Carmen

Accessible opera booklet

Georges Bizet

Introduction

Carmen
by Georges Bizet

Opéra comique in four acts

Libretto by
Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy

This is the accessible program booklet for Carmen by Georges Bizet.
It provides audio versions of the texts, audio descriptions of the pictures, and videos in in LIS, Italian Sign Language.
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Introduction

Synopsis

Act I

In a square in Seville, the young Micaëla is looking for her fiance Don José, a brigadier of the dragoons, but she leaves before the changing of the guard and his arrival. A short while later, the cigarette girls leave the nearby cigarette factory. The attractive gypsy Carmen stands out among them and affirms that she does not believe in the constancy of love. She then flirts with Don José, tossing him a flower. Micaëla returns and brings him news about his far-off mother, but he has already been bewitched by Carmen. Indeed, when the gypsy is arrested for fighting, she has only to promise Don José a romantic encounter to get him to help her escape.

The scene represents the square of Seville. The floor of the stage is a raised base that simulates sandy ground. The perimeter is lined with market stalls covered by beige canopies. The entire square is filled with vendors, gypsies, locals, women, children, and guards, creating the impression of a vibrant village in Andalusia. The square is surrounded by houses with beige facades. The windows of the buildings protrude from the walls and supernumeraries can be seen within. Behind the stage, the tiers of the Arena form the base for structures that recreate rocky mountains in perspective. To the left and right of the stage, there are two tall wooden scaffolds that hold up a large red gypsy-style canopy that hangs above the scene.

Act I

Micaëla and Don José are seated at a small wrought iron table in the square of Seville. She is touching his arm with her hand while Don Jose is looking in the opposite direction. Michaela is wearing a white blouse with a V neckline with long puffy sleeves that taper at the wrist. Her blue bodice is tied in front with strings. Her blue skirt is voluminous and ankle length. She is wearing light blue apron the same length as the skirt with two large pockets in front. Her wavy hair is light brown. Don Jose is wearing a military uniform consisting of a bright yellow jacket with blue inserts and light yellow pants tucked into his black leather boots. He has short brown hair and a beard.

Picture 1
Micaëla and Don José.

Act II

In Lillas Pastia’s inn, Carmen is dancing and singing in the company of her friends Frasquita and Mercédès. The famous bullfighter Escamillo arrives, and he is taken by Carmen’s allure. Carmen, however, is waiting for Don José (who ended up in prison in her place and was just released), and turns down a good score with the smugglers she usually works with. Don José arrives and Carmen begins to dance with him, but when he hears a trumpet blast, he tells her he has to return to his barracks. The gypsy makes fun of him, but the brigadier does not want to desert even though he declares his love for her. Nevertheless, Don José has no other choice but to join the smugglers after a violent clash with one of his superiors (who had come to woo Carmen).

The scene represents Lillas Pastia’s inn. At center stage, Carmen and Don José are embracing each other. Around them are some brown wooden tables and chairs. On the left side, there is a sort of small stage where one of Carmen’s gypsy friends is standing. The small stage has a wooden wall at the back where some liberty style bills advertising bullfights hang. They are typical of early nineteenth-century taverns, featuring shades of red, orange and yellow with almost only pictures. In front of the small stage, there are wooden benches. To the right is the entrance of the inn consisting of a stone wall and a door with a canopy above it. A low stone wall extends out from the inn to the right with steps at intervals along its length. In front of the low stone wall, a group of men and women observe Carmen and Don José. At the back of the stage, there are tall vertical structures with large bills advertising bullfights, again in liberty style. The scaffolds at the sides of the stage hold up the large canopy that hangs above the scene.

Act II

Escamillo and Carmen are at center stage. Carmen is sitting at one of the wooden tables in Lillas Pastia’s inn while Escamillo is standing in front of her. The two are looking into each other’s eyes intensely. Escamillo is wearing a white cotton shirt with a black U-cut vest with gold decorations. He is also wearing white cotton pants and a red cummerbund around his waist. On his feet he is wearing shiny black lace-up shoes. He has short brown hair and a goatee. Carmen is wearing a gown with a semitransparent blouse with long sleeves with small flowers of various colors on it. Her dress is voluminous and falls to her ankles. It is made of different types of material in shades of red and purple. Around her waist she is wearing rigid tight-fitting corset that ends at her bosom. She has curly brown hair down to about the middle of her back.

