Contents
Characters | 3
Synopsis | 4
Biographies: Composer, librettists & dramatist | 6
Background: Bullfighting | 8
Background: Roma people | 11
Background: Tarot cards | 14
Listening guide |15
Cast Q&A | 17
Additional resources |18
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Scenery pieces for Carmen, off to one side at the Edmonton Opera
production facility.
The slat fence, used in Act IV of Carmen during the bullfighting scene.
2
Characters
Frasquita | Soprano
A gypsy, and one of Carmen’s best friends. Frasquita is always
ready to take part in the next adventure. She goes with the flow
and likes to have a good time.
(In order of vocal appearance)
Morales | Baritone
A sergeant in the Spanish army.
Mercédès | Soprano
A gypsy and another close friend of Carmen. She loves the
bohemian way of life and longs to find true love.
Dancaïro | Baritone
A smuggler and a friend of Carmen, who enlists her aid when
carrying out illegal escapades.
Escamillo | Baritone
A popular bullfighter around Seville. He also falls prey to
Carmen’s charms.
Micaëla | Soprano
An orphan who has been raised by Don José’s mother in
Navarre. Micaëla’s character is the opposite of Carmen, and
Micaëla would like Don José to come back home, marry her
and live a normal life.
Remendado | Tenor
A smuggler and a friend of Carmen, who enlists her aid when
carrying out illegal escapades.
Don José | Tenor
Sergeant who falls in love with Carmen and eventually deserts
the army.
Zuniga | Bass-baritone
A lieutenant in charge of the troops stationed in Seville. He is
Don José’s superior, and is rather loose in both his morality and
authority in Seville. He is easily bought, and more interested in
enjoying himself than upholding the law.
Carmen | Mezzo-soprano
The femme fatale of this opera. Her character shocked
audiences at the time by smoking on stage, seducing soldiers,
corrupting customs officials and smuggling on the side.
3
Costume design credits: Deanna
Finnman
Synopsis
In a heated argument turned violent, Carmen has stabbed
another worker. Zuniga arrests her and tries unsuccessfully to
interrogate her. Don José is left to guard Carmen, but he cannot
hide that he is attracted to her. By seducing him, Carmen is
able to escape. Zuniga has José arrested and imprisoned for his
dereliction of duty.
Music by Georges Bizet. Libretto by Henri Meilhac and
Ludovic Halévy
Premiered March 3, 1875, Opéra-Comique, Paris
Act I | A town square, Spain in the early 1930s before the
Spanish Civil War
Soldiers stand in the square commenting on the locals. Micaëla
enters, looking for Don José, a corporal in the nearby regiment.
When she asks Morales about Don José, the other soldiers
frighten her off with their advances. The changing of the guard
arrives, including José, and their marching and formation is
mimicked by children. Morales tell Don José about the young
girl in the pretty blue skirt who was looking for him. José
knows immediately that it is Micaëla.
Act II | A month later, in a seedy tavern
The gypsies and soldiers drink and dance inside a smoky tavern
while Carmen sings a sultry Spanish song about the passionate
affair between dance and music. She is excited to hear of Don
José’s release from prison. Just then, the crowd erupts in praise
of the toreador Escamillo, who has won a celebrated bullfight
in Granada. He sings of his victory, the glories of bullfighting
and the rewards of love in the famous Toreador Song.
The crowd follows him out, but Carmen, Frasquita and
Mercédès remain behind. The smugglers Dancaïro and
Remendado arrive and together with the three gypsies, sing
a quintet of their illegal plans to dispose of some contraband.
Carmen declines to help them, preferring to wait for José.
When Carmen is left alone, José arrives and the two embrace.
Carmen dances a seguidilla for him just as the bugle calls
distantly, signalling for his return to barracks. José attempts
to leave but Carmen is disappointed and, as part of her plan
to manipulate him, mocks him, stating he does not love her.
Instead, he shows her the flower that she threw to him in the
square while singing the Flower Song. Carmen is unmoved and
demands that José run away with her to the mountains. José
refuses, but when Zuniga, his commanding officer, enters and
makes a serious pass at Carmen, José is enraged and strikes
Zuniga. The smugglers ambush Zuniga and restrain him. José,
The factory bell sounds, the men arrive and the chorus of
cigarette girls appears. They light their tobacco rolls and blow
smoke rings, singing that all love is mere smoke. Carmen
appears, proclaiming she may love one of the men tomorrow,
or maybe never, but not today, that is certain. She sings her
famous habañera, proclaiming that love is a rebellious bird
that cannot be tamed. At the end of her seductive song, she is
suddenly struck by her attraction for José. He is oblivious to
her. As the fate motif is heard, she hurls a flower at him.
