Organization

Conductor

Valery Gergiev

Stage director

Alexei Stepanuyk

Ilya Ustiantsev

Set designer

Igor Grinevich

Lighting designer

Alexander Sivaev

Repetiteur

Irina Soboleva

Chorus master

Igor Gribkov

Konstantin Rylov

Singer

Mezzo-soprano

Anna Kiknadze

Carmen

Tenor

Mikhaïl Vekua

Don José

Soprano

Gelena Gaskarova

Michaela

Baritone

Vadim Kravets

Escamillo

Yekaterina Sergeyeva

Yekaterina Goncharova

Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar

Mariinsky Theatre

Others

The Mariinsky Chorus

Orchestra

Orchester des Mariinski-Theaters

French

Saint Petersburg

Russia

Mariinsky-2

Public

Russian

English

Approved

Carmen Bizet

АВТОРЫ И ПОСТАНОВЩИКИМузыка Жоржа Бизе Либретто Анри Мельяка и Людовика Галеви по одноименной новелле Проспера МеримеМузыкальный руководитель – Валерий Герги...

“She was wearing a very short red skirt, from under which one could see white silk stockings in holes, and on her feet were pretty morocco shoes with fiery ribbons around the ankles” - this is how Carmen appeared to the hero of the short story Mérimée and the audience of the Opéra-Comique, who came on March 3, 1875 for the premiere of a work by Georges Bizet. The obstinate Andalusian was initially received well - the first act was a success - but already from the second act the clouds began to thicken, and by the end it turned out that the opera was a failure. Soldiers, street boys, workers, gypsies, even smugglers - the appearance of all this people on the stage was hardly so shocking to the visitors of the democratic Parisian theater. Another thing is Carmen herself, with her wolf look and hot blood, with her sultry habanera and sensual seguidilla, with her unbridled love of freedom, with her contempt for death, to any sign of weakness. The work of the thirty-six-year-old Bizet, which began almost like a light operetta, ends as a tragedy, and the author does not even look for the guilty, for who is to blame when two elements collide, two worlds, each living according to its own laws? In the words of one of the critics: "Quelle vérité, mais quel scandale!" ("How true, but how obscene!"). The entire dramaturgy of Carmen is based on sharp contrasts. The first strong contrast is in the overture: there is a celebration in Seville, a jubilant crowd, a bullfighter, a paso doble (dance of a matador with a cloak) - and suddenly, in broad daylight, a black shadow comes running, a formidable theme of fate. The city factory maid Carmencita and the respectable village girl Mikaela are not just different characters, but opposite ones. A musical portrait of the bullfighter Escamillo, his famous couplets, a spectacular toast in honor of the bullfight, describing in detail the bloody spectacle. In José, even though he is a sergeant, the central aria has an almost girlish name: the aria “with a flower”; it is one of the most penetrating lyric arias ever written for the tenor. The deepest abyss lies here between the two concepts of love. On the one hand - eternal love, secured by a wedding ring, on the other - free love-bird, which "cannot be caught in any way." Jose took it into his head to jump over the abyss, to drag Carmen to his side - in vain! Carmen retains independence even in the title of the opera (“Carmen and José” sounds ridiculous, unlike, for example, the inseparable pair “Tristan and Isolde” created by Wagner). Nevertheless, the complexity of Jose's part - both from a musical and acting point of view - is not inferior to the complexity of the title role. although he is a sergeant, the central aria has an almost girlish name: the aria “with a flower”; it is one of the most penetrating lyric arias ever written for the tenor. The deepest abyss lies here between the two concepts of love. On the one hand - eternal love, secured by a wedding ring, on the other - free love-bird, which "cannot be caught in any way." Jose took it into his head to jump over the abyss, to drag Carmen to his side - in vain! Carmen retains independence even in the title of the opera (“Carmen and José” sounds ridiculous, unlike, for example, the inseparable pair “Tristan and Isolde” created by Wagner). Nevertheless, the complexity of Jose's part - both from a musical and acting point of view - is not inferior to the complexity of the title role. although he is a sergeant, the central aria has an almost girlish name: the aria “with a flower”; it is one of the most penetrating lyric arias ever written for the tenor. The deepest abyss lies here between the two concepts of love. On the one hand - eternal love, secured by a wedding ring, on the other - free love-bird, which "cannot be caught in any way." Jose took it into his head to jump over the abyss, to drag Carmen to his side - in vain! Carmen retains independence even in the title of the opera (“Carmen and José” sounds ridiculous, unlike, for example, the inseparable pair “Tristan and Isolde” created by Wagner). Nevertheless, the complexity of Jose's part - both from a musical and acting point of view - is not inferior to the complexity of the title role. it is one of the most penetrating lyric arias ever written for the tenor. The deepest abyss lies here between the two concepts of love. On the one hand - eternal love, secured by a wedding ring, on the other - free love-bird, which "cannot be caught in any way." Jose took it into his head to jump over the abyss, to drag Carmen to his side - in vain! Carmen retains independence even in the title of the opera (“Carmen and José” sounds ridiculous, unlike, for example, the inseparable pair “Tristan and Isolde” created by Wagner). Nevertheless, the complexity of Jose's part - both from a musical and acting point of view - is not inferior to the complexity of the title role. it is one of the most penetrating lyric arias ever written for the tenor. The deepest abyss lies here between the two concepts of love. On the one hand - eternal love, secured by a wedding ring, on the other - free love-bird, which "cannot be caught in any way." Jose took it into his head to jump over the abyss, to drag Carmen to his side - in vain! Carmen retains independence even in the title of the opera (“Carmen and José” sounds ridiculous, unlike, for example, the inseparable pair “Tristan and Isolde” created by Wagner). Nevertheless, the complexity of Jose's part - both from a musical and acting point of view - is not inferior to the complexity of the title role. on the other hand, free love is a bird that "cannot be caught in any way." Jose took it into his head to jump over the abyss, to drag Carmen to his side - in vain! Carmen retains independence even in the title of the opera (“Carmen and José” sounds ridiculous, unlike, for example, the inseparable pair “Tristan and Isolde” created by Wagner). Nevertheless, the complexity of Jose's part - both from a musical and acting point of view - is not inferior to the complexity of the title role. on the other hand, free love is a bird that "cannot be caught in any way." Jose took it into his head to jump over the abyss, to drag Carmen to his side - in vain! Carmen retains independence even in the title of the opera (“Carmen and José” sounds ridiculous, unlike, for example, the inseparable pair “Tristan and Isolde” created by Wagner). Nevertheless, the complexity of Jose's part - both from a musical and acting point of view - is not inferior to the complexity of the title role.

