Carmen Backstage Pass

2 / 10

2
Carmen
Opera in four acts, sung in French with projected English titles
by Georges Bizet
Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy from the story by Prosper
Mérimée
Premiered March 3, 1875, Opéra-Comique, Paris
THE CHARACTERS (IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE)
Moralès, an officer . ....................................................................................... Bass
Micaëla, a peasant girl .........................................................................Soprano
Zuniga, a lieutenant ..................................................................................... Bass
Don José, a corporal .................................................................................. Tenor
Carmen , a gypsy ...................................................................................Soprano
Mercédès, a gypsy, friend of Carmen ....................................Mezzo-soprano
Frasquita, a gypsy, friend of Carmen ......................................Mezzo-soprano
Escamillo , a toreador ............................................................................Baritone
Remendado , a smuggler ........................................................................... Tenor
Dancaïre, a smuggler . ..........................................................................Baritone
Cigarette girls, soldiers, an innkeeper, smugglers, dancers
SETTING
Seville, Spain; ca. 1820
ACT I: A public square
In a town square in Seville, Spain, soldiers guarding the cigarette factory idly
watch the passersby (Chorus: Sur la place, chacun passe). Micaëla, a young
country girl, enters the square in search of one of the soldiers, Don José. Led
by an officer, Moralès, the soldiers surround her and try to detain her, but
Micaëla flees. Afterwards, José’s military unit arrives.
At noon, the young men of the town gather to watch the women as they
come out of the cigarette factory on a break from work (Chorus: Dans
l’air, nous suivons des yeux). One of the women, the gypsy Carmen, tells
her friends that love is “a wild bird that cannot be imprisoned” (Habanera:
. Before returning to work, she flirtatiously tosses
a flower at Don José. Micaëla returns, this time with a letter from José’s
mother (Duet: Parle-moi de ma mère). José resolves to honor his mother’s
wishes by marrying Micaëla.
Suddenly, screams are heard from the factory: Carmen has been involved
in a fight and has slashed another woman’s face. While Lieutenant
Zuniga drafts the order for her imprisonment, she is put into José’s custody.
Carmen persuades him to let her escape by promising a future rendezvous
(Seguidilla: Près des remparts de Séville ).
ACT II: Lillas Pastia’s tavern
At Lillas Pastia’s tavern, Carmen and two friends, Frasquita and Mercédès,
sing of the gypsy life (Gypsy song: Les tringles des sistres tintaient). Lieutenant
Zuniga tells Carmen that José was thrown in prison for allowing her to
escape, but that he has just been released. The bullfighter Escamillo arrives
with his entourage (Toreador song:
and asks Carmen if she will ever love him. Dancaïre and Remendado, two
revolutionaries, try to convince Carmen and her friends to accompany them
on their next mission (Quintet: Nous avons en tête). Carmen refuses, saying
she is in love with José and is awaiting his return.
When José arrives, Carmen sings and dances for him (Duet:
. During her dance, distant bugles sound and José says
he must return to the barracks immediately. She invites him to desert the
army and join the revolutionaries, but he refuses, and Carmen mocks his
cowardice. In an attempt to calm her fury, José reveals his love for her
(Flower song: ). As he is leaving, José encounters
Zuniga, who has come in hopes of seeing Carmen. The jealous José strikes his
superior officer. Now an outlaw, he has no choice but to desert the army and
join Carmen and her friends.
A Synopsis of the Opera