Later, Micaëla shows José a letter from his mother with some
money painstakingly saved for him. Micaëla and José sing a
love duet.
Shouting is heard from the factory and a commotion ensues.
4
seeing that his career is over, casts his lot in with the smugglers
and runs away with Carmen.
Once everyone leaves for the bullfight, José confronts Carmen
alone, begging her to come back. Carmen tells him clearly, then
forcefully that she no longer loves him, but José is undeterred
in his jealous obsession. José stabs Carmen to death and as he
falls into delirium, submits himself for arrest.
Act III | Three months later at the smugglers’ hideout in the
mountains
Carmen is now bored with Don José, who regrets his
impulsiveness in leaving everything behind, including his
mother who lives nearby. When Carmen mocks him and tells
him to go back to his mother, José threatens to kill Carmen.
He is left to guard the hideout when the smugglers leave on
another contraband mission.
Micaëla appears out of the craggy mountains with a guide.
She is looking for José and is determined to rescue him from
Carmen. A gunshot is heard — José has fired at an intruder.
It is Escamillo, who introduces himself to José, asking his
way to find Carmen. When José realizes that Escamillo is
Carmen’s new lover, he challenges Escamillo to a knife fight.
The smugglers, returning just in time, intervene. Escamillo
is grateful and invites the smugglers to his next bullfight
before leaving. Micaëla is discovered in hiding and pleas with
José, telling him that his mother is dying. He decides to leave
with Micaëla, threatening Carmen that they will meet again.
Escamillo is heard singing the Toreador Song offstage.
Act IV | Outside the bullring
Street vendors, dignitaries and a jubilant crowd line the street
for the arrival of Escamillo and his quadrilla, ready to fight
the bull. When Escamillo appears, the crowd cheers. He and
Carmen sing a tender love duet and he departs for the contest.
But a jealous José, hiding in the crowd, stalks Carmen. Her
friends warn her of his presence, but she rebuffs their concerns.
5
Composer Georges Bizet
Although Bizet is primarily
remembered as an opera
composer, he could have
easily had a career as a concert
pianist; Franz Lizst called him
one of the three finest pianists
in Europe at the time.
1838-1875
Georges Bizet didn’t live long enough to see the success of
Carmen; he died on June 3, 1875, in Paris, at the age of 36.
Johannes Brahms, however, saw the work many times and said
he would have “gone to the ends of the earth to embrace Bizet
[for the success of Carmen].”
Three months to the day
after the premiere of Carmen
He was born on Oct. 25, 1838, in Paris, and registered at birth as (March 3, 1875), Bizet died,
Alexandre César Léopold Bizet. His father was an amateur singer having suffered a series of
and his uncle was a renowned vocal teacher. Bizet entered the
heart attacks.
Paris Conservatory at the age of 10, studying under Fromental
Halévy (Bizet would later marry Halévy’s daughter, Genevieve,
in 1869, and produce a son, Jacques, in 1872).
Librettists
Ludovic Halévy, 1833 – 1908
In 1857, he won the Prix de Rome for scholarship study in Italy,
the same year he composed Le docteur miracle, his first opera.
The Pearl Fishers, in 1863, was his first opera performed on the
professional stage at the Theatre Lyrique. His compositions
paid more attention to the meaning and emotional content
of the words than to the rhythm or metrical pattern — his
choice of subject matter and compositional style presaged the
development of verismo opera.
Librettist Ludovic Halévy was
born on Dec. 31, 1833, in Paris.
His father Léon was a scholar
and playwright; his paternal
uncle was a well-known
composer. Halévy followed
in the family tradition of
musicians and playwrights.
Bizet would write six operas, leaving approximately another 30
works incomplete or unpublished. However, he earned his living
mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others, since
the main Parisian theatres preferred to stage the classics instead
of the work of newcomers.
His career started as a
government official, working
in French administration. He
started writing libretti in 1855
(first under the pseudonym
6
Jules Servieres, but using his real name by 1856) for Jacques
Offenbach. By 1865, he retired from the public service in order
to continue to write. Halévy worked with other librettists,
including Hector Crémieux and Henri Meilhac; with Meilhac
he wrote pieces for Offenbach including La Belle Helene, La vie
Parisenne, La Grand-duchesse du Gérolstein and La Périchole, as
well as the libretto for Carmen.
