Deutsche Oper Berlin: Carmen
About the Event
Immerse yourself in the stunning architecture of Berlin's breathtaking Deutsche Oper Berlin for the ultimate concert set to awake your understanding of opera. Opera in four acts. Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy after the novella by Prosper Mérimée. World premiere on March 3, 1875 in Paris. Premiere at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on January 20, 2018.
'Carmen' is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, based on Prosper Merimee’s novella of the same name. Written in the opera comique tradition, musical movements are interrupted by spoken dialogue. When it premiered at the Opera‐Comique in 1875, this groundbreaking opera shocked a public unready for its realism, and unused to seeing the lives of the lower classes being shown on stage. However, within ten years the tragic and passionate 'Carmen' had taken its place at the centre of the operatic canon, forming a bridge between opera comique and the fast‐emerging verismo style.
Act 1
Seville, Spain. The provocative gypsy, Carmen, works in the cigarette factory. When the women take their break, Carmen sings a ‘Habanera’ attracting the attention of all the men in the square. Only a soldier, Don José, isn’t interested in her. Piqued, Carmen deliberately throws a flower to him. A quarrel breaks out between the women. Carmen is arrested, but seduces Jose into releasing her, and escapes. José is imprisoned for allowing her to escape.
Act 2
A month later, José has just been released, and goes to meet Carmen at a tavern. With her flower in his hand, José tells her his feelings. Carmen convinces José not to report for roll call, but to stay with her and join the smugglers.
Act 3
José regrets joining the smugglers. Carmen is already in love with another man — Escamillo, a bullfighter. Carmen reads the cards and forsees a dark future.
José's childhood friend, Micaela, comes to look for him to tell him that his mother is seriously ill. José decides to go home.
The following month, Escamillo, now Carmen’s lover, is welcomed by the spectators and enters the arena. Carmen remains in the square, and José appears. He demands Carmen leaves with him, but she refuses, throwing away the ring that José once gave her. In a jealous rage, José stabs Carmen to death with a dagger, and as the crowds exit the arena, confesses to his actions.
Practical Information
In French with German and English surtitles.
Introduction in the Rang‐Foyer on the right: 45 minutes before the start of the performance.
Recommended from 14 years.