Love Carmen lives for half a year; love for "Carmen" began six months after the Paris premiere, with a production at the Vienna Court Opera, for which Ernest Guiraud, a friend of the already deceased composer, wrote recitatives instead of spoken dialogues. Since then, "Carmen" has consistently collected full houses all over the world. The secret of its success is the juicy Spanish couleur locale (local flavor), created by a composer who, by the way, has never been to Spain. Conquered "Carmen" and Russian listeners; Tchaikovsky was one of the first to recognize her virtues ("Carmen, in my opinion, in the full sense of the chef d'oeuvre"). The Mariinsky Theater is presenting a performance from 2005, updated in 2016. The directors retained the Spanish flavor, but abandoned the glossy "Spanishness".Christina Batyushina

«На ней была красная очень короткая юбка, из-под которой виднелись белые шелковые чулки в дырах, а на ногах хорошенькие сафьяновые туфельки с огненными лентами вокруг щиколотки» – такой предстала Кармен герою новеллы Мериме и зрителям Опера-комик, пришедшим 3 марта 1875 года на премьеру сочинения Жоржа Бизе. Строптивую андалусийку поначалу приняли хорошо – первый акт прошел с успехом, – но уже со второго акта тучи стали сгущаться, а к финалу оказалось понятно: опера провалилась. Солдаты, уличные мальчишки, работницы, цыгане, даже контрабандисты – появление всего этого люда на сцене вряд ли столь уж шокировало посетителей демократичного парижского театра. Другое дело – сама Кармен с ее взглядом волчицы и горячей кровью, с ее знойной хабанерой и чувственной сегидильей, с ее необузданным свободолюбием, с ее презрением к смерти, к любому проявлению слабости. Начавшееся почти как легкая оперетта сочинение тридцатишестилетнего Бизе заканчивается как трагедия, причем автор даже не ищет виноватых, ибо кто виноват, когда сталкиваются две стихии, два мира, живущие каждый по своим законам? По выражению одного из критиков: «Quelle vérité, mais quel scandale!» («Сколь правдиво, но сколь же непристойно!»). На резких контрастах построена вся драматургия «Кармен». Первый сильный контраст – в увертюре: вот праздник в Севилье, ликующая толпа, тореро, пасодобль (танец матадора с плащом) – и вдруг средь бела дня набегает черная тень, грозная тема судьбы. Городская фабричная девица Карменсита и добропорядочная деревенская девушка Микаэла – характеры не просто разные, а противоположные. Музыкальный портрет тореадора Эскамильо, его знаменитые куплеты, – эффектный тост в честь корриды, в подробностях описывающий кровавое зрелище. У Хозе, хоть он и сержант, центральная ария носит почти девичье название: ария «с цветком»; это одна из наиболее проникновенных лирических арий, когда-либо написанных для тенора. Самая же глубокая пропасть пролегает здесь между двумя концепциями любви. С одной стороны – вечная любовь, закрепленная обручальным кольцом, с другой – вольная любовь-птица, которую «нельзя никак поймать». Хозе вздумал перепрыгнуть пропасть, перетащить Кармен на свою сторону – тщетно! Кармен даже в заголовке оперы сохраняет независимость («Кармен и Хозе» звучит нелепо, в отличие, например, от созданной Вагнером неразделимой пары «Тристан и Изольда»). Тем не менее сложность партии Хозе – и с музыкальной, и с актерской точки зрения – не уступает сложности заглавной роли.

Любовь Кармен живет полгода; любовь к «Кармен» началась через полгода после парижской премьеры, с постановки в Венской придворной опере, для которой Эрнест Гиро, друг уже умершего композитора, написал речитативы взамен разговорных диалогов. С тех пор «Кармен» неизменно собирает полные залы во всем мире. Секрет ее успеха – сочный испанский couleur locale (местный колорит), созданный композитором, который, к слову сказать, никогда не бывал в Испании. Покорила «Кармен» и русских слушателей; Чайковский признал ее достоинства одним из первых («Carmen, по-моему, в полном смысле chef d’oeuvrе»). В Мариинском театре сегодня идет спектакль 2005 года, обновленный в 2016-м. Постановщики сохранили испанский колорит, но отказались от глянцевой «испанщины». Получилась почти веристская психологическая драма с дополнительными акцентами на темах насилия и власти и отсылками к древней мифологеме рока, играющего с человеком на арене его жизни. Христина Батюшина

русский

Carmen by Bizet, From (2022/2023), Directed by Alexei Stepanuyk, Ilya Ustiantsev,, Conductor Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky-2, Saint Petersburg, Russia

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