His work is also closely tied to Offenbach, and thanks to operas
that he wrote for the composer (most of them with Halévy),
Meilhac became very popular in England and was elected as
a member of the Académie Francaise for his artistic talents in
1888. He died in Paris on July 6, 1897.
Dramatist
Prosper Mérimée, 1833 – 1908
The 20-year relationship between Meilhac and Halévy is
described as a friendly one — Meilhac brought wit and
imagination to the work, while Halévy brought a sense of
dramatic framework.
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, master of short
story and a historian, who held an office as a state archeologist.
His novella Carmen (1845) about jealously and unfaithfulness
inspired Georges Bizet’s opera of the same name.
He died in Paris on May 7, 1908.
He was born in Paris in 1803. He first studied law but
preferred to study Greek, Spanish, English and Russian
languages, and their literature. He also visited Spain in
1830, which became one of his principal literary sources.
After a career under the ministries of navy, commerce and
the interior, he was appointed in 1833 inspector-general of
historical remains in France.
Henri Meilhac, 1831 – 1897
Librettist Henri Meilhac was
born on Feb. 21, 1831, in Paris.
He first worked as a bookseller
but also pursued other interests,
including writing and drawing
for the newspapers Journal pour
rire and Vie parisienne. For
this work, he initially used the
pseudonym Ivan Baskoff.
Along with Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Vigny, Musset, Gautier
and George Sand, Mérimée was one of the greatest names of
the romantic movement in France. Passionate, destructive
love was Mérimée’s subject in many of his short stories, among
them the symbolic The Pearl of Toledo.
He made his debut in 1856 as a
comedy writer for the one-act musical La Sarabande du cardinal,
and subsequently wrote exclusively for theatre. He completed at Mérimée wrote his first play, Cromwell (1822) at the age
least 115 works — many in collaboration with other authors —
of 19. His historical play, Peasant Revolt (1828), and the
including musical comedies, five-act comedies and opera libretti. noval Chronique du Règne de Charles IX (1929) was born
in the vogue of historical fiction established by Sir Walter
7
History & definitions of
bullfighting
Scott. Mérimée admired
Alexander Pushkin and was
the first interpreter of Russian
literature in France.
In 1813 Mérimée started a
long correspondence with
a young girl, which was
published as Lettres à une
inconnue (1873). When
the daughter of his friend,
Countess of Montijo, became
empress Eugénie of France,
Mérimée was admitted to the royal circle and made a senator
in 1853.
History
Often termed “indefensible but irresistible,” the spectacle of
bullfighting has existed in one form or another since ancient days.
For example, a contest of some sort is depicted in a wall painting
unearthed at Knossos in Crete, dating from about 2,000 BC. It
shows male and female acrobats confronting a bull, grabbing its
horns as it charges and vaulting over its back.
Bullfights were popular spectacles in ancient Rome, but it was in
the Iberian Peninsula that these contests were fully developed.
The Moors from North Africa who overran Andalucia in AD
711 changed bullfighting significantly from the brutish, formless
spectacle practiced by the conquered Visigoths to a ritualistic
occasion observed in connection with feast days, on which the
conquering Moors, mounted on highly trained horses, confronted
and killed the bulls.
Among Mérimée’s disreputable friends was Count Libri,
Guglielmo Bruto Icilio Timoleone, one of the most
accomplished book thieves of all time. Libri was forced to
escape with his wife to England, but a host of politicians,
artists and writers defended him against accusations. Two
years after Libri had been found guilty, Mérimée published
in La Revue des Deux Mondes such a loud dense of his friend
that the courts ordered him to appear before them, accused of
contempt.
As bullfighting developed, the men on foot, who aided the
horsemen in positioning the bulls, began to draw more attention
from the crowd, and the modern corrida began to take form.
Today, the bullfight is much the same as it has been since about
1726, when Francisco Romero of Ronda, Spain, introduced the
estoque (sword) and the muleta (the small, more easily wielded
worsted cape used in the last part of the fight).
Mérimé also wrote novels and short stories, archaeological
and historical dissertations, and travel books. Among his
best known works are Colomba (1840), Carmen, inspired by
Manon Lescaut, Abbé Prévost’s story about amour fou, and La
Chambre Bleue (1872). Mérimée died in Cannes on Sept. 23,
1870.
