CARMEN Education Guide FINAL, Lecture notes of Music

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VICTOR DeRENZI, Artistic Director RICHARD RUSSELL, Executive Director

Exploration in Opera

Teacher Resource Guide

CARMEN

GEORGES BIZET’S

Table of Contents The Cast ................................................. 1 The Story & Story Activities ..................... 2 - 4 The Composer ........................................ 4 - 5 Listening & Viewing ................................. 6 - 7 The Story Behind the Story ..................... 8 World Timeline ....................................... 9 - 10 The Librettists .......................................... 10 Carmen Jones .......................................... 11 - 12 Prosper Mérimée ..................................... 13 - 14 Gypies...................................................... 15 Bullfighting .............................................. 15 How You Hear With Your Ears ................. 16 - 17 Costume Design ..................................... 18 Scenic Design .......................................... 19 What Is Opera? ........................................ 20 - 22 What To Expect at the Opera.................. 23 Opera Terms ........................................... 24 Opera Jobs ............................................. 25 Post-Performance Activity ....................... 26 - 27 Sarasota Opera House............................. 28 Sarasota Opera ........................................ 29 Sarasota Youth Opera ............................. 30

Guide Contributors & Editors

Ben Jewell-Plocher Director of Education Sam Lowry Director of Audience Development Greg Trupiano Director of Artistic Administration George Hemcher Youth Opera & Music Administration Assistant Dominique Cecchetti & Bella Cibelli DuTerroil Education Interns

Special thanks to the following

organizations for the use of articles and content: Manitoba Opera Opera Philadelphia OPERA America NOTES EXPLORATION IN OPERA is made possible through the generous support of

Act I Act II 1 The Story IN A SQUARE IN SEVILLE Moralès (moh-RAH-les) and other soldiers observe the array of people that pass by. Micaëla (mee-kay-AY- lah), a peasant girl, asks for Don José (DON hoe-ZAY) but she runs off after the soldiers flirt with her. Don José arrives with the changing of the guard. Zuniga (zoo-NEE-gah), a lieutenant stationed in Seville for the first time, asks him about the women who work at the cigar factory. Don José confesses that these women do not interest him since he loves Micaëla. The ringing of the factory bell announces the end of the workers’ break, and the women return. Carmen (car-MEN), a Gypsy employed at the factory, sings a song about the unpredictability of love. She flirts with Don José and throws a flower at him. Don José, outraged at Carmen’s behavior, nonetheless keeps the flower. Micaëla finds Don José and gives him a letter and a kiss from his mother. Women rush out from the factory and tell Zuniga conflicting stories about a fight. Don José goes inside to investigate and returns with Carmen. Zuniga questions Carmen but she haughtily answers him with a song. Alone with Don José, Carmen convinces him to let her escape. As Don José leads the Gypsy to jail, Carmen pushes him away and runs to her freedom. Lillas Pastia’s inn Carmen and her Gypsy friends, Frasquita (frah-SKEE-tah) and Mercédès (mayr-SAY-dess), entertain Zuniga. He tells Carmen that Don José, sent to jail for helping her escape, has been demoted to a private. Carmen is glad to learn that Don José has been released. The sounds of a parade honoring the bullfighter Escamillo (ess-kah-MEE-yo) are heard from the street. Escamillo and his retinue come into the inn, and he makes clear his attraction to Carmen. The innkeeper clears the crowd, but Zuniga tells Carmen he will return. The smugglers Dancaïre (dahn-kah-EER) and Remendado (reh-men-DAH-doh) join Carmen and her friends. The men tell the women their help is needed in handling some contraband. Carmen refuses to join the plan, telling her

