II, Don Jose was planning marry Micaela, but he now wants to marry Carmen. Also in love with him, Carmen tries to lure Don Jose into her band of Gyspy smugglers, but Don Jose cannot abandon the life as a soldier he has known. After learning that Carmen has been entertaining Lieutenant Zuniga, Don Jose attacks him in a fit of jealousy, and now he cannot return to the army.


In Act III, in a deserted mountain pass (the Gyspy smuggler's hideout), Don Jose sadly thinks back on his life - his happiness with Carmen was short-lived. Worse, Carmen is tired of him and likes Escamillo. She suggests to Don Jose that he should return to his village, and they quarrel. Carmen's Gyspy friends Frasquita and Mercedes open a deck of cards to tell their fortunes. Their cards foresee rich lives, but Carmen and Don Jose's cards spell death. Escamillo enters the pass, sees Don Jose and fight, but they are separated. Micaela comes in and tells Don Jose that his mother is dying. Just before he leaves, he warns Carmen "We will meet again!" and the orchestra plays the "Fate motive".


In an outside bullring in Seville, Act IV starts with Escamillo preparing for a bullfight. Don Jose steps out of the crowd preparing for the bullfight. He wants Carmen to marry him, but Carmen doesn't want to give up her freedom. Angrily, Don Jose stabs Carmen as the Toreador theme is played.


Teacher's Comments:
- Include the era.
- Define exoticism.
- Say what type of piece is "Quand je vous amerai".
- Define Habanera.