Obsessions that Kill
Obsession. We all get a little “obsessed” from time to time over little simple things. A good latte, dark chocolate, a certain type of food, and even a sports team might become an absolute necessity we can’t live without, but how many of us become truly and blindly obsessed? To the point where we loose track of ourselves, our ideals, our morals, and even life itself. Obsession is bad, throw in explosive aggressiveness, passion, a free spirited untamable woman and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. This is Carmen’s Don José or as I like to call him José, no Don, because believe me, there is nothing Don about him.
In Bizet’s opera we do not learn much about José’s past. We only know what we see, an obedient soldier (in the beginning). Of course this is a José conceived by Halévy and Meilhac for a conservative Parisian audience. Why is José in Sevilla as a soldier to begin with? Maybe because he got into a deadly dispute with a man over a game of tennis! In Prosper Mérimée’s novella we learn of such an event and if you thought “red flag” or “anger management” you are right. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
I can see José angered to the point where he completely whites out, where he can no longer restrain his emotions, where his body takes over and God have mercy on whoever is in front of him. I can also picture him completely desperate, with bloody hands, not understanding what had happened and the only thought is to run away. He joins the army (in the novell and opera), in my opinion, because he fears himself and he believes that a strict regiment and obedience is the only thing that can keep him safe...from himself.
Halévy and Meilhac add the character of Michaella in order to show the audience a glimpse of José’s past. Michaella, a devoted Catholic, grew up with José. Maybe they use to go to mass together? maybe José’s mom wanted them to get married? To me the librettists, with the addition of Michaella, are setting up not just a love triangle, but also, an option for a better life-salvation.
Enter Carmen. We all know who she is and has always been-a woman who grew up fending off for herself with the gypsies, a woman mothered by the streets of Sevilla, a woman whose currency is here body, a woman who belongs to nowhere, a woman who belongs to no one. Carmen gives herself to José in passion, with her flesh, hungry for carnal love. Her red flower entices José like a venus flytrap. Carmen traps him in a way Michaella cannot and would not.
The bugles sound and in those calls José hears not just a call to duty, but a reminder of a restrained and obedient self. Maybe a call back to Michaella? Nevertheless, passion and love resound more loudly than the bugles-fate is sealed for José and Carmen, there is no turning back. Carmen should have let him go, but she has never been rejected before. In my opinion, it is not love that makes her ask him to stay, it is pride. In order to love, one has to be exposed to love-like the unselfish love of a mother for her child, something which I fear Carmen never had. Love is not selfish, love asks for nothing in return. Carmen loves to be loved, she wants everything from a man in return for her “love.”
José’s time in jail is where his obsession slowly begins to brew. In holding the flower that she gave him, he holds her. The flower is his and no one will pluck it away from him. Carmen gave him something no one ever gave him and he wants more-he wants it all for himself. Out of jail and demoted to the lowest rank. His obsession now begins to dismantle his integrity and with it giving way, obsession begins to take control of his every action. In the novella José catches Zuniga, his superior, with Carmen and in a moment of rage kills him. In the opera they fight, but are separated. With his military life destroyed by his actions, Jose joins the gypsies and becomes a bandit.
In the novella we do see one glimpse of humanity from José. After being with the bandits for a while, during a heist gone bad, one of his companions gets injured. While everybody runs for cover, José is the only one who turns back and saves his friend while under fire. In the novella Carmen is married to a bandit, but not for long. Yes, you guessed it, José kills him in a knife fight. No one can get in his way, no one can get between him and his love for Carmen, not even Carmen.
To make the story short, Carmen leaves José (I would not blame her) and runs off with Escamillo, the toreador. José learns about this and returns to Sevilla to claim what is his, Carmencita. There he finds a Carmen who loves him no more, but he wont have that. José kills Carmen. Was he obsessed with a woman? Was he obsessed with the idea of love and being loved? Were both obsessed with being “loved”? This brings up another question. Why does Michaella come to Sevilla looking for José? Did his mom really send her? Why does she risk her life by going out into the mountain looking for José? Does she love him or is she obsessed with him? She is, after all, seeking someone who does not love her as she loves him.
Oh, yes, Escamillo...Well, he is obsessed with bulls and Carmen.You want to know what happens to him? Come to the Tragedy of Carmen and see it with your own eyes.
Prosper Mérimée’s Carmen
The Tragedy of Carmen
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Friday, May 18, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 3 p.m.