8
Traditionally, the bullfight is a combination of ritual and mortal
combat, with an attempt, at the risk of the principal contestant’s
life, to maneuver a bull gracefully and kill it in a manner both
courageous and aesthetically pleasing. Although bullfighting is
confined largely to Spain and to the Spanish-speaking countries
of the western hemisphere (especially Mexico), such contests also
take place in southern France and in Portugal.
they will begin to perform in public with young calves, gradually
progressing to older and more developed animals. Novillero,
or novice, bullfighters, in the final stage before becoming a
professional bullfighter, perform with bulls between the ages of
three and four. Given an opportunity to become a professional
bullfighter is called taking the alternative, a public ceremony
where two professional matadors are present to welcome the
novillero; one acting as godfather and the other as a witness.
Professional bullfighters perform with bulls between the age of
four and six, weighing between 450 kg and 700 kg.
In Spanish-speaking countries the bullfight is known as la fiesta
brava (the brave festival) or la corrida de toros (the running of
the bulls). The corrida as it is popularly known, takes place before
crowds of enthusiasts, often numbering many thousands.
The matador
Ranking the great matadors is highly subjective. Most aficionados
would agree, however, that the following names must be included
in any list of the modern greats: Rodolfo Gaona, Fermín Espinosa
and Arruza of Mexico, and Belmonte, Manolete and Antonio
Ordonez of Spain.
Toreadors and matadors
In Carmen, Escamillo is a toreador — actually, he’s a matador.
Georges Bizet created the term toreador, from the root words
“toro” and “torero,” to refer to matadors. “Toreador” does not exist
Few South Americans have made an impact on the international
bullfighting world. Although several North Americans have
attempted careers as matadors, only Sidney Franklin and John
Fulton Short managed to “take the alternative,” passing the
requirements for professional status and accepted as full matadors
in a special ceremony.
Many women have also been bullfighters, including the American
Patricia McCormick. The greatest, however, was Conchita
Cintrón, who fought in Spain and Latin America during the 1940s
with great success.
To become a professional matador, most start their career by
attending a bullfighting school at a relatively early age. There,
Photo: Nathan Rupert, Flickr; Creative Commons license
9
Photo: Nathan Rupert, Flickr; Creative Commons license
in the Spanish dictionary, but the term “torero” encompasses all
the roles in the ring, including picadors and banderillos.
series of manoeuvres done with a large cape known as a capote.
The basic cape manoeuvre is known as veronicas, named after
the woman who held out a cloth to Christ on his way to the
crucifixion. A matador is applauded for his proximity to the horns
of the bull, his tranquility in the face of danger and his grace in
swinging the cape. The colour of the cloth does not matter — bulls
are colourblind and are not aggravated by the (red) colour, but
instead charge instinctively at the large, moving target.
Every matador is a torero, but not every torero is a matador.
The spectacle
Three matadors, followed by their assistants, banderillos and the
picadors, march into the ring, accompanied by paso doble (march
rhythm) music. Matadors wear a silk jacket heavily embroidered
in gold, skintight trousers and a montera (bicorne hat). These
outfits are known as traje de luces (suit of lights) and can cost
many thousands of dollars; a top matador may have at least six
suits per season.
When the bull enters the arena, the matador greets it with a
10
Bearing lances and mounted on horses (who are padded in
compliance with a ruling passed in 1930), the picadors perform
the second part of the bullfight. Their outfits consist of flatbrimmed, beige felt hats called castorenos, chamois trousers and
steel leg armour. Since many of these riders were of noble birth,
they are the only torero, other than the matador, who are allowed
Carmen’s gypsies & the
Roma people
to wear gold embroidery on their jackets. During the off-season,
many picadors play an important role in the breeding of these
bulls by working on fighting bull ranches, determining stock
quality and selecting breeding animals. Many picadors are also
heavy-set, to withstand the considerable force of impact when a
bull charges their horse, and to avoid being lifted off their mount.
History
Roma, commonly known as Gypsies, are a traditionally
nomadic people found throughout the world. Carmen and her
friends are Roma, and some of their characteristics are based
on negative stereotypes. While the term gypsy is often attached
to anyone leading a nomadic life, the Roma share a common
biological, cultural and linguistic heritage that sets them apart
as an ethnic group.
After three lancings (or less, depending on the judgment of the
corrida president that day), the banderillos, on foot, advance to
place their banderillas (brightly adorned, barbed sticks) in the
bull’s shoulders to lower its head for the eventual kill. In case
the matador is injured, the banderillas wait close by the ring to
perform a “quite,” a pass designed to distract the bull away from
the downed matador.
When they first arrived in Europe over 500 years ago, the Roma
were called Gypsies in the mistaken belief that they had come
from Egypt. The true origins of the Roma remained a mystery
until the late 18th century, when European linguists discovered
connections between the Romani language and certain dialects
spoken in northwestern India. More recent linguistic and
historical studies have confirmed that the Roma originated in
India.