Act IV Act III comrades she is waiting for her new lover. Dancaïre suggests that Carmen convince Don José to join the smugglers. Don José arrives and while she dances for him, Don José hears the bugles that announce he must return to the barracks. Carmen taunts him when he makes clear his intention to leave. Zuniga now returns and the two men fight, but the Gypsies disarm the lieutenant and send him away. Don José knows he has no other choice but to join Carmen. A wild spot in the mountains The Gypsies are smuggling contraband through the mountains. Carmen no longer loves Don José, but he refuses to leave her. Frasquita, Mercédès, and Carmen use cards to tell their fortunes. The cards consistently predict only one fate for Carmen; death. The Gypsies continue their smuggling mission as Don José stands guard nearby. A guide escorts Micaëla up the mountain and she hides when Don José fires his gun. Escamillo enters, complaining that Don José has almost killed him. The two men fight with knives after Escamillo states he is there to see Carmen. The Gypsies intervene and, before leaving, the bullfighter invites all to see him in Seville. Remendado discovers Micaëla in hiding. The peasant girl tells Don José she has come to bring him home to his mother. He agrees to leave Carmen only when he learns that his mother is dying. A square in Seville On the day of Escamillo’s bullfight, vendors and peddlers sell their wares. The crowd hails Escamillo as he makes his way to the bullring. After Escamillo and Carmen express their love to each other, Frasquita and Mercédès warn their friend that Don José is nearby. After everyone goes into the bullring, Carmen and Don José confront each other. He tells Carmen that they can start a new life together; she responds that everything between them is over and throws at Don José the ring he had given her. Don José stabs Carmen to death. Scenic Designs by David P. Gordon

In light of this displayed potential, his parents decided it was time to pursue formal training at the Paris Conservatoire, though he had not yet turned ten, the minimum age requirement for the school. Insistent on furthering his son’s musical instruction, Adolphe arranged an interview with Meifred, a staff member at the Conservatoire, who was immediately impressed with Bizet’s talent. This interview led to Bizet’s official admittance on October 9, 1848, and within six months he had already won the Conservatoire’s premier prix (first prize) in solfege. These early accomplishments caught the attention of many instructors and led to many years of study under great teachers including Antoine Marmontel, Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmermann, Charles Gounod, and Fromental Halevy. Bizet continued to excel in music and won several more of the Conservatoire’s awards in piano. In 1855, at the age of 17, he wrote Symphony in C , his first recorded symphony, but like many of his early works, it was lost and not rediscovered until many years later. In 1857, he composed a one act operetta, Le Docteur Miracle (The Miracle Doctor), in response to a call for new work at Offenbach’s Theatre des Bouffes-Parisiens. After this work was selected and performed at the theatre on April 9 of that year, Bizet met with several influential composers, including Gioachino Rossini, which led him to several years of study in Rome where he traveled and continued composing. This lasted until September of 1860, when Bizet learned that his mother had become seriously ill and returned to Paris. Upon returning to Paris, he continued life in a relatively normal fashion, until in September 1861, his mother died. This caused him a great amount of grief and slowed his progress on many works, leading to a long period of struggle. The grant that he had been living on came to an end and many of his works of that time were generally unsuccessful or lost. The two notable “successes” he had during this period were his opera Les Pecheurs de Perles ( The Pearl Fishers ), and another work entitled Marlborough s’en va-t-en guere ( Marlborough Goes Away ). On June 3, 1896, Bizet married Genevieve Halevy. While it was discovered that this was not as happy a marriage as was initially believed, Bizet spent much of his time helping to take care of Genevieve and her mother due to frequent breakdowns and other mental abnormalities the two faced. Bizet only had one child with Genevieve who was born in 1872. In the summer of 1871, Bizet continued work on two operas: Djamileh, which failed completely, and L’Arlésienne, which ran for 21 performances and was initially ill received, but eventually revived in 1885 to great success. After the initial run of L’Arlésienne , Bizet set to his next big opera Carmen , which, while initially received poorly by audiences, has become his best-known work and one of the most performed operas in Western society. In March of 1875, Bizet grew very ill. In addition to this, he had become very depressed as a result of reception of Carmen , which only sped up the process of his deterioration. By late May, his voice had become shrill and shaky and he had completely lost hearing in his left ear. On June 1, 1875, Bizet suffered a heart attack and on June 3, the anniversary of his wedding, had another and died, at the age of only 36. Gioachino Rossini Genevieve Halevy 1907 Poster for The Pearl Fishers

