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| CARMEN |
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| CARMEN |
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| top The freedom-loving gypsy Carmen, at the tavern of Lillas Pastia in Act II: "La danse au chant se mariat..." ["The dance is wedded to the song..."] |
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| Mezzo-soprano Adria Firestone had performed this, her signature role, more than 100 times in her career at the time of this production - she thought it might be 104 or 112, but wasn't sure. She sings it in the original French, in English, German, and Spanish, all over the world. She is a passionate actress as well as a singer, and studied flamenco dance with the Spanish master, Carlos Saura - not the refined, in-studio performance, but the earthy dance of the real gypsies. Saura's style can be seen in his films Blood Wedding, El Amor Brújo, and Carmen. |  |
| second row Curtain call before all sold-out audiences for Adria Firestone and Richard Leech. The two singer/actors forged an excellent working relationship - "acting is reacting" and words like "motivation" and "intent" were much-discussed during rehearsals. |
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| top row in block - left Carmen and her friends, in the Act II quintet: [Adria Firestone as Carmen, with [clockwise from lower left] Stephen Powell, Sarah Blaze, Sylvia Wen, and Beau Palmer as the smugglers] |
top row in block - right Following the Toreador Song [a melody known to anyone, familiar with opera or not] Escamillo asks Carmen what she would do if someone said he loved her - she is indifferent. [baritone Louis Otey as Escamillo with mezzo-soprano Adria Firestone as Carmen] |
| bottom row in block - left The Flower Song, Act II. When Carmen accuses him of not loving her, José shows her the wilted flower he kept with him during the two months he was imprisoned. "Un seul desir, un seul espoir .... Carmen, je t'aime!" ["One desire, one hope... Carmen, I love you!"] |
bottom row in block -
right Although the opera is called Carmen, it is the character of José who undergoes the transformation across four acts. Here, Carmen completes her seduction by luring him from his more-or-less respectable life as a soldier, to join the band of smugglers. |
| [tenor Richard Leech as Don José with mezzo soprano Adria Firestone as Carmen] | |
| Soprano Cynthia Clayton sings Micaela's Act III aria. Not in Prosper Merimée's original story, this character is a fleshed-out invention of the librettists, as is the location of Carmen's death, outside the plaza de toros in Seville.
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| lower left The final confrontation - Carmen knows her fate is to be killed by José. does she goad him to do it? or does she surrender to the inevitable? "Eh bien, frappe-me donc, ou laisse-moi passer!" ["Strike me down, or let me pass!"] [mezzo Adria Firestone as Carmen] |
lower right Carmen's fate is linked with that of José - Act IV curtain: "Vous pouvez m'arrêter ... c'est moi qui l'ai tuée! Ah Carmen, ma Carmen adorée!" ["You can arrest me... it is I who killed her! Carmen, my beloved Carmen!"] [tenor Richard Leech as Don José] |
| bottom "Je commence à me reconnaître - Richard Leech meets his first Don José - San Diego Opera January 1997" Much of an opera singer's life consists of performing the same roles over and over. So the first time he or she works on a role is very important, as the foundation for the characterization - both in terms of acting and of singing - is set up here. The title of the photograph means "I begin to meet myself" and (or) "I'm starting to recognize myself" - that's "recognize" in the deeper sense of the word, of knowing one's self, as opposed to merely identifiying the face in the mirror. |
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| Director Jim
DeBlasis is reunited with long-time colleagues Adria Firestone (Carmen) and Richard Leech
(Don Jose). Here, he works with them in the Act I Seguidilla. Carmen has been
arrested and the officer, Don José, ordered to guard her. He ties her wrists and tries to
ignore her, forbidding her to talk to him, so she sings to herself, a song of longing and
promise, seducing him into helping her escape and joining her band of outlaws. From the beginning, the feeling in the rehearsal hall was intense - spirited, filled with discussion that sometimes bordered on contentious, but with respect among all the artists; they were committed to a strong production, to finding a good balance between smoothness and a fresh look. All four principals turned out to be actors as well as superb singers; they and their director worked hard at getting to the core of their characters, and of the opera. As singers, Adria and Richard had both text and music to adhere to. As actors, they worked out details with Jim to make their characters very real. Adria as Carmen holds out her hands in front of her to be bound, apparently submitting... but José is not fooled, and forces her hands behind her back, figuring she can't get into trouble that way. Richard wanted to know if José is truly ignoring Carmen, uncaring, or if he's pretending to ignore her and secretly listening to everything she says. Yes, it's the latter, says Jim. That one detail, not spelled out in the text or the score, affects how he stands, how he turns to face her, the expression on his face, what he does when he finally gives in... and what Richard does as José helps Adria react in turn as Carmen. These are the acting techniques that make the characters more real, not just great singers making music, but a living, breathing performance. |
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| TOP OF PAGE | |
| San Diego Opera presents | ||
| CARMEN by Georges Bizet | ||
| January 1997 | ||
| Conductor | Richard Bonynge | |
| Director | James de Blasis | |
| Set Design | John Conklin | |
| Costume Design | Peter J. Hall | |
| Carmen | Adria Firestone | |
| Don José | Richard Leech | |
| Micaëla | Cynthia Clayton | |
| Escamillo | Louis Otey | |
| Frasquita and Mercedes | Sylvia Wen and Sarah Blaze | |
| Dancaïre and Remendado | Stephen Powell and Beau Palmer | |
| EXPLORE MORE | ||
EXPLORE |
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| Opera Basics - An Introduction Explore More - Top 10 Ways to Fall in Love With Opera Principal Singers
& Singing WORDS
& MUSIC SHOP |
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 Explore more about opera and art in ML Hart's award-winning The Art of Making Opera "This book really goes a long way toward showing the often unrevealed heart of opera." |
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