Here's something you might be interested in.
March 3rd was the anniversary of the debut of Bizet’s Carmen. It just so happened that I was in rehearsal for Carmen on that very day.
As that Sybil, The Church Lady, would’ve said, “Well, now, isn’t that special.”
Carmen had its world premiere at The Opera Comique in Paris on March 3rd, 1875 and was an adaptation of an 1845 novel of the same title by Prosper Merimee.
Within a year, Wagner, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky had all become fans of Carmen but Bizet had died of a heart attack three months after the premiere.
The audience at The Opera Comique was outraged by the plot.
In the opera, the tenor, Don Jose, is a mess.
He falls for Carmen’s teasing routine in Act I and lets her escape after she’s been arrested for fighting.
In Act II he’s in prison for helping her and passes the days smelling a flower she threw to him as she escaped.
In Act III he’s involved in her smuggling ring and get’s bested in a knife fight by her new beaux Escamillo, the toreador. After being bested he tries to stab Escamillo in the back.
In Act IV he finally kills her.
This last bit got the Opera Comique crowd worked up.
The Opera Comique was traditionally more family friendly and when Don Jose stabs Carmen to death outside the bull ring in Seville, it was too much.
Speaking of Carmen’s death scene, mezzo-soprano Maralin Niska had an interesting experience. She and the tenor singing Jose were having a hateful run of Carmen.
Legend has it that when it came time to stab her, the tenor pulled the knife out of his pocket, held it out at arm’s length, dropped it on the stage, and exited. Instead of stabbing her, he threw her under the bus.
Staying in character, Niska picked up the knife and stabbed herself and so Carmen committed suicide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB-ilxR7ujk
March 3rd was the anniversary of the debut of Bizet’s Carmen. It just so happened that I was in rehearsal for Carmen on that very day.
As that Sybil, The Church Lady, would’ve said, “Well, now, isn’t that special.”
Carmen had its world premiere at The Opera Comique in Paris on March 3rd, 1875 and was an adaptation of an 1845 novel of the same title by Prosper Merimee.
Within a year, Wagner, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky had all become fans of Carmen but Bizet had died of a heart attack three months after the premiere.
The audience at The Opera Comique was outraged by the plot.
In the opera, the tenor, Don Jose, is a mess.
He falls for Carmen’s teasing routine in Act I and lets her escape after she’s been arrested for fighting.
In Act II he’s in prison for helping her and passes the days smelling a flower she threw to him as she escaped.
In Act III he’s involved in her smuggling ring and get’s bested in a knife fight by her new beaux Escamillo, the toreador. After being bested he tries to stab Escamillo in the back.
In Act IV he finally kills her.
This last bit got the Opera Comique crowd worked up.
The Opera Comique was traditionally more family friendly and when Don Jose stabs Carmen to death outside the bull ring in Seville, it was too much.
Speaking of Carmen’s death scene, mezzo-soprano Maralin Niska had an interesting experience. She and the tenor singing Jose were having a hateful run of Carmen.
Legend has it that when it came time to stab her, the tenor pulled the knife out of his pocket, held it out at arm’s length, dropped it on the stage, and exited. Instead of stabbing her, he threw her under the bus.
Staying in character, Niska picked up the knife and stabbed herself and so Carmen committed suicide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB-ilxR7ujk