April 13, 2024, 7:00 PM
April 14, 2024, 3:00 PM
Rialto Center for the Arts
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An opera in 4 acts
There will be an intermission after Act II.
Notes from the director
There has never been an opera as beloved or popular as Carmen. Even Bugs Bunny couldn’t resist the timeless music. So many of us, our children, and our grandchildren have heard the classic tunes over and over. This familiarity is one of the reasons I decided to present this compelling classic. I have had several questions about our decision to do this magnificent piece because of the vocal difficulty, but this is Georgia State University, one of the best-kept secrets in the Southeast. Our graduate and undergraduate voice students possess the talent required to tackle an opera that few others could undertake. That said, it takes a team of believers to successfully stage something of this magnitude.
We here at Georgia State University are pleased to have a Director of the School of Music/Interim Dean of the College of the Arts who believes in the possibilities for our students and has worked magic to garner the resources to move this production forward. Chester Phillips has been a force for all our students, and we are grateful for his efforts.
One particular person has devoted countless hours to this opera. I’d like to thank Alexandra (Sandy) Land, who has worked tirelessly to help all the singers in this production with the correct pronunciation and translation of the French. Her fluency in the language has made her an invaluable asset during the rehearsal process, and we appreciate her hard work.
Many thanks go to Mark Green, Augustus Godbee, and the Decatur Avondale Children’s Choir for their participation in this opera. Carmen is no small feat, but these talented young singers have added so much to the production, and we are thrilled they decided to be a part of this very special opera. Juliana Bolano and Peyton Fleming also performed excellent work in forming and preparing the opera’s chorus. They have been a significant force in the success of the show.
I also would like to thank the production team – Janae Cleveland, Woody Depew, John Williams, and Melanie Mortimore – for their work on this production. Each of these individuals has brought their remarkable skill and attention to detail to make this production unique and special.
Special thanks to the students who spent countless hours learning the French, the notes, and the staging – and did all of it with a positive attitude. The students here at Georgia State University are the most committed and talented in the Southeast.
Lastly, I want to thank you, the audience, for taking a chance to come downtown to see what we are doing here at Georgia State University in the School of Music and the College of the Arts. You are the reason we, as artists, do what we do. Without an audience to share in our joy during our performances, we could not thrive as musical artists.
cast
Saturday, April 13th
Don José — Levi Adkins / Corey Galloway (cover)
Carmen — Isabella Chaney
Micaela — Liuba Shrivastava
Escamillo — Jacob Thatch McDonald
Zuniga — David Champion
Morales — Randall Perkins
Frasquita — Joi Richardson
Mercedes — Madison Chambers
El Dancaïre — Maxwell Clements / Lee Jun (cover)
El Remendado — José Montañez
Lilas Pastia — Andrew Kapsar
Sunday, April 14th
Don José — Levi Adkins / Corey Galloway (cover)
Carmen — Isabella Chaney
Micaela — Blair Lipham
Escamillo — Andrew Kapsar
Zuniga — David Champion
Morales — DiJean Horton
Frasquita — Flynn Allen
Mercedes — Atasha Widemond
El Dancaïre — Maxwell Clements / Lee Jun (cover)
El Remendado — José Montañez
Lilas Pastia — Jacob Thatch McDonald
synopsis
Act I
A square in Seville. On the left, the entrance to the cigarette factory. On the right, a guardhouse...
