“Opera is boring.”
One of the biggest reasons people won’t even listen to opera. Carmen—probably my favorite opera—is anything
but. Ill-fated, star-crossed lovers, who manage to destroy each other. An
upstanding young soldier who ends up deserting from the army. A gypsy woman who
has men falling at her feet. A dashing toreador who creates the fatal triangle.
Gypsy dances that will stir your blood as much as any rock music you ever
heard. In fact, music that will enchant you because it’s simply great.
Admittedly, I fell madly in love with the art form the first
time I heard a Met radio broadcast in the fall of 1953. I was fourteen. The opera
wasn’t Carmen, it was Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande, an obscure opera
that is seldom performed these days. But just hearing the way people could use
their voices simply blew me away. I’d heard symphonic music from early childhood
forward, but I discovered opera all on my own.
“They sing it in a
foreign language.” This is generally true, though the first production of Carmen I ever saw was performed in
English at the University of Tennessee. The Metropolitan Opera—probably the
greatest opera house in the world—does this amazing thing. Several times during
their season they stream live a Saturday matinee performance to thousands of
movie theaters worldwide. There are English subtitles. With Carmen, they are hardly necessary.
The plot is easy to follow, and with great artists such as
Roberto Alagna (for the February 2 performance which I can’t wait to see … he
may be the ideal Don José) you get a steamy love story that’s terrific. And the
music. Go to YouTube and check out
the Act II opening … look for the video with Elina Garanča, who is a fabulous
Carmen. Watch and listen to the whole thing (all five minutes of it) and then
tell me how boring it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5h_7ywjPPQ
Yes, well, Carmen
is set in Spain and the current production at the Met has updated it to the
time of Franco’s Spain. I like the update. The story is timeless, it could be
set at almost any time and in any locale. And yes, Carmen is sung in French, because Georges Bizet’s amazing opera was
written in French.
“I don’t understand
that kind of music.” Oh, really? You never heard “The Toreador Song” in
your entire life? Were you born under a rock or what? (When I was a kid there
was a silly parody: “Toreador-a, don’t spit on the floor-a. Use a cuspidor-a, That’s
what they’re for-a.”) Bizet’s music is totally accessible … even if you (think)
you’ve never heard classical music. Maybe you just need to allow yourself to
hear and see a little classical music in the form of opera … the forerunner of
musical theater. While you’re on YouTube, check out the second act finale, where
Carmen and her gypsy smuggler friends convince Don José (by the way, since the
opera is in French, it’s generally pronounced with a “J” rather than a “Y”
sound) to desert and become a smuggler. They tell him it’s a lot more fun.
The Met should put me on their marketing staff. I’m trying
hard to convert more people to appreciate the art form. It’s NOT boring, it’s
NOT stuffy, it’s great entertainment. Sadly, in the U.S. there isn’t the
appreciation for the art form there is in Europe, where state supported opera
houses are packed night after night for a nine or ten-month season … and with
young opera lovers. It’s expensive to produce an opera, and tickets to a performance
at the Met can run into the hundreds of dollars. I’ll bet tickets to Hamilton are at least as much if not
more. You know what? I haven’t seen Hamilton
… but from what I understand, Hamilton
is an opera. How much dialogue is there in that show? Oh, and Les Miserables is an opera. What a
thrill for me to direct that show—excuse me, opera—with an amazing bunch of
high school kids in 2011. An experience I’ll never forget.
So, there’s my pitch. If you have a theater that carries the
Met in HD series, buy a ticket (for about $25) and see Carmen.
Give it a try! This is probably the most popular opera ever, so they are
offering “encore” performances on February 6 and 9 along with the live telecast
on February 2.
Then after you see it … I’d love to hear from you.
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