Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”: Interpretations of Performance within the Context of Culture
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Abstract
The article examines the phenomen of the multivariance of stage directors’ interpretations of the classical opera
heritage on the example of the historical and cultural metamorphoses of demonstrations of George Bizet’s “Carmen” on
stage. Several examples from the history of the productions disclose the principal differences of interpretation against
the historical background of the social life and artistic culture of their times. The lengthy life of Bizet’s oeuvre (not only
in the opera theater, but in ballet, artistic and cartoon films and show performances of recent times) may be explained
by the polyvalence which 20th century philosophy and psychology defined by the concept of the archetype, comparison
of constant plots and characters with mythological texts. The fluidity and historical mobility of the collective perception
of such archetypes create their impact on stage directors’ interpretations of classical operas, presenting themselves as
peculiar translators of vast and not always perceptible evolutionary processes of collective myth-creation.
The author of the article illuminates in a comparative-analytical perspective musical stage productions of Bizet’s
opera “Carmen” in Russia and other countries during the time period from the 1950s to the 1990s. These include
performances at the Bolshoi Theater (Vasily Nebolsin, 1956), the Vienna Opera (Herbert von Karajan, 1967), Franco
Zeffirelli in Arena di Verona, and also the cinematizations of Zeffirelli and Franco Rossi, Roland Petit’s ballet version,
and others. Interpretations of the images of Carmen (by Irina Arkhipova and Grace Bumbry, Julia Migenes-Johnson
and Zizi Jeanmaire) and Don José (Roland Petit and Placido Domingo) reflect the change of historical and cultural
models in the context of constantly renewing paradigms of the contemporary mythologized consciousness.
Keywords: the classical opera legacy, Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen,” stage directors’ scenic interpretations,
movie-opera, artistic archetypes of 20th century social consciousness.
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