From 20 June till 26 June 2021

If we look at the lively etching from the 1875 first edition of Carmen's music score, we can see all the components of the exoticism that triggered the Spanish fashion in Paris: the matador and his picadors, the gypsy and her friends, gendarmes, women and folks wearing flamenco clothes by the Moorish gate in the Arab quarter of Seville. Nietzsche picked this opera to represent the cheerful music of the Mediterranean in contrast to Wagner's brumes. However, the titillating story of a gypsy, who would rather be killed than give up her self-determination as a free woman, and of a soldier, who falls prey to total decay, denying the salvific power of true love, did not appeal to the middle class audience of the Opéra Comique in Paris. They were used to polite family oriented shows. As it happens the greatness of this score, one of the most reproduced and beloved, resides in the embracement of a timeless tragedy that allows space for theatrical interpretations and leaves intact, at the same time, the powerful expression of its singing.
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