There are four types of passes: the trincherazo, generally done with
one knee on the ground and at the beginning of the faena, the pase
de la firma, where the matador simply moves the cloth in front of
the bull’s nose while remaining motionless, the manoletina, where
the muleta is held behind the body (invented by the great Spanish
matador Monolete, Manuel Laureano Rodriguez Sanchez) and
the natural, where the matador takes the sword out of the muleta,
reducing the target size and tempting the bull to charge at the
larger object — the bullfighter.
About eight million Roma live in Europe, and they make
up the continent’s largest minority population. The largest
concentrations of Roma are found in the Balkan peninsula of
southeastern Europe, in central Europe, in Russia and the other
successor republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Smaller Roma populations are scattered throughout western
Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Americas.
After several minutes of working closer and closer to the horns,
the bullfighter takes the sword and lines the bull up for the kill.
The blade must go between the bull’s shoulder blades. Because
the space there is very small, it is imperative that the front feet of
the bull be together as the matador hurtles over the horns. This
requires discipline, training and raw courage, making it known as
the moment of truth.
Little is known about the early history of the Roma. It is not
11
clear whether they lived on the periphery of Indian civilization,
were members of one or more Hindu castes, or represented
a number of different social classes and tribal groups. They
apparently left their original homeland in northern India in
several waves, beginning as early as the fifth century. The most
important migrations began in the 11th century following
Muslim invasions of India. Their route into Europe can be
traced by vocabulary borrowings found in modern European
dialects, all of which contain words from languages such as
Persian, Kurdish and Greek. The Roma initially travelled
westward across Iran into Asia Minor. From there the majority
proceeded into Europe by way of Greece, during the early 14th
century. After about 100 years in Greece, the Roma spread
through Europe. By the early 16th century, they had reached
most areas of the continent, including Russia, Scandinavia, the
British Isles and Spain.
In tsarist Russia (1547-1917), for instance, their circumstances
differed little from those of other impoverished peasants. In the
Balkans, during almost 500 years of Turkish rule, many Roma
enjoyed special privileges by converting to Islam.
Discrimination against Roma, however, has persisted in much
of Europe. In the 20th century, persecutions reached their
height during the Second World War (1939–1945), when as
many as 500,000 Roma perished in Nazi concentration camps.
In the Communist countries of post-war eastern Europe,
the Roma were subjected to government-sponsored forced
assimilation programs. Designed to integrate the Roma into
the dominant national cultures
of the region, these programs
often had the effect of depriving
the Roma of their distinctive
language and culture. Since the fall
of Communism in the late 1980s
and early 1990s, eastern Europe
has seen a revival of more violent
anti-Roma sentiment. Roma
people in western Europe are also
under pressure to abandon their
traditional nomadic way of life. In
France, for example, their access to
campsites has long been restricted.
The Roma were generally well-received in Europe at first, but
their unfamiliar customs and closed society soon aroused
antagonism. In Spain, the Roma enjoyed freedom under
Muslim rule, but their situation changed after the Christian
conquest of that country in 1492. Between 1499 and 1783 the
Spanish government enacted at least a dozen laws prohibiting
Romani dress, language and customs. In France, the first
official repression of Roma occurred in 1539 when they were
expelled from Paris. In 1563 the Roma were commanded to
leave England under the threat of death. Beginning in the
15th century, Hungarian and Romanian nobles who needed
labourers for their large estates forced many Roma into slavery.
In Romania, the enslavement of Roma did not end until 1855.
The Roma, however, have been
increasingly active in political and
cultural movements to establish
their rights and preserve their
Costume design credits: Deanna
heritage. In 1979 the United
Finnman
The Roma were not treated so harshly everywhere in Europe.
12
Nations recognized the Roma as a distinct ethnic group.
The International Romani Union, a non-governmental
organization, represents the world’s Roma at the UN. Other
organizations, such as the Union Romani of Spain and Phralipe
of Hungary, campaign for civil rights in specific countries or
regions.
In stories and movies, Roma women usually wear long,
colourful skirts, a flower in their hair and lots of jewelry. This
dress is rooted in fact — a Roma woman will grow her hair
long, usually worn braided until she is married. Once she
marries, she will always wear a head scarf in public. Instead of
worrying about a bank or safe deposit boxes, Roma convert
their wealth into gold and carry it themselves, as jewelry, hair
Customs and cultures
or clothing decorations. Roma men have no typical costume,
Because the Roma are widely dispersed, their culture and social but since the head is viewed as the body’s focal point, many
organization vary considerably. An important characteristic
men will grow a mustache and/or wear a large hat to accentuate
everywhere, however, is a strong sense of group identity.
it. Both men and women wear bright colours.
