7. Carmen. A Magnificent Hybrid. Why do audiences keep flocking to Carmen? It is the second most-often performed opera in the world. Is it the color, folklore, and spectacular settings: a square in Seville, a gypsy tavern, a mountain hideout, and the panoply of a bullfight? Or is it the gritty realism of the drama? In its focus on people at the fringes of society, Carmen anticipated the verismo movement by at least a decade. Or maybe it is both? In this, as in many other ways, Carmen is a hybrid, suspended between two styles. Perhaps this is the reason that it failed at its first production in 1875. But subsequent attempts to resolve its inbuilt contradictions have left us with a shape-shifting opera that is seldom less than fascinating.

We will watch the last half of the first act in a magnificent production by Richard Eyre at the Met in 2009. This short stretch of music contains Carmen's two most iconic arias and a lyrical duet that is often performed as a separate item. Yet instead of a disjointed experience that keeps audiences waiting for the next big number, it can gain an unstoppable momentum in the right hands, winding up the dramatic and sexual tension until something inevitably snaps. We came for Spanish rhythms and local color; we end on the road to tragedy.

There is a brief synopsis of the opera on the Handout. But if you want to see something a bit more active, and certainly more fun, go here. Some might find the young French hostess irritating, but I love her, and her synopsis actually contains clips from the opera. But note that it is linked to a full video that is no longer evailable.