Victoria Theatre, Dayton, OH
Dayton Opera
Obsession. We all get a little “obsessed” from time to time over little simple things. A good latte, dark chocolate, a certain type of food, and even a sports team might become an absolute necessity we can’t live without, but how many of us become truly and blindly obsessed? To the point where we loose track of ourselves, our ideals, our morals, and even life itself. Obsession is bad, throw in explosive aggressiveness, passion, a free spirited untamable woman and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. This is Carmen’s Don José or as I like to call him José, no Don, because believe me, there is nothing Don about him.
In Bizet’s opera we do not learn much about José’s past. We only know what we see, an obedient soldier (in the beginning). Of course this is a José conceived by Halévy and Meilhac for a conservative Parisian audience. Why is José in Sevilla as a soldier to begin with? Maybe because he got into a deadly dispute with a man over a game of tennis! In Prosper Mérimée’s novella we learn of such an event and if you thought “red flag” or “anger management” you are right. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
I can see José angered to the point where he completely whites out, where he can no longer restrain his emotions, where his body takes over and God have mercy on whoever is in front of him. I can also picture him completely desperate, with bloody hands, not understanding what had happened and the only thought is to run away. He joins the army (in the novell and opera), in my opinion, because he fears himself and he believes that a strict regiment and obedience is the only thing that can keep him safe...from himself.
Halévy and Meilhac add the character of Michaella in order to show the audience a glimpse of José’s past. Michaella, a devoted Catholic, grew up with José. Maybe they use to go to mass together? maybe José’s mom wanted them to get married? To me the librettists, with the addition of Michaella, are setting up not just a love triangle, but also, an option for a better life-salvation.
Enter Carmen. We all know who she is and has always been-a woman who grew up fending off for herself with the gypsies, a woman mothered by the streets of Sevilla, a woman whose currency is here body, a woman who belongs to nowhere, a woman who belongs to no one. Carmen gives herself to José in passion, with her flesh, hungry for carnal love. Her red flower entices José like a venus flytrap. Carmen traps him in a way Michaella cannot and would not.
The bugles sound and in those calls José hears not just a call to duty, but a reminder of a restrained and obedient self. Maybe a call back to Michaella? Nevertheless, passion and love resound more loudly than the bugles-fate is sealed for José and Carmen, there is no turning back. Carmen should have let him go, but she has never been rejected before. In my opinion, it is not love that makes her ask him to stay, it is pride. In order to love, one has to be exposed to love-like the unselfish love of a mother for her child, something which I fear Carmen never had. Love is not selfish, love asks for nothing in return. Carmen loves to be loved, she wants everything from a man in return for her “love.”
José’s time in jail is where his obsession slowly begins to brew. In holding the flower that she gave him, he holds her. The flower is his and no one will pluck it away from him. Carmen gave him something no one ever gave him and he wants more-he wants it all for himself. Out of jail and demoted to the lowest rank. His obsession now begins to dismantle his integrity and with it giving way, obsession begins to take control of his every action. In the novella José catches Zuniga, his superior, with Carmen and in a moment of rage kills him. In the opera they fight, but are separated. With his military life destroyed by his actions, Jose joins the gypsies and becomes a bandit.
In the novella we do see one glimpse of humanity from José. After being with the bandits for a while, during a heist gone bad, one of his companions gets injured. While everybody runs for cover, José is the only one who turns back and saves his friend while under fire. In the novella Carmen is married to a bandit, but not for long. Yes, you guessed it, José kills him in a knife fight. No one can get in his way, no one can get between him and his love for Carmen, not even Carmen.
To make the story short, Carmen leaves José (I would not blame her) and runs off with Escamillo, the toreador. José learns about this and returns to Sevilla to claim what is his, Carmencita. There he finds a Carmen who loves him no more, but he wont have that. José kills Carmen. Was he obsessed with a woman? Was he obsessed with the idea of love and being loved? Were both obsessed with being “loved”? This brings up another question. Why does Michaella come to Sevilla looking for José? Did his mom really send her? Why does she risk her life by going out into the mountain looking for José? Does she love him or is she obsessed with him? She is, after all, seeking someone who does not love her as she loves him.
Oh, yes, Escamillo...Well, he is obsessed with bulls and Carmen.You want to know what happens to him? Come to the Tragedy of Carmen and see it with your own eyes.
Prosper Mérimée’s Carmen
The Tragedy of Carmen
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Friday, May 18, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 3 p.m.
Victoria Theatre, Dayton, OH
Dayton Opera
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