Listening & Viewing Act I - The Habanera “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (https://youtu.be/K2snTkaD64U) Carmen, a Gypsy employed at the factory, sings a song about the unpredictability of love. She flirts with Don José and throws a flower at him. CARMEN Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame, and it's quite useless to call him if it suits him refuse. Nothing moves him, neither threat nor plea, one man speaks freely, the other keeps mum; and it's the other one I prefer: he's said nothing, but I like him. Love! etc. CHORUS Love is a rebellious bird, etc. CARMEN Love is a gypsy child, he has never heard of law. If you don't love me, I love you; if I love you, look out for yourself! etc. CHORUS Look out for yourself! etc. Love is a gypsy child etc. CARMEN The bird you thought to catch unawares beats its wings and away it flew - love's far away, and you can wait for it: you wait for it no longer - and there it is. All around you, quickly, quickly, it comes, it goes, then it returns - you think you can hold it, it evades you, you think to evade it, it holds you fast. Love! etc. CHORUS All around you, etc. CARMEN Love is a gypsy child, he has never heard of law. If you don't love me, I love you; if I love you, look out for yourself! If you don't love me, I love you, etc. CHORUS Look out for yourself! etc. Love is a gypsy child etc. CARMEN L'amour est un oiseau rebelle que nul ne peut apprivoiser, et c'est bien en vain qu'on l'appelle, s'il lui convient de refuser. Rien n'y fait, menace ou prière, l'un parle bien, l'autre se tait ; et c'est l'autre que je préfère : il n'a rien dit, mais il me plaît. L'amour! etc. CHŒUR L'amour est un oiseau rebelle, etc. CARMEN L'amour est enfant de bohème, il n'a jamais connu de loi : Si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime ; si je t'aime, prends garde à toi! etc CHŒUR Prends garde à toi! etc. L'amour est enfant de bohème, etc. CARMEN L'oiseau que tu croyais surprendre battit de l'aile et s'envola - l'amour est loin, tu peux l'attendre ; tu ne l'attends plus, il est là! Tout autour de toi vite, vite, il vient, s'en va, puis il revient – tu crois le tenir, il t'évite, tu crois l'éviter, il te tient. L'amour! etc. CHŒUR Tout autour de toi, etc. CARMEN L'amour est enfant de bohème, il n'a jamais connu de loi, Si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime ; si je t'aime, prends garde à toi! Si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime, etc. CHŒUR Prends garde à toi! etc. L'amour est enfant de bohème, etc.

The Story Behind the Story Bizet earned his living by preparing transcriptions of operatic scores and teaching. Finally, his contributions to two pieces won critical praise; the one-act opera, Djamileh , and the incidental music to Alphonse Daudet’s play, L’Arlésienne. Bizet was finding his voice as a mature artist. The Management of the Opéra-Comique showed its faith in the composer by commissioning a new opera from him. This work would be Carmen. Carmen was a bold choice for Bizet and his librettists. Based on an already classic story by Prosper Mérimée, it contained sex, violence, and murder. The Opéra-Comique was a family theater that produced entertainment for the bourgeoisie. Although the librettists promised to soften their material, one of the company’s impresarios left in protest. The first singer approached to sing the title role refused, finding it scandalous. Bizet worked closely with his librettists in creating the opera’s text. The composer himself wrote the works for the “Habanera” and contributed to the “Seguidilla” and “Card Aria.” For parts of his new score, including Don José’s “Flower Song” and the Act III finale, Bizet adapted material from some of his incomplete operas. When Marie Galli-Marié, the first Carmen , did not like the music for the “Habanera,” he rewrote it 13 times. Finally, Bizet adapted a song, “El Arreglito,” believing it a folk piece. A Spanish-American composer, Sebastián Yradier, turned out to be its creator. Bizet acknowledged his debt to Yradier in a footnote of the score. Delays in the rehearsal and premiere of Carmen occurred several times due to the Opéra- Comique’s financial troubles. The chorus said its music was not singable. Finally, the opera faced its first audience on March 3, 1875 with the composers Gounod, Thomas, Delibes, Offenbach, and Massenet in attendance. The audience greeted the first act with enthusiastic applause, but each succeeding act drew less approval. By the end of the performance, many in the audience had already left. Carmen was a long opera, and its second intermission that night lasted 42 minutes. The press was savage, denouncing the music and the immorality of the libretto. Soon afterwards, Bizet signed a contract to have the work presented in Vienna, but three months after Carmen’s premiere, the composer was dead at the age of 36. As was the custom for operas at the Opéra- Comique, Bizet wrote Carmen with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers. Ernest Guiraud, the New Orleans-born composer and Bizet’s friend, won the task of turning Carmen into a grand opera (a work sung throughout). Carmen’s grand opera version premiered in Vienna in the fall of 1875. It proved a success, as it did again the following year in Brussels. Productions of Carmen in its new version continued, and the United States saw the opera for the first time in New York on October 23, 1878. Critics, audiences, and composers now hailed Carmen not only as Bizet’s masterpiece, but also as one of the masterpieces of the entire operatic literature. Since the 1970s, many productions of Carmen have jettisoned Guiraud’s recitatives in favor of the Opéra-Comique version of the work. Sarasota Opera will perform Carmen with these recitatives instead of the spoken dialogue between the music numbers. Opéra Comique in Paris