Roma culture stresses the sacredness of its own traditions
in opposition to those of the
The Roma have exerted a significant influence on the artistic
outside world. Contact with
history of Europe. Roma fortune tellers, dancing bears and
non-Roma is regarded as
caravans enliven European literature and folklore. Many Roma
potentially polluting, a belief
traditionally worked as musicians and entertainers, and Roma
probably derived from the
influence has been particularly strong in the field of music.
religious beliefs of the Roma’s
Romani folk music has inspired many of Europe’s greatest
Hindu ancestors. Another
composers, including Hungarian composers Béla Bartók,
unifying force is their language, Franz Liszt, Zoltán Kodály, Georges Bizet of France and
Romani, which consists of a
Romanian composer Georges Enesco. The popular flamenco
number of dialects belonging
song and dance of Spain originated from the Roma and still
to the Indo-Iranian branch of
retain a distinctive Roma spirit. Roma musical traditions
the Indo-European languages.
continue to flourish in many parts of eastern Europe, especially
Most Roma speak some form
in Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. Aside from music and
of Romani. Romani is primarily entertainment, Roma generally pursue traditional occupations,
a spoken, rather than written,
including blacksmithing and metalwork, horse and stock
language. Until recent years,
trading, peddling and small-scale commerce, fortune-telling
most Roma were illiterate, and
and curing, and crafts such as basket-making and wood
illiteracy rates remain high in
carving.
most Roma communities.
Costume design credits: Deanna
Finnman
13
History of tarot cards
An early form of playing cards, tarot cards were developed with mass produced. The iconography on the cards blends a mix
four suits — Swords, Cups, Batons and Coins — with cards
of ancient symbols, religious allegories and historical events.
numbering one to 10 in each suit, plus four face cards. The
Certain illustrations have evolved over time, shown by
deck also has a 21-card trump suit, plus a single card known
comparing various decks from different time periods.
as the Fool. Each suit is thought
The four suits correspond to
Card interpretations
to represent the four elements
matters of the heart, money,
The Fool: young and inexperienced
— Wands for fire (ambition
aggression and spirituality. The 22
The
Magician:
relating
to
a
person’s
talents
and passion), Cups for water
trumps cards are considered major
The High Priestess: wisdom, vision and serenity
(emotions), Swords for air (purity
arcana, which are considered to
The Empress: mothering, fertility and desire
of mind) and Coins represent the
represent a person’s travels through
The Emperor: authority and power
earth (tangible items and tasks).
life and significant milestones or
The Heirophant: knowledge and experience
The Lovers: bonding and union
periods in their personal journey.
The Chariot: victory over tribulation
Tarot cards were originally
The 56 cards, comprised of the four
Strength:
self-discipline
developed as playing cards to
suits, are considered minor arcana.
The Hermit: introspective and reflective
play the game tarocchi (similar to
Wheel of Fortune: a turning point in the journey
bridge) and used through much
The correlation between cards and
Justice: objectivity and analysis
of Europe. In North America,
fortune telling did not originate
The Hanged Man: state of surrender or passivity
Death: an ending or conclusion to something, or a change
where those games are less popular
with tarot cards themselves,
Temperance:
harmony
and
balance
or known, tarot cards are used
although the Church condemned
The
Devil:
anger
or
self-captivity
primarily for divinatory purposes.
all forms of playing cards and not
The Tower: chaos or difficulties
The first known, documented tarot
just fortune-telling.
The Star: peace and tranquility
cards were created between 1430
The Moon: doubt and confusion, relating to the
and 1450 in northern Italy, while
Before cards are dealt, a question
imagination
The Sun: radiant and positive influences
the oldest surviving cards are from
must be posed, and then a reader
Judgment:
acceptance
of
past
mistakes
15 fragmented decks painted in the
interprets the spread of cards.
The
World:
accomplishment
mid-15th century for the rulers of
The cards are read in context of
Milan.
the question — the meaning of a
card is not absolute — and so can be a firm prediction of the
Tarot cards were originally hand-painted, so it was only after
future, or a warning if the person does not change their current
the invention of the printing press that the decks became
course. Carmen sees the death card as her fate, unchangeable
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Listening guide
Overture
The overture is comprised of three major themes that are used later
in the opera. It begins with the music that is sung by the chorus
at the beginning of Act IV as they prepare for the bullfight, then
with an interjection of the theme from the Toreador Song sung by
Escamillo in Act II. The overture finishes with a mysterious and
unsettling theme which is meant to represent both Carmen and
the concept of fate. This theme will reoccur throughout the opera,
usually accompanying important events in the plot.
