Organization

Singer

Soprano

Sabina Cvilak Damjanovic

Michaela

Tenor

Martin Šrejma

Don José

Martin Sušnik

Andreja Zakonjšek

Baritone

Luka Ortar

Escamillo

Bass

Marko Mandir

Zuniga

Valentina Čuden

Frasquita

Milica Lalošević

Mezzo-soprano

Dada Kladenik

Mercedes

Bogdan Stopar

Dancaire

Dušan Topolovec

Remendado

Sebastijan Čelofiga

Morales

Spoken

Bojan Hinteregger

Lillas Pastia

Conductor

Jon Svinghammar

Stage director

Juan Guillermo Nova

Set designer

Costume designer

Cristina Aceti

Lighting designer

Chorus master

Zsuzsa Budavari-Novak

Guadalupe Barrientos

Carmen

Simon Krečič

Ramona Zaharia

Opera and Ballet of Slovene National Theatre Maribor

Orchestra

Maribor Slovenian State Opera Orchestra

Others

Opera Choir of the Slovene National Theater Maribor

fransk

Carmen Bizet

Public

slovensk

Approved

Georges Bizet: Carmen | Operni večer iz SNG Maribor

When, at the beginning of 1873, Georges Bizet was commissioned by the director of the Paris Opéra-Comique, Camille du Locle, to write the opera Carmen, Mérimée's novella of the same name, after which Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the opera libretto, had been stirring the French for almost three decades , especially Parisian society. The content of the novella is supposed to be derived from a true story, which was entrusted to Mérimée during his study trip to Spain by Countess María Manuela Kirkpatrick de Montijo. Mérimée condensed the most exciting events from the life of the gypsy Carmen into a coherent narrative with the tragic end of the (anti)heroine, who had to die because of the vengeful jealousy of a rejected lover (Don José). As an interesting fact that confirms the authenticity of the opera plot, it is also worth mentioning the preserved travelogue of Mérimée, in which the writer mentioned his chance meeting with Carmen and later also with José, who in the meantime was already serving a prison sentence awaiting a death sentence. José's testimony about his fateful meeting with Carmen is also preserved in Mérimée's novella, which was first published in its entirety in book form in 1846.

Bizet's strong address to naturalism as extreme realism is reflected in the belief that the libretto must reflect the "truth of the street" or become a faithful witness of what really happened, which is especially true of the phenomenon of "unpleasant truth". Taking into account Bizet's instructions, the librettists Meilhac and Halévy mostly followed Mérimée's narrative flow, but for the needs of a clearer stage (re)presentation, they somewhat rationalized it and focused on the love relationship between Carmen and Don José, while eliminating some non-essential characters. As José's opponent, both librettists set only the bullfighter (toreador) Escamillo, and the kind-hearted and naive middle-class girl Micaëla as Carmen's "decent" female antipode. The radical and partly shocking content of the opera,

With the opera Carmen, which was performed for the first time on March 3, 1875 at the Opéri-Comique in Paris, Bizet undoubtedly created a new musical atmosphere, orchestral color, onomatopoeic musical naturalism of the south of Spain, and reached his last artistic peak, which he should be understood as a reliable turn towards operatic verism. The multifaceted musical topos and far-reaching nature of Bizet's Carmen were admired by a whole range of composers and philosophers, including Tchaikovsky and Nietzsche. The latter in particular admired the "dramatic mastery" in Bizet's score, which still does not have its "established" final image today - which can be attributed mainly to the added recitatives, which in the productions after the premiere replaced the stage speech, otherwise typical of the genre of French opéra comique -.