World Timeline Bizet lived from 1838 to 1875 , experiencing such events as the Industrial Revolution, the United States Civil War, and the opening of the Suez Canal.

Active Learning Looking at the timeline below, discuss what it would be like to live in the time of

Bizet. How would your life be different or the same? How did discoveries and inventions of the time affect daily life? What current events and inventions have shaped your life and why? 1760s to 1840s The Industrial Revolution 1758 The Royal Tobacco Factory in Seville, Spain begins production 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of France 1819 Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States 1836 Texas declares its independence from Mexico and Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during a siege by the Mexican Army 1838 Bizet is born in Paris, France Native American’s are forced off their ancestral homelands in what is known as the “Trail of Tears” 1845 to 1849 The Irish potato famine kills around one million Irish men & women 1845 Edgar Allen Poe publishes “The Raven” Prosper Merimée’s novella “Carmen” is published 1848 The California Gold Rush begins when James W. Marshall finds gold in Coloma, CA The Communist Manifesto is published by Karl Marx 1849 Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery 1853 The Crimean War begins between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, Britain and Sardinia. 1857 Bizet’s opera Doctor Miracle premieres at the Bouffes-Parisiens 1859 Charles Darwin publishes his theory of evolution in his book “On the Origin of Species” Harriet Tubman Napoleon Bonaparte California Gold Rush Prospectors

CARMEN JONES Carmen's entry into the canon of Western operas gave rise to several revisionist interpretations, each of them foregrounding a particular issue of concern to the society and culture that produced it. One such example is Carmen Jones. In 1 943, musical theater librettist Oscar Hammerstein II took Georges Bizet's opera Carmen , rewrote the lyrics, changed the characters from 19 th century Spaniards to World War II-era African- Americans, switched the locale to a Southern military base, and the result was Carmen Jones. Hammerstein defended his reworking of the opera as an all-black musical by pointing to the Moorish influence on Spanish culture. Otto Preminger's film “Carmen Jones” is often considered a landmark (both positive and negative) in the history of black representations in cinema. Dorothy Dandridge stars as Carmen Jones, tempestuous employee of a parachute factory. Harry Belafonte plays Joe (originally José), a young military officer engaged to marry Cindy Lou (Olga James). When Carmen gets into a fight with another girl, she is placed under arrest and put in Joe's charge. Succumbing to her attractiveness, Joe accompanies Carmen to her old neighborhood where, after killing a sergeant sent to retrieve him, he deserts the army. Carmen tries to be faithful, but fortune-telling Frankie (Pearl Bailey) warns her that she and her soldier are doomed. Enter Joe Adams in the role of boxer Husky Miller (a play on Carmen's bullfighter Escamillo), who sweeps Carmen off her feet, ultimately with tragic results. While Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte were singers, their opera voices were dubbed in by LeVern Hutcherson and Marilyn Horne.

