{"id":73866,"date":"2023-01-26T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/operawire.com\/?p=73866"},"modified":"2023-01-25T22:00:14","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T03:00:14","slug":"opera-meets-film-the-realism-of-francesco-rosis-carmen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/operawire.com\/opera-meets-film-the-realism-of-francesco-rosis-carmen\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera Meets Film: The Realism of Francesco Rosi’s ‘Carmen’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Films based on opera often feel inadequate. They are frequently an attempt to introduce reality into art, and this concept is flawed. D<\/span>irectors fail to realize that what it should be is the other way around: bringing art into reality, making opera about human beings and their everyday trials. <\/span>Luckily, some directors do know what they\u2019re doing, and Italian director <\/span>Francesco Rosi<\/span><\/a> was one of them. <\/span>In 1984, the year that Steve Jobs launched the first personal computer and the Challenger Space Shuttle embarked on its’ tenth mission, Rosi gave to the world <\/span>his version<\/span><\/a> of Georges Bizet\u2019s<\/a> beloved opera “Carmen.” <\/span><\/p>\n

It is interesting that 1984 was also the year in which Philip Glass<\/a> premiered his now revived opera <\/span>“Akhnaten”<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and<\/em> Luciano Berio<\/a> staged, for the first time, his criminally underperformed opera <\/span>“Un re in ascolto.”<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Within the cinematic world, the internationally-acclaimed hip-hop film <\/span>Beat Street<\/span><\/a> premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, the same year as the premier of the equally popular breakdancing film <\/span>Breakin’.<\/span><\/a> This is all to say that 1984 was clearly a very important year on all sides of the cultural spectrum. <\/span><\/p>\n

Rosi had recently finished the film <\/span>\u201cThree Brothers,\u201d<\/span><\/a> based on the eponymous novel by Andrei Platonov,<\/a> winning several awards for his efforts. <\/span>He now had the time, energy, and means to make another huge splash in the cinematic world. Only a little earlier, stage and film director Franco Zeffirelli <\/a>had planned to make his own cinematic version of “Carmen,” but thankfully he had never realized the project: Zeffirelli’s vision for opera adaptations was not always clear, and it was he who had so ruined Samuel Barber\u2019s<\/a> opera <\/span>“Antony and Cleopatra”<\/span><\/a> at the MET in 1966. The path was clear for Rosi. With an all-star cast, including Placido Domingo<\/a> as Don Jose, Rosi\u2019s operatic film blurred the line between reality and art, casting the bohemian femme fatale Carmen as a fiercely independent woman who is hobbled by love. Winning a multitude of awards at the time, the film has begun to collect dust on the shelves of cinematic history: but that does not mean it has lost any of its original glamour. <\/span>To understand the relationship between director Rosi and composer Bizet, let us look at two key factors which unify these creators.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mutual Inspirations for “Carmen”<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Before Bizet\u2019s “Carmen,” other composers had tried their hand at the theme. Adolphe Adam<\/a>\u2014mentor to L\u00e9o Delibes,<\/a> composer of <\/span>“Lakme”<\/span><\/a>\u2014<\/span>and his 1849 opera <\/span>“Le tor\u00e9ador,”<\/span><\/a> is just one example. It was a popular trope, one inspired by the nature of literary publishing in France at the time. The mid-19th century saw a boom in publicly available publications for readers of all backgrounds to peruse. In these monthly\u2014or bi-monthly\u2014journals, know as ‘revues<\/em>,’ contained articles on nearly any topic: their primary purpose being to educate readers on the world beyond France. Founded in 1829, the still-running publication Revue des Deux Mondes<\/em> was geared towards the cultural, political, and economic union between the United States of America and France, and celebrated scientific, artistic, and political triumphs. Reviews of opera were also published in these magazines. A notable example was Camille Bellaigue\u2019s<\/a> review of Jules Massenet\u2019s<\/a> twelfth opera <\/span>“La Navarraise,”<\/span><\/a> describing the opera as <\/span>\u201clike an element of eternity.”<\/span><\/a> Another revue, Le Tour du Monde,<\/em> was formed as a travel journal. At a time when global travel and the importation of foreign cultures was becoming not only feasible but desirable, the publication helped its’ readers discover the world. From the mid-19th century into the early 20th, the journal documented archeological and geographical discoveries of nearly every kind. Le Tour<\/em> also played a part in the story of “Carmen.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

