Where is the difference between a romantic and a realistic story? As if Georges Bizet was asking us this question through the opera Carmen. In addition to images of love, the work of French Romanticism presents us with a fairly ordinary life of completely ordinary people, in colors that often resemble the realistic images of brush masters, so a little tired of the ethereal language of Romanticism. So how is it? What does the story of the young officer Don José tell us, who lets himself be enchanted by the beautiful Gypsy Carmen, forgets his dear Micaël, deserts himself as an honor to his officer's honor and goes to the mountains with the smugglers alongside the dark beauty? Georges Bizet's romantic musical language is intertwined with a story that is even worryingly real. Is Don Jose's love for Carmen romantic? Certainly not - because it's not enriching love, but pure passion, which robs Don José of his soul and honor. And so a strange, provocative contrast of romantic-non-romantic story emerges, which is so extremely appealing that we keep coming back to it again and again. And it is certainly no coincidence that Bizet's Carmen evokes in us a bit of references to the best works of Italian opera realism - verism (from the word "vero" - "truth").