The soldiers and men of the town are waiting for the changing of the guard and commenting on the people as they pass by. Micaela enters and catches the eye of Morales who decides to make a game of her. She politely asks for the soldier, Don José, and is told he will be around when the guard changes. She promptly leaves. The bell rings and the women from the cigarette factory come outside to cool off. As they women file out of the factory the men are waiting for Carmen to enter. When she does, she sings the famous Habenera. She watches a soldier who is not paying any attention to her, so this is intriguing. All the men show interest in her, but not this one. She decides to focus on him, tossing him a flower as she leaves. Micaela returns to find Don José. She has traveled from his hometown and has brought him a letter and a kiss from his mother. As he finishes the letter a fight breaks out in the cigarette factory. Carmen and Manuelita have been trading insults and Carmen has injured Manuelita. Zuniga has her arrested and instructs Don José to take her to jail. Carmen has other plans. Don José binds her hands but she decides to convince him to release her and so she begins to sing the Seguidilla and work her magic asking Don José to join her at Lilas Pastias tavern. He relents and they decide to stage an escape. Carmen runs away and Don José must face the consequences…jail!
ACT II
Lillas Pastia's Inn...
It has been two months and Carmen and her friends, Frasquita and Mercedes, are entertaining Zuniga and the other soldiers by dancing and singing. She learns from Zuniga that Don José has been released from prison. Carmen is excited by the news but knows her band of friends need to meet and so she tells the soldiers they to go. They reluctantly begin to exit when the famous bullfighter, Escamillo enters the tavern to invite everyone to the upcoming bullfight. He spots Carmen and immediately is drawn to her. He leaves the tavern followed by the crowd. Now alone, El Remendado and El Dancairo begin to make plans to dispose of the contraband they have stolen, but they need the ladies to help distract the police. Carmen refuses stating she is in love. After much persuading, she decided to join the effort. Don José is heard in the background. Dancairo insists she must ask him to join them. The four leave Carmen so she can be alone with Don José. She begins to sing and dance only to be interrupted by a bugle call. Don José becomes concerned and tells her he must go back to the barracks. She becomes furious over his insistence to leave and then begins to tell him about the gypsy way of life. Zuniga returns and instigates a fight with Don José. Since Don José attacked a superior officer, he has no choice except to join Carmen and her smuggler friends.
INTERMISSION
ACT III
A wild spot in the mountains...
Carmen and José enter with the smugglers and their contraband. Don José is torn between his love for Carmen and his devotion to his mother. He is concerned about the way he is leading his life. Carmen, furiously tells him that he should go back to his mother. Frasquita and Mercédès spend time reading their fortunes through cards; Carmen decides to look at what the cards hold for her. It is death, over and over; death for her and Don José. The smugglers leave so they can move their contraband while the women distract the local customs officers. Don José stays behind on guard duty. Micaëla finds the smugglers hideout in the hopes of seeing Don José and with the help of God, save him from Carmen. She hears a gunshot and hides. Don José has fired at an intruder in the camp. The intruder is Escamillo. Don José is pleased to meet the famous bullfighter but becomes enraged when he learns of Escamillo’s desire for Carmen. This rage results in a fight between the two men which is quickly interrupted by the smugglers and Carmen. Escamillo invites everyone to his next bullfight in Seville and then leaves. Micaëla is found by El Remendado. She begs Don José to leave. He is torn but agrees to go with Micaela when told that his mother is dying. He leaves, swearing to return.
ACT IV
A square in Seville. To the back left, the entrance to the bullfighting arena...
The crowd is milling around outside of the arena, selling goods and anticipating the arrival of Escamillo. He enters with Carmen as they talk of their love for each other. As Escamillo goes into the arena, Frasquita and Mercédès have seen Don José and warn Carmen. Carmen sees Don José who confronts her. He begs her to leave with him but is interrupted by cheers from the arena. Carmen removes the ring he gave her and throws it at him; then runs toward the entrance to the arena. In a delirious state, Don José stabs her, and at the very moment Escamillo is victorious over the bull, Carmen dies. Don José, realizing what he has done, dissolves into despair.
Program Notes
The debut of Carmen...a failure?