French artist Gustave Dor\u00e9,<\/a> whose son <\/span>M. Ernest <\/span><\/a>Dor\u00e9<\/a> would later become a minor composer, made over 350 engravings of provincial life in Spain accompanying ‘Voyages en Espagne,<\/em>‘ an illustrated serial by art collector Charles Davillier published in Le Tour <\/em>in 1873. This was during the interim period between the publication of Prosper M\u00e9rim\u00e9e\u2019s<\/a> novel which famously inspired “Carmen,” and before Bizet\u2019s premiere of the opera itself. There is reason to suspect that Bizet was as inspired by Dor\u00e9’s illustrations as M\u00e9rim\u00e9e\u2019s short stories, for within the <\/span>Francophile fine art realm,<\/span><\/a> and thanks to the popularity of the revues, bohemian themes and Spanish exoticism were all the rage. Perhaps the most well-known examples come from the painter \u00c9douard Manet.<\/a> During the 1860s, he was captivated by the allure of Spain, and his paintings <\/span>‘Lola de Valence,’<\/span><\/a> (1862) and<\/span> ‘Gypsy with a Cigarette’<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(1862), both show an unmistakable similarity to Bizet\u2019s 1875 heroine. Manet was himself inspired, in turn, by Bizet’s masterpiece, as seen in his 1880 painting <\/span>‘Emilie Ambre in the Role of Carmen.’<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Further overtures of “Carmen” can be seen in <\/span>‘Boh\u00e9miens Going to a F\u00eate’<\/span><\/a> (1840) by <\/span>Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Pe\u00f1a,<\/span><\/a> who was known for his woodland paintings and ability to depict rugged merriment. Fine art’s connection to Bizet is not only epochal, but tangible. Only ten days after “Carmen\u2019s” premiere, on March 3rd 1875, engraver Pierre-Auguste Lamy<\/a> created four engravings of crowd scenes based on the opera’s acts and set designs by Antoine Choudens<\/a><\/span>. <\/span>These<\/span><\/a> illustrations have helped <\/span>researchers<\/span><\/a> piece together what the premiere must have looked like. We also know what <\/span>some of the costumes<\/span><\/a> would have looked like, too, thanks to drawings made by orientalist painter and illustrator Georges Clairin<\/a> who, in 1875, drew the two leads.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rosi was evidently familiar with the artistic milieu that had surrounded the genesis of Bizet’s masterpiece. He sought to create Dor\u00e9-like scenes, shooting the operatic film outdoors. He tried to capture as many natural effects as possible in an effort to harness the power of cinematic realism. Rosi was convinced that Bizet had been influenced by Dor\u00e9 and wanted to go even farther by tracing Dor\u00e9 and Davillier\u2019s journey through Spain for himself. To capture the magic of what he saw as the ‘cultural truth,’ Rosi used the real locations from Dor\u00e9\u2019s sketches for his film, staging the opera in these historical, physical places. The film was shot in Andalusia, which is a region known for its flourishing cultural environment. During the late 18th and 19th century\u2014the height of Romanticism\u2014Andalusia was the epicenter of the burgeoning artistic style known as <\/span>costumbrismo<\/span><\/a>\u2014<\/span>equivalent to Italian <\/span>verismo<\/span><\/a>\u2014<\/span>a visual and literary style that favored unadorned depictions of real life as opposed to the flowery idealism of the previous century and the impending cosmopolitan industrialisation that would follow in the 20th century. A central pillar of costumbrismo was the honoring of local traditions and customs. It is not hard to see how Bizet\u2019s “Carmen” was a part of this world, and why Rosi wanted to continue this legacy. To ensure true verisimilitude, Rosi hired genuine Romani, local villagers, and soldiers to populate the film\u2019s many crowd scenes, obscuring the boundary between film and reality. Another critical aspect of his film was striking a balance between light and dark\u2014’chiaroscuro’\u2014allowing the innate levity of Bizet\u2019s opera to sit adjacent to the heaviness of the central story. In discussing the choreography, Antonio Gades<\/a> remarked that Rosi\u2019s true gift was merging scripted movement with natural celebrations that one would find in the original cultural setting. \u201cMy choreography is discreet,” he remarked, “Almost unnoticeable. It is a popular fiesta more than a choreography.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rosi and Bizet\u2019s Ideal Woman<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Performing on the night of the premier, in March 1875, were some of France\u2019s best singers. In the role of Carmen was the striking <\/span>C\u00e9lestine Galli-Mari\u00e9<\/span><\/a>\u2014who was also the model for the illustration <\/span>drawn by Georges Clairin. Galli-Mari\u00e9 was the daughter of opera singer <\/span>M\u00e9c\u00e8ne Mari\u00e9 de l’Isle<\/span><\/a>, who had been the original Tonio in Donizetti\u2019s <\/a><\/span>“La Fille du R\u00e9giment.”