Picture 2
Escamillo and Carmen.

Act III

At the smugglers’ hideout in the mountains, Carmen and Don José now do nothing but fight. In the meantime, Frasquita and Mercédès decide to read their own futures using tarot cards. Carmen joins them, but the cards predict death for her and Don José. Both Micaëla and Escamillo arrive at the mountain hideout. Micaëla fights her own fears to win back her fiance, and Escamillo sets his sights on enrapturing Carmen. Don José clashes with the bullfighter. However, when he discovers that his mother is dying, he has no choice but to leave with Micaëla.

The scene represents the smugglers’ hideout. Again there is a low stone wall with steps at intervals along it, with large rocks of varying size. At center stage are Don José and Carmen. The two are far apart and Carmen has her back to him. The scene is enveloped by a cone of moonlight. It is vaguely dreamlike and spectral in its exceptional beauty.

Act III

Act IV

In front of the Plaza de Toros, the jubilant crowd welcomes the arrival of the quadrille and of Escamillo. Before entering the arena, the bullfighter exchanges vows of love with Carmen. However, the gypsy remains outside where she is suddenly face to face with Don José. He begs her to come back to him. Carmen obstinately refuses. Don José is overcome by a fit of jealousy and kills her.

The scene represents the square in front of Plaza de Toros on the day of the bullfight. At the center are male and female flamenco dancers surrounded by a crowd of women and men, many of whom are waiving yellow and red flags of Spain. There are also street vendors among them. They are carrying trays with flags and colored pinwheels on them. On the right of the square stands a votive cross on a stone plinth surrounded by a railing and some street lights. At the back of the stage behind the crowd is the entrance to Plaza de Toros consisting of a stone arch surmounted by a balustrade. The entrance is flanked by large banners depicting bullfights in liberty style.

Act IV

Synopsis

Characters

Carmen, gypsy and cigarette girl [mezzo-soprano]
Don José, brigadier [tenor]
Micaëla, young woman from Navarre [soprano]
Escamillo, bullfighter [baritone]
Frasquita, gypsy [soprano]
Mercédès, gypsy [mezzo-soprano]
Dancaïre, smuggler [tenor]
Remendado, smuggler [tenor]
Zuniga, lieutenant [bass]
Moralès, brigadier [baritone]
Lillas Pastia, innkeeper [narrator]
A guide [narrator]

Officers, dragoons, street urchins, cigarette girls, gypsies and smugglers

Characters

Director's notes

Despite half a century of success in films, writing and, naturally, opera, Franco Zeffirelli feared that he was not the right fit for the unique spaces of the Arena di Verona, even though he received more than one invitation. He put off his debut all the way until 1995, when he created this production of Carmen, which audiences and critics alike fell in love with immediately. This production is paradigmatic of Zeffirelli’s aesthetic, as it brings together the breath taking impact of the overall performance, a maniacal attention to the smallest detail, and constant movement on the stage with hundreds of people involved including the chorus, dancers, and supernumeraries. The director recreates a slice of Seville and the surrounding countryside that comes to life on every level and tier of the amphitheater thanks to the use of realistic and cinematographic staging. It features effects from the soft lighting in Lillas Pastia’s inn to the moonlit highlands where the protagonist reads her dark destiny in a deck of tarot cards. It is a traditional approach, with soldiers, gypsies, cigarette girls, brigands, urchins, animals and a square packed with people for the market or a bullfight. The predominant colors are red and yellow, with warm shades both characteristic of gypsies and distinctive of Carmen.

Director's notes

Credits

The texts and images contained in this accessible program booklet have been provided by Fondazione Arena di Verona.

Design, planning, texts and descriptions
Elena Di Giovanni, Francesca Raffi (Università degli Studi di Macerata)

Technical supervision
ALI – Accessibilità Lingue Inclusione

Technical design, planning and digital development
Tadao Agency

Voices
Marco Quaglia (texts)
Giulia Heathfield Di Renzi (descriptions)

Videos in ISL
Daniel Bongioanni

Disclaimer

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Credits