• The English translation of Carmen and the lyrics in “Carmen Jones” are drastically different. The theme is still the same, but how is it transformed?
• “Carmen Jones” is set in a World War II-era production (early 1940s). How does this influence the set, costumes, and dancing compared to Carmen which is set in Seville, Spain in the 1820s?
• Both Carmen and “Carmen Jones” have a very prominent percussion instrument used throughout the entire song. What instrument(s) are featured in each production, and how do they convey the text that is being sung by the actresses?
• THE MUSICAL THE FILM Oscar Hammerstein II Movie Poster

COMPARE & CONTRAST

Using the sets of lyrics below, compare and contrast the Act II opening of Carmen by Bizet and “ Beat out dat rhythm on a drum” from Carmen Jones. Text Courtesy of Manitoba Opera

The sistrums’ rods were jingling With a metallic clatter, And at this strange music The zingarellas leapt to their feet. Tambourines were keeping time And the frenzied guitars Ground away under persistent hands, The same song, the same refrain. Tralalalala….. Copper and silver rings Glittered on dusky skins; Orange – and red-striped Dresses floated in the wind. Dance and song became one – At first timid and hesitant, Then livelier and faster It grew and grew and grew! Tralalalala….. The gypsy boys stormed away On their instruments with all their might, And this deafening uproar Bewitched the zingaras! Beneath the rhythm of the song, Passionate, wild, fired with excitement, They let themselves be carried away, Intoxicated, by the whirlwind! Tralalalala….. I'll tell you why I wanna dance. It ain' de sweetness in de music I like de sweetness in de music, But dat ain' why I wanna dance. It's sumpin' thumpin' in de bass, A bumpin' underneath de music. Dat bum-bum-bumpin' under music Is all I need, to start me off. I don't need nuthin' else to start me off. Beat out dat rhythm on a drum, An' I don' need no tune at all! I feel it beatin' in my bones, It feel like twen'y millyun tomtoms. I know dere's twen'y millyun tomtoms Beatin' way down deep inside my bones. I feel it beatin' in my heart, An' den I get a kin' o' dream An' in my dream it kin' o' seem Dere's jus' one heart, In all de worl'~ Dere ain't but one big heart for all de worl'. Beat out dat rhythm on a drum, Dere's one big heart for all de wor'! An' now dat heart is beatin' fast, An' dat's a rhythm I kin dance to, I'm mighty glad I got a chance to, Wid dat one big heart dat's beatin' fast. Tomorrow mornin' let it rain, Tomorrow mornin' let it pour, Tonight we's in de groove together~ Ain' gonna worry 'bout stormy weather~ Gonna kick ol' trouble out de door! Beat out ol' trouble on a drum, An' kick his carcass through de door CARMEN https://youtu.be/Q5h_7ywjPPQ CARMEN JONES https://youtu.be/slb3EqGZMEY?t=1m 8s

Excerpt from Part III of the Novella Carmen

By Prosper Mérimée I fell in with some dragoons , and enlisted in the Almanza Cavalry Regiment. Mountain folks like us soon learn to be soldiers. Before long I was a corporal, and I had been told I should soon be made a sergeant, when, to my misfortune, I was put on guard at the Seville Tobacco Factory. If you have been to Seville you have seen the great building, just outside the ramparts, close to the Guadalquivir ; I can fancy I see the entrance, and the guard room just beside it, even now. When Spanish soldiers are on duty, they either play cards or go to sleep. I, like an honest Navarrese , always tried to keep myself busy. I was making a chain to hold my priming-pin, out of a bit of wire: all at once, my comrades said, ‘there’s the bell ringing, the girls are coming back to work.’ You must know, sir, that there are quite four or five hundred women employed in the factory. They roll the cigars in a great room into which no man can go without a permit from the [Magistrate], because when the weather is hot they make themselves at home, especially the young ones. When the work-girls come back after their dinner, numbers of young men go down to see them pass by, and talk all sorts of nonsense to them. Very few of those young ladies will refuse a silk mantilla , and men who care for that sort of sport have nothing to do but bend down and pick their fish up. While the others watched the girls go by, I stayed on my bench near the door. I was a young fellow then—my heart was still in my own country, and I didn’t believe in any pretty girls who hadn’t blue skirts and long plaits of hair falling on their shoulders. And besides, I was rather afraid of the Andalusian women. I had not got used to their ways yet; they were always jeering one—never spoke a single word of sense. So I was sitting with my nose down upon my chain, when I heard some

bystanders say, ‘Here comes the gitanella !’