Carmen is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalised its first audiences. Bizet died suddenly after the 33rd performance, unaware that the work would achieve international acclaim within the following ten years. Carmen’s popularity is worldwide today, but the work started as a failure. Why did Carmen initially fail? There are many reasons. It was written for the Opéra-Comique where ‘family’ fare was the norm. A licentious gypsy who is murdered by an army deserter was asking a lot of the company’s usual clientele. The chorus and orchestra didn’t like their parts, and the first performance lasted four and a half hours. It was so original and complex when compared to the company’s usual fare that audiences may have been bewildered, yet foreign audiences took to it immediately. Despite failure at home, the opera rapidly traveled around the world reaching as far as New York in 1878. Everywhere away from Paris, it was a success.
Static and dynamic characters?
Though full of colorful characters, Carmen is really about just two – Carmen and José. Carmen does not change from beginning to end. She is entirely free. Her interest in José is slight. She never says she loves him as she does to the bullfighter Escamillo. In fact she loses interest in him before their relationship has barely begun when he decides to leave her and return to his barracks after the bugle for retreat sounds.
José, in contrast to Carmen, undergoes a dreadful metamorphosis. He changes from a naive country boy, to a besotted lover, and finally into a homicidal demon who driven mad by unrequited love, murders the object of his fierce love. His disintegration forms the core of the opera.
One of the first opera's to depict real life...
Carmen portends the verismo (realism) style of opera that came to Italy about 15 years later. Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (which GSU Opera performed last semester) are the two most famous examples of verismo opera.
meet the directors
Kathryn hartgrove
Ms. Hartgrove is an active professional stage director and recently staged Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi for FIO ITALIA and will be returning to stage Rita and Suor Angelica. She staged Il Canterina for FIO ITALIA’s online summer opera festival in 2021. Prior to COVID-19, Ms. Hartgrove staged Suor Angelica in Uberlândia at the invitation for the famed Brazilian soprano Edimar Ferredi. She was invited to create and stage opera scenes programs for Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil, the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia as part of an Artist in Residence and the Festival of International Opera of the Americas. Other engagements include Dido and Aeneas at the Festival Música das Esferas, Cagnoni’s Don Bucefalo, Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna and Rita for La Musica Lirica in Italy, Pizza con Funghi by Seymour Barab with the Boston Opera Cooperative, Too Many Sopranos and Pizza con Funghi for Milwaukee Opera Theater, Die Zauberflöte for the University of Campinas, Brazil. She will stage direct a scenes program for the Universidade de Guanajuato in Mexico.
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Tamara Dworetz
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Tamara Dworetz is a dynamic and electric musical force on the podium. She has conducted the Paris Mozart Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Dallas Opera Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Amarillo Symphony, and Mankato Symphony. She has served as an assistant conductor for the Orchestre de Paris (Klaus Mäkelä), Gürzenich Orchestre Cologne (François-Xavier Roth), BBC Concert Orchestra (Bramwell Tovey) and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Nathalie Stutzmann) and won 2nd prize in the Boston Pops' Leonard Bernstein Conducting Competition. Her 2023-24 season will include debuts with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Arkansas Symphony featuring pianist Conrad Tao. She is thrilled to be the newly-appointed Music Director of the Georgia Philharmonic.
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Boris Cepeda
German-Ecuadorian pianist and conductor Boris Cepeda has distinguished himself as a versatile musician. He was born in Quito in 1974 and first attracted attention when he was 5 years old on Ecuadorian television. His worldwide career as a pianist has now lasted over 40 years. His piano recitals have been enthusiastically received by audiences and the press at venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Berlin Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, Laiesz Halle Hamburg, Beethoven Haus in Bonn, Maria Callas Hall in Athens, Istana Budaya in Kuala Lumpur, Albert Long Hall in Istanbul, Min-On Headquarters in Tokyo, Teatro Nacional in Brasilia and the National Theater in Quito. He has been working as a conductor of orchestra and choir with great success in opera and concert since 2009. Most recently, he made his debut as guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador. His range in the symphonic and opera realms extends from rediscoveries of the classical period to world premieres of contemporary composers.
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& special thanks to...