<\/span><\/a> Her career began in her late teens, and by the mid-19th century she was singing at the Op\u00e9ra-Comique in Paris. It is speculated, rather fascinatingly, that she not only predicted Bizet\u2019s death, but that she personally asked him to create the role of Carmen. Whether true or not, Galli-Mari\u00e9 was widely known <\/span>for her nimbleness onstage and impeccable singing, and after audiences heard her in Ambroise Thomas\u2019s<\/a> “Mignon,”<\/a> there seemed little question who would play Carmen. Though negotiations of pay and logistics would go on for a while, and Galli-Mari\u00e9\u2019s tour dates considerably complicated matters, her participation in the role was allegedly cemented when, according to writer <\/span>Henry Malherbe<\/span><\/a>, Bizet and Galli-Mari\u00e9 entered into a relationship.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the course of 1874 Bizet and Galli-Mari\u00e9 exchanged letters and began to fall for one-another. By September the rehearsals had begun, and as they continued, and the premiere came and went\u2014it was not well-received upon opening as it was considered a very controversial story for the time\u2014Bizet would increasingly rely upon Galli-Mari\u00e9. Because the opera was being critically challenged, Galli-Mari\u00e9 became the symbol of stalwart dedication to Bizet’s vision. As Mina Kirstein Curtiss <\/span>writes<\/span><\/a>, C\u00e9lestine Galli-Mari\u00e9 ‘became the embodiment of [Bizet’s] creation by her own gifts, her faith in his talent, her fierce loyalty to his conception of the interpretation of her role.’ Upon Bizet\u2019s death, praise began to roll in for a composer who had been widely scorned for his ostensible ‘distastefulness’ in regards to “Carmen.” Galli-Mari\u00e9 continued to sing Carmen, praise heaped high as she went. Though, upon the opera\u2019s resurgence in the 1880s at the Op\u00e9ra-Comique, its lowly nature was a vast departure from its original quality, it is thanks to Galli-Mari\u00e9 that we are still talking about “Carmen” today. During her time in the role she was considered scandalous and extreme, yet her novel dramaturgy has inspired many subsequent iterations of Bizet\u2019s tragic heroine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Rosi, the process of finding his Carmen was very much the same. Not just anyone could portray her, but someone who could navigate between ferocious sensuality, playfulness, sincerity, calmness, scornfulness, and genuine humility. Her sentiment had to differ depending on who she was with; her demeanor had to change considerably when occupied with dancing. Carmen must be able to pierce the heart of her admirers without giving an inch of space to them, yet not be so cold as to push him away. Rosi\u2019s Carmen was to be modeled after the\u00a0traditions and way of life of the Romani people.<\/a> Having come from India through the Middle East in the 3rd century, making their way into Europe by the 14th century, and establishing themselves as a fully-fledged, independent culture by the 15th century, Romani people<\/a>\u2014also known as Roma, Sinti, and Cal\u00e9\u2014have suffered ongoing persecution and discrimination throughout their history. Despite their endless battle against xenophobia, it was “gitano” <\/span>culture\u2014an exonym for the Roma people of Spain which, unlike its’ English-language equivalent, is not widely considered a pejorative\u2014that would give rise to the phenomenon of Flamenco dance; which would inspire the painter Manet; and whom Bizet would valorize with his opera.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To fill this massive and demanding role, the American musical theater performer and operatic soprano <\/span>Julia Migenes-Johnson<\/span><\/a> was chosen. To prepare for the role, Migenes-Johnson had to train to lower her naturally high voice to fit the sultry depths needed for Carmen. She also had to learn how to dance Flamenco, taking classes with Gades’<\/span> ballet company.<\/span><\/a> Once the film was released, reviewers were immediately struck by Migenes-Johnson\u2019s alluring embodiment of Bizet\u2019s femme fatale. Pauline Kael wrote, “Julia Migenes-Johnson’s freckled street urchin Carmen revitalizes the story.” Appearing alongside Migenes-Johnson were several big names of opera, including Pl\u00e1cido Domingo as Don Jose, Ruggero Raimondi<\/a> as Escamillo, and Westminster Choir College faculty member Faith Esham <\/a>in the role of Mica\u00ebla. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is clear from all reviews that Migenes-Johnson’s performance tapped into the heart of Carmen, that she embodied the dangerous and seductive sense of manipulation which defines her, her femininity becoming a tool to command those around her, to bend their wills to her desire. When Carmen dies at the end, Migenes-Johnson’s beauty makes the moment all the worse: her tortuous allure and dogged knowledge of self makes her someone whose life would never be taken for granted, and whose death is devastating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a Listen<\/h3>\n