Carmen Dusted Down: Albert Carré‘s 1898 Revival at the Opéra-Comique

Following its premiere and two revivals (in 1883 and 1890), Carmen was given a fresh staging by the director of the new third Salle Favart, Albert Carré. Following the fatal and tragic fire of 1887, Carré‘s mandate in the new theatre was to alternate works from the repertoire with world premieres. Thus Carmen and Manon inaugurated the new season (December 1898). By way of research, Carré journeyed to Spain, to Madrid, Seville and Grenada, accompagnied by the Opéra-Comique’s costume designer Charles Bianchini. The scenery, designed by Lucien Jusseaume, was also the fruit of the documents brought back by Carré in order to better portray the atmosphere of Mérimée’s novella. Carré‘s production then held the Opéra-Comique stage, with only small modifications until c. 1972. Nevertheless, the 1875 production was performed in the provinces and abroad, most notably in French colonies in North Africa by the ‘Tournées d’Orient’ (1910-1920). This chapter demonstrates, therefore, how the two productions - both the original and Carré‘s 1898 staging - rubbed shoulders over a long period, presenting co-existing images of Carmen: one, more dated, with scenery inspired by multiple sources; the other, more modern, where the protagonist confirms a model of modern woman.SCOPUS: ch.binfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Flamenco and the ‘Hispanicisation’ of Bizet’s Carmen in the Belle Epoque

For over a century, flamenco has been closely associated with productions of Carmen around the world. Bizet’s gypsy protagonist is often depicted as a flamenco performer while it has become commonplace to perceive aspects of flamenco in Bizet’s score. Yet this nexus only developed gradually during the first three decades of the opera’s existence. Bizet was largely unfamiliar with flamenco and composed Carmen while flamenco as we recognise it today was still coalescing in Spain, especially in the flamenco-orientated cafés cantantes of Seville and Madrid. During the Belle Époque the rise of flamenco and its global recognition occurred almost in tandem with Carmen’s establishment in the international operatic repertory. French and Spanish opera singers of this period, from Emma Calvé to Elena Fons and Maria Gay, sought hispanic authenticity for their Carmens by drawing on the Spanish entertainment cultures of Seville, Granada and even Barcelona. The tripartite structure of this chapter employs the conceit of offering different perspectives on the intersection of Carmen and flamenco in the Belle Époque loosely framed around the basic elements of the artform: toque y palos, baile and cante

The Other Reversed? Japan’s Assimilation of Carmen, 1885 to 1945

Carmen is currently one of the most frequently performed Western operas in Japan where the character of Carmen has become widely known. This chapter explores the complex processes of assimilating and integrating a Western icon into the culture of a Far-Eastern country. It begins by establishing a chronology of performances and adaptations of Carmen in Japan between 1885 and 1945, and examines in detail: 1, the first performance of the opera by a Russian company in 1919; 2, the first all-Japanese-cast production in 1922; 3, the contribution of mixed-race singers such as Yoshiko Sato (1909−1982) and Yosie Fujiwara (1898−1976); and 4, Japan’s eventual role as a disseminator of occidental music to other Asian countries. These encounters between Carmen and Japan raise fascinating issues of race, gender, class, hybridity and proto-globalisation. By embracing the ‘Otherness’ of Carmen, the Japanese were not asserting their distance from the West but rather attempting to access its mainstream. In this way, by striving to incorporate its Western ‘Other’, Japan embarked upon a shift towards a globalised world

Carmen’s second chance: revival in Vienna

The international fate of the archetypal Parisian and ‘southern’ opera Carmen was significantly influenced by a German translation first performed on 23 October 1875 in Vienna. Already before Bizet’s untimely death on 3 June of the same year, Franz Jauner, the newly appointed director of the Vienna Court Opera, had commissioned an adapted version of the opera for the Viennese stage. This first revival was subsequently performed 476 times at the Court Opera between 1875 and 1932, with several generations of performers spanning the decades. Today it is easy to forget, that the German translation of Carmen by Julius Hopp played a central role in the work’s subsequent reputation and diffusion, providing reference points for generations of critics and spectators throughout and beyond the German-speaking regions. This chapter looks at Carmen in transition between Paris and Vienna, between the Opéra-Comique and the Court Opera, discussing some of the discourses and materials involved in this transfer. It also considers how the Germanic Carmen moved within Vienna and beyond, crossing both urban and transnational borders in the first decades of its reception history beyond Paris. Keywords Vienna Austro-Hungaria Franz Jauner Julius Hopp Bertha Ehnn Pauline Lucca Franz Naval Marie Gutheil-Schoder Anton Brioschi Franz Xaver Gau