Habañera “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Love is a
rebellious bird)
When the cigarette girls leave the factory, they are watched by a group
of men. Don José is the only one who appears uninterested, so to catch
his attention, Carmen throws a flower at him.
The habañera is perhaps the most recognizable aria in the opera. It
is heavily influenced, both metrically and melodically, by Spanish
musical style. The song originated in Cuba and spread throughout
Spanish colonies all over the world. Carmen’s downward phrases
Photo: Atell Rohlandt, Flickr; Creative Commons license are chromatic, moving by small steps. Plus, the character’s role also
defies conventional opera-singing decorum by sliding her voice
and absolute, but the death card is not always interpreted in the
down at the end of some lines. The four-note tango rhythm heard at
literal sense. It can imply that something is coming to an end,
the very beginning can be continuously heard throughout the aria’s
or there is a time of great change coming.
entire duration — the cellos play this rhythm over 100 times.
Fortune-telling is one of the negative stereotypes of Roma, and
while it is true that Roma practice this, it is only for outsiders
and a source of livelihood, never among themselves. Although
she might have believed in predestiny, Carmen and her friends
most likely would not have been telling their own fortunes.
“Les tringles des sistres tintaient” (The jingles of the
sistrums tinkled)
Carmen and her friends entertain officers and gypsies in a tavern
The piece begins very calmly, both in tempo and dynamics. After
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a lengthy orchestral introduction, Carmen sings three verses, each
followed by a refrain where Frasquita and Mercédès join in. With
each passing verse, the music becomes faster, louder and more
heavily orchestrated, progressively increasing the excitement and
rhythmic drive of the piece.
kept the flower that she threw to him at their first meeting, as a sign
of his continued loving and devoted thoughts.
“Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante” (I say that nothing can
frighten me)
Micaëla goes to the mountains in search of Don José, even though she
is afraid. She is determined and prays for the courage to continue, so
that she can find him and convince him to return home.
Micaëla’s only aria in the opera shows the contrast between her
character and Carmen — selfless, strong and serene, compared to
Carmen’s bold, incendiary and often selfish characteristics. Micaëla
has come to tell Don José that his mother is dying and to encourage
him to return home, and so she sings of the courage she will need to
face Carmen while doing so. The aria starts off quite timid, with the
tempo increasing and dynamics increasing as Micaëla gains strength
and conviction in her quest, and ends with a gentle plea for God to
protect her and give her courage.
Toreador Song “Votre toast … je peux vous le rendre”
(Your toast … I can return)
The famous bullfighter, Escamillo, has just entered the tavern. He
leads the crowd in a rousing song depicting the life of a toreador, or
bullfighter.
This songs alternates between two contrasting styles. The verses
are sung in a minor key that give Escamillo’s words a heightened
sense of drama and suspense as he sings about the toreador’s
heroic activities during a bullfight. The refrain is in a major key,
complementing Escamillo’s words as he switches from singing
about bullfighting to dreaming of potential love. When Escamillo
encounters Carmen, he asks her, “Tell me your name and the next
time I kill a bull, yours will be the name that I say.” Carmen tells
him that she is currently not available. The excitement of the crowd
(chorus) is apparent when they join Escamillo later in the refrain.
“Les voici, voici le quadrille!” (Here they are, here’s the
quadrille!)
The spectators (chorus) are waiting to catch a glimpse of the procession
of the bullfighters, in particular Escamillo.
“La fleur que tu m’avais jetée” (The flower that you tossed This section begins quietly as the chorus sings the words “Les
to me)
voici!” (Here they are), and then repeated as excitement builds.
When he is released from prison, Don José travels to the tavern to
The entrance of the toreadors is marked with a cymbal crash and
find Carmen and tell her that he must return to service. Carmen is
a reprise of the lively music heard at the beginning of the overture.
infuriated and instead tries to persuade him to come with her to the
To convey the effect of a large crowd shouting and conversing, Bizet
mountains. Don José tells her that he has saved the flower that she
overlapped lines about different aspects of the procession, leaving
threw to him when they first met.
space for instrumental interludes (giving the impression that the
The English horn plays the fate motif that was first heard in the
procession is advancing). When Escamillo appears, the ensemble
overture, implying that it was fate that led Don Jose to Carmen.
once again sings the Toreador Song.
