SYNOPSIS Carmen

Georges Bizet’s
CARMEN
CONDUCTOR: CAST:
Daniele Rustioni & Diego Mathuez Micaella Angel Blue & Ailyn Pérez
DIRECTOR: Carmen Aigul Akhmetshina &
Carrie Cracknell Clémentine Margaine
ESTIMATED HD RUN TIME: Don Jose Rafael Davila, Piotr
2 hrs 46 min Beczala, & Michael
WORLD PREMIERE: Fabiano
Opéra-Comique, Paris 1875. Escamillo Kyle Ketelsen & Ryan
Speedo Green
SYNOPSIS
ACT I
A contemporary American industrial town. Outside a cigarette factory, a group of soldiers
guarding the border comment on the passers-by. A newly arrived young woman, Micaëla,
asks for a soldier named Don José. Moralès, his colleague, tells her that Don José will return
when the next shift begins. When the shift change, led by Zuniga, their commanding officer,
occurs and José returns, Moralès tells José that Micaëla has been looking for him. The
factory bell rings, and the men gather to watch the female workers—especially their
favorite, Carmen. She tells the men that love is free and obeys no rules. Only one man
ignores her: Don José. Carmen throws a flower at him, and the women go back to work.
José picks up the flower and hides it when Micaëla returns. She brings a letter from José’s
mother, who lives in the countryside. After Micaëla leaves, José reads the letter. He is about
to throw away the flower when a fight erupts inside the factory between Carmen and
another woman. Zuniga sends José in to remove Carmen, but when he brings her back
outside, she refuses to answer Zuniga’s questions, and José is ordered to lock her up. Left
alone with him, she entices José with suggestions of a rendezvous at a private party outside
of town. Mesmerized, he agrees to let her get away. As he brings her to the lockup, Don
José lets Carmen escape, and he is arrested.
ACT II
Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès entertain a group of locals who have
gathered in the cargo hold of a tractor-trailer truck to party. Zuniga tells Carmen that José
has just been released from custody. Escamillo, a rodeo star, drives along the freeway with
his entourage. The vehicles stop, and people spill out onto the road, listening to Escamillo
boasting about his profession. He flirts with Carmen, who tells him that she is involved with
someone else. Most of the partiers depart with Escamillo, leaving Carmen and her friends
with the smugglers Dancaïre and Remendado, who try to convince the women to get
involved in their smuggling scheme. Frasquita and Mercédès are willing to help, but Carmen
refuses because she is in love. Dancaïre and Remendado withdraw as José approaches.
Carmen and José are left at a deserted gas station. Carmen arouses his jealousy by telling
him how she danced for Zuniga. She dances for José now, but when a signal sounds in the
distance, he says that he must return to duty. Carmen mocks him. To prove his love, José
shows her the flower that she threw at him when they met and confesses how its scent
helped him hold onto hope while he was in lockup. She is unimpressed: If he really loved
her, he would quit the army and join her in a life of freedom in the mountains. José refuses,
and Carmen tells him to leave. Zuniga arrives at the gas station looking for Carmen, and in a
jealous rage, José fights him. The smugglers return and disarm Zuniga. José, having
assaulted his superior officer, now has no choice but to join them.
ACT III
The truck, last seen flying down the highway, has crashed at a high mountain pass. Smoke
rises from the shattered vehicle, and women are climbing out of the back of the truck as
smugglers start to remove large boxes of guns to bring them across the border. Carmen and
José quarrel, and she admits that her love is fading and advises him to return to live with his
mother. When Frasquita and Mercédès turn the cards to tell their fortunes, they foresee
love and money for themselves, but Carmen’s cards spell death—for her and for José.
Micaëla appears, frightened by the remote location and afraid to meet the woman who has
turned José into a criminal. She hides when a shot rings out—José has fired at an intruder,
who turns out to be Escamillo. He tells José that he has come to find Carmen, and the two
men fight. The smugglers separate them, and Escamillo invites everyone, particularly
Carmen, to see him compete in the next rodeo. When he has left, Micaëla emerges and
begs José to return home. He agrees when he learns that his mother is dying, but before he
leaves, he warns Carmen that they will meet again.
ACT IV
In a vast rodeo arena, a vibrant and noisy crowd gathers. Carmen arrives on Escamillo’s
arm, surrounded by his rodeo entourage. Frasquita and Mercédès come to warn her that
José is nearby and can be seen watching her. Unafraid, she waits outside the entrance as
the crowds enter the arena. José appears and begs Carmen to forget the past and start a
new life with him. She calmly tells him that their affair is over: She was born free and will
live free until she dies. The crowd is heard cheering Escamillo. José persists in trying to win
Carmen back. She takes off his ring and throws it at his feet before heading for the arena.
José stabs her to death.

SYNOPSIS Carmen

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Georges Bizet’s

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