Then I lifted up my eyes, and I saw her! It was that very Carmen you know, and in whose rooms I met you a few months ago. She was wearing a very short skirt, below which her white silk stockings—with more than one hole in them—and her dainty red morocco shoes, fastened with flame-colored ribbons, were clearly seen. She had thrown her mantilla back, to show her shoulders, and a great bunch of acacia that was thrust into her chemise. She had another acacia blossom in the corner of her mouth, and she walked along, swaying her hips, like a filly from the Cordova stud farm. In my country anybody who had seen a woman dressed in that fashion would have crossed himself. At Seville every man paid her some bold compliment on her appearance. She had an answer for each and all, with her hand on her hip, as bold as the thorough gipsy she was. At first I didn’t like her looks, and I fell to my work again. But she, like all women and cats, who won’t come if you call them, and do come if you don’t call them, stopped short in front of me, and spoke to me.” Dragoon - Dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The name comes from a type of firearm, called a "dragon", carried by dragoons of the French Army. Guadalquivir - The fifth longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir river is the only great navigable river in Spain. Navarrese – People from Navarra. a geographically diverse region in northern Spain Dotted with remote villages, its capital and largest city is Pamplona, famous for its annual running of the bulls. Mantilla - A lace or silk scarf worn by women over the hair and shoulders, especially in Spain. Andalusian – People from Andalusia, a large independent region of hills, rivers and farmland bordering Spain’s southern coast. gitanella – Spanish for “Little gipsy.” Acacia - a tree or shrub of warm climates that bears spikes or clusters of yellow or white flowers and is frequently thorny.

Gypsies Bullfighting Carmen and her friends are Gypsies, a word used to describe an ethnic group of people known for their music, fortunetelling, and nomadic lifestyle. "Gypsy" is actually a derogatory (insulting) word. The group of people it refers to are more accurately called Roma, and the language they speak is Romanes, or Romani. There are four Roma tribes, or nations (the Kalderash, the Machavaya, the Lovari, and the Churari), plus many other smaller groups (such as the Sinti, the Luri, and the Xoraxai). Most Roma refer to themselves by their tribal name or by "Rom" or "Roma", meaning "Man" and "People". There are approximately 12 million Roma living in several nations around the world, but it is hard to get an exact number since they are not usually included in official census counts. Roma tend to live in their own communities, separate from the gajikané (foreign) society around them. Centuries of discrimination and ethnic hatred have made them suspicious of outsiders, and they fear that integrating into gajikané society will cause them to lose their unique cultural identity. Over the centuries, Roma have spread into many different countries worldwide and have adapted to varying degrees to their different cultural environments. For this reason, there is no universal Roma culture, and there are many differences; what is "true Roma" to one group may be "gadjé", or foreign, to another. However, there are some things characteristic of all Roma, for example: loyalty to family, belief in predestiny, and adaptability to changing conditions. Bullfighting is considered an art form in Spain, and is intimately linked with the country’s history, art and culture. Today bullfighting is big business in Spain with the top matadores earning comparable salaries to the nation's top soccer stars and rock idols. It is very popular with several thousand Spaniards flocking to their local bull-ring each week. It is said that the total number of people watching bullfights in Spain reaches one million every year. Pressure groups attempt to lobby against bullfighting yet the King of Spain himself has been quoted as saying that the day the EU bans bullfighting is the day Spain leaves the EU. Six bulls, to be killed by three matadors, are usually required for one afternoon's corrida, and each encounter lasts about 15 minutes. At the appointed time, generally 5 PM, the three matadors, each followed by their assistants, the banderilleros and the picadors, march into the ring to the accompaniment of traditional paso doble (“march rhythm”) music. The matadors are the stars of the show. They wear a distinctive costume, consisting of a silk jacket heavily embroidered in gold, skintight trousers, and a montera (a bicorne hat). A traje de luces (“suit of lights”), as it is known, can cost many thousands of dollars; a top matador must have at least six of them a season. As bullfighting developed, the men on foot, who by their cape work aided the horsemen in positioning the bulls, began to draw more attention from the crowd, and the modern corrida began to take form. Today the bullfight is much the same as it has been since about 1726, when Francisco Romero of Ronda, Spain, introduced the estoque (the sword) and the muleta (the small, more easily wielded worsted cape used in the last part of the fight). A Romani wagon in Germany in 1935 Bullfight in modern day Spain Text Courtesy of Manitoba Opera