Even though he must return to his post, he shows her that he has
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Carmen artists Q &A
Vanessa Oude-Reimerink | soprano,
Frasquita
Have you performed in Edmonton before?
Yes! I performed with Opera NUOVA
for two seasons in Edmonton — first,
singing Clara in The Light in the
Piazza in 2011, and then singing Miss
Wordsworth in Albert Herring in 2012.
I loved exploring Edmonton during those two
summers, particularly Cafe Leva, Whyte Avenue
and the West Edmonton Mall.
We asked the artists a couple of questions to help our audiences
get to know the personalities on stage. Biographies of the full cast
of Carmen can be found at edmontonopera.com.
Catherine Daniel | soprano,
Mercédès
Do you have a personal connection
with Carmen and/or the role you are
performing with the Edmonton Opera?
Mercédès! I first sang this role in 2010 with
Manitoba Opera. I have since been a part of
two abridged Carmen productions. I absolutely love this music
and hope to sing in this opera for many years to come.
Do you have a personal connection with Carmen and/or the role
you are performing with Edmonton Opera?
Carmen was actually the first opera I ever saw — my girlfriends
and I went to see it in Toronto when we were in high school.
Which composer is your favourite and why?
I love Bizet because he puts so much movement in his pieces.
He also writes amazingly for singers. His melodies stay in your
head, in the best way.
What first interested you in opera?
When I was in third year during my undergrad at Western
University, I auditioned for the opera workshop. That year, I
sang a large excerpt from Don Pasquale as Norina in the opera
excerpts concert. I absolutely fell in love with the scene (the Act
II wedding scene) and was bitten by the opera bug. From then
Aaron Dimoff | bass-baritone, Zuniga
What first interested you in opera?
In high school I became interested in music
of all kinds, particularly as a drummer in
heavy metal bands. I also studied voice
and piano on the side. When it came time
to go to university, I found it difficult to
find a school that would let me major in heavy metal
drumming, so on recommendation of a teacher at
UWO, I entered the voice faculty and quickly discovered opera
to be just as dramatic, challenging and epic as my previous
musical interests.
Which character would you love the opportunity to sing?
Scarpia from Tosca. He’s the epitome of an operatic villian,
and so evil that you can completely leave yourself behind and
pretend to be this horrible creature for an evening. Not to
mention his music is thrilling.
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Additional resources
• The scenery and costumes for Carmen were built in
Edmonton, as this new production is set within the
tumultuous years leading up to the Spanish Civil War.
Watch a timelapse of some of the scenery components
being built, with commentary from the technical director,
the director and scenery designer. (Available on Edmonton
Opera’s YouTube channel starting the week of Dec. 14,
2015.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UoFqwgHhdM
• The scenery for Carmen was designed by Camellia
Koo, the costumes were designed by Deanna Finnman,
and everything was built in Edmonton Opera’s north
Edmonton production facility. But what would it look like
built out of Lego?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p9lzLLT4A8
• In his Carmen Opera Talk, San Diego’s Nick Reveles
guides viewers through the opera’s history, from its
turbulent inception to its present status as a timeless
masterpiece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yYkcRcRkyU
• A conversation with Stephan Bonfield, musicologist, can
be found on iTunes (search Edmonton Opera in podcasts)
or in the audio/music section of the Edmonton Opera app,
starting the week of Dec. 14, 2015.
• Discussions from our Opera 101 panel will be available
on our YouTube channel the week of Jan. 18, 2016. (Opera
101 is a complimentary event held before each opera, at
CKUA in the Alberta Hotel. The multi-disciplinary panel
for Carmen will be held on Jan. 13, 2016, at 7 p.m.)
• Camellia Koo’s whole family is in the arts; Maclean’s
magazine takes a look (through video and copy) at the
really cool job the scenery designer for Carmen gets to do
every day.
http://www.macleans.ca/work/jobs/cool-jobs-qa-set-andcostume-designer/
• If Carmen sounds familiar, it’s likely because you’ve
heard it somewhere before. Seattle Opera details many of
the places in pop culture where the music from Carmen is
heard.
http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2011/10/carmen-in-popculture.html
• Read Schmopera’s Q&A with Lida Szkwarek, who is
singing the role of Micaela in Carmen.
http://www.schmopera.com/spotlight-on-lida-szkwarek/
• And Soundboard had a conversation with Gregory Dahl,
who is singing the role of Escamillo in Carmen.
http://soundboard.roythomson.com/index.
php/2012/12/21/gregory-dahl/
• So now you know the music, but need a bit of a refresher
on the story? Opera Five has you covered in this 2:30
video.
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