Georges Bizet
Opera
Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy based on an eponymous novella by Prosper Mérimée. World premiere: 3 March 1875 at the Opéra-Comique, Paris. First performance at the Astana Opera House: 17-18 November 2017.
Opera in 4 acts
Performed in French
(accompanied by simultaneous Kazakh and Russian subtitles)
Act I
A square in Seville
Soldiers, feeling bored, wander around the square and comment on the passers-by. Micaëla appears among the crowd, seeking Don José, for whom she has a message from his mother. The soldiers tell that he will come soon, but the girl decides to leave. José arrives as the guards change shifts. The brisk cigarette women come out of the factory to the square. The gypsy Carmen is the most beautiful, and all the men are enchanted by her. Only one man pays no attention to Carmen: Don José. He loves Micaëla, and promised his mother to marry her. Offended at José’s coldness, Carmen throws a flower at him. José is surprised and annoyed by her insolence, but picks up the flower. At this moment, Micaëla returns and gives José a letter and a kiss from his mother. A fight erupts inside the factory between the cigarette women. Zuniga decides to arrest the culprit – Carmen. José is ordered to take her to prison. Carmen promises her love to the escort, if he helps her to escape. José cannot resist the charm of the gypsy girl and obeys.
Act II
Lillas Pastia’s Tavern
Carmen dances and sings in a tavern with her friends, Mercédès and Frasquita, waiting for José to return. He was sent to prison and demoted to the rank of soldier for letting Carmen slip away, and has just been released.
Outside, a chorus and procession announces the arrival of the toreador Escamillo, the illustrious bullfighter of Granada. The soldiers invite him to drink with them, and he agrees. Having seen Carmen in the tavern, he begins paying court to her, but she remains indifferent. José enters the tavern; Carmen is glad and ready to dance only for him. However, a trumpet signals that he must return to the barracks for an evening inspection. He is hesitating over whether to choose his duty or love. Carmen is offended by the fact that José prefers his service to her. Captain Zuniga shows up in the tavern to see Carmen and orders Don José to leave. José refuses. A fight ensues, the smugglers burst in and tie up Zuniga. José now has no choice but to join Carmen and the smugglers.
Act III
In the mountains
José, exhausted by remorse and tired of hard life in the mountains, finds out that his relationship with Carmen is not the same. Carmen is reading her fortune in cards. However, no matter how much she shuffles them, she only sees her death. Micaëla appears; she has traveled a long way, looking for José, and tries to persuade him to return home. She is frightened when a shot rings out. It is José, who has fired at an intruder, sneaking into the smugglers’ hideout. The intruder turns out to be Escamillo, who admits that he has come to meet Carmen. After a short conversation, the outraged José challenges him to a duel. Carmen arrives and interrupts the fight. The smugglers discover Micaëla, who has hidden. She begs José to return home to his mother, who is dying and wants to forgive him. José agrees, but before he leaves, he threatens Carmen, with whom he is still madly in love.
Act IV
A square in front of the arena in Seville
The square is full of spectators who cheer the participants of the bullfight; among them are Escamillo and Carmen who is in love with him. Frasquita and Mercédès warn Carmen that José is nearby hiding in the crowd and watching her, and she should better leave. Carmen decides to stay and talk to him. Everyone leaves to watch a bullfight. José appears and pleads with Carmen to return to him, he begs her to give up everything and start a new life, leaving for another country. However, Carmen remains adamant: she no longer loves him. She takes off the ring he once gave her and throws it at José. In despair, José stabs Carmen with a dagger.