Anvil or Incus - a small bone that passes vibrations from the to the stirrup. Cochlea - spiral-shaped, fluid-filled soft tissue lined with tiny hairs; creates a nerve impulse. Eardrum - a membrane that vibrates when hit by sound waves. Eustachian Tube - tube that connects middle ear to the back of the nose; equalizes ear pressure. Hammer or Malleus - a small bone that passes vibrations through from the eardrum to the anvil. Outer Ear Canal - tube that carries sound to the eardrum. Pinna or Auricle - the visible outside part of your ear; collects sound. Semi-circular Canals - 3 fluid-filled looped tubes attached to cochlea; maintain balance. Stirrup or Stapes - smallest bone in the human body; u-shaped and passes vibrations from the anvil to the cochlea. 67

–––– Parts of the Ear ––––

The ear is divided into three main sections: the External Ear, the Middle Ear, and the Inner Ear. Your external ear is what is visible on the outside of the skull, the middle ear contains three tiny bones which are referred to as the ossicles, and your inner ear sends signals to your brain. Parts of the Ear The ear is divided into three main sections: the External Ear, the Middle Ear, and the Inner Ear. Your external ear is what is visible on the outside of the skull, the middle ear contains three tiny bones, which are referred to as the ossicles, and your inner ear sends signals to your brain. Anvil or Incus - a small bone that passes vibrations from the to the stirrup. Cochlea - spiral-shaped, fluid-filled soft tissue lined with tiny hairs; creates a nerve impulse. Eardrum - a membrane that vibrates when hit by sound waves. Eustachian Tube - tube that connects middle ear to the back of the nose; equalizes ear pressure Hammer or Malleus - a small bone that passes vibrations through from the eardrum to the anvil. Outer Ear Canal - tube that carries sound to the eardrum. Pinna or Auricle - the visible outside part of your ear; collects sound. Semi-circular Canals - 3 fluid-filled looped tubes attached to cochlea; maintain balance. Stirrup or Stapes - smallest bone in the body; u passes vibrations from the anvil to the cochlea. Text and diagram courtesy of Opera Philadelphia

13 Costume Design Costumes provide the audience with important clues about the characters in an opera. Details about the wealth, profession, goals, secrets, and relationships with other characters can all be represented by the clothes a character wears. The costume designer plans or designs the costumes and supervises their construction. Through research and careful planning, they insure that the performer’s costumes fit the character as well as the time period and location in which the opera is set. They also take into account any “clues” the composer includes in the score which tell how the character might act or physical actions they might do (for example, hide something on their person).

Active Learning The three sketches below are

all of costumes the character Carmen wears throughout the opera. Identify what is different about each look, and how these differences correspond to the synopsis of the opera. Costume designer Howard Tsvi Kaplan’s designs for Carmen can be found below. Mr. Kaplan has been Sarasota Opera’s resident costume designer since 1998 and has designed for more than 20 different productions. Other recent endeavors include The Man of La Mancha (Olney Theatre - nominated for a Helen Hayes Award); The Mikado (Pittsburgh Public Theatre) ; Il Trovatore (Opera New Jersey) , The Marriage of Figaro and Werther (Kentucky Opera), Siege of Corinth and La bohème (Baltimore Opera). For twelve years, Mr. Kaplan designed for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Clown College. Carmen in Act I Carmen in Act II Carmen in Act III