English

Ko je na začetku leta 1873 Georges Bizet od ravnatelja pariškega glasbenega gledališča Opéra-Comique Camilla du Locla prejel naročilo, naj napiše opero Carmen, je Mériméejeva istoimenska novela, po kateri sta Henri Meilhac in Ludovic Halévy napisala operni libreto, že skoraj tri desetletja vznemirjala francosko, zlasti pariško družbo. Vsebina novele naj bi domnevno izhajala iz resnične zgodbe, ki jo Mériméeju med njegovim študijskim potovanjem po Španiji zaupala grofica María Manuela Kirkpatrick de Montijo. Mérimée je najvznemirljivejše dogodke iz življenja ciganke Carmen strnil v koherentno pripoved s tragičnim koncem (anti)junakinje, ki je morala umreti zaradi maščevalnega ljubosumja zavrnjenega ljubimca (Don Joséja). Kot zanimivost, ki potrjuje avtentičnost opernega sižeja, velja omeniti tudi ohranjen Mériméejev potopis, v katerem je pisec omenil svoje naključno srečanje s Carmen in pozneje tudi z Joséjem, ki je medtem že prestajal zaporno kazen v čakanju na smrtno obsodbo. Prav Joséjevo pričevanje o njegovem usodnem srečanju s Carmen je ohranjeno tudi v Mériméejevi noveli, ki je v celoti prvič izšla v knjižni obliki leta 1846.

Bizetev močan naslov na naturalizem kot do skrajnosti prignanega realizma se zrcali v prepričanju, da mora libreto odražati “resnico ulice” oziroma postati zvest pričevalec tega, kar se je v resnici zgodilo, kar še posebej velja za fenomen “neprijetne resnice”. Libretista Meilhac in Halévy sta z upoštevanjem Bizetevih napotkov povečini sledila Mériméejevemu pripovednemu toku, a sta ga za potrebe jasnejše odrske (re)prezentacije nekoliko racionalizirala in osredotočila na ljubezenski odnos med Carmen in Don Joséjem, pri tem pa izločila nekatere neke nebistvene osebe. Kot Joséjevega nasprotnika sta tako libretista postavila le bikoborca (toreadorja) Escamilla, kot “spodobni” ženski antipod Carmen pa dobrosrčno in naivno meščansko dekle Micaëlo. Radikalna in deloma tudi šokantna vsebina opere, ki se skozi poveličanje ženskega užitka v ljubezni poigrava s tradicionalnim binarizmom patriarhata, je v pregovorno liberalno francosko družbo vnesla nov, ženski pogled na ljubezen in spolnost, ki ga je šovinistična doktrina psevdopsihoanalize označevala s histerijo, čeprav je v resnici stvar drugačna: vse načrtne črnitve in neutemeljene kritike opere Carmen, ki so jih vestno producirali predvsem na “moralno zaskrbljenem” desnem političnem polu, gre danes predvsem razumeti kot podle poskuse impotentnega in domišljijsko osiromašenega patriarhata, da bi ukrotil libidinalni duh ženske in onemogočil plasiranje ženske kot legitimne heroine v družbi bližnje prihodnosti.

Z opero Carmen, ki je bila prvič izvedena 3. marca 1875 v pariški Opéri-Comique, je Bizet nedvomno odstrl novo glasbeno atmosfero, orkestrski kolorit, onomatopejski glasbeni naturalizem španskega juga in s tako rekoč popolno glasbenodramaturško napetostjo dosegel svoj poslednji umetniški vrh, ki ga velja razumeti kot zanesljiv preobrat k opernemu verizmu. Večplastnost glasbenega toposa in daljnosežnost Bizeteve Carmen je občudovala cela vrsta skladateljev in filozofov, med drugimi tudi Čajkovski in Nietzsche. Zlasti slednji je v Bizetevi partituri, ki še danes nima svoje “etablirane” dokončne podobe – kar velja pripisati predvsem dokomponiranim recitativom, ki so v produkcijah po praizvedbi nadomestili odrski govor, sicer značilen za zvrst francoske opére comique –, občudoval “dramsko mojstrstvo”, motiv usode pa je označil kot “epigram strasti” in nasploh najboljše, kar je bilo (tokrat sicer v glasbeni “literaturi”) o ljubezni napisanega po Stendhalu.

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