Born free, die free... La la la carme

(TOP image) © Michiharu Okubo

Enjoy casually! Life with concerts
File.5 Bizet's opera "Carmen"
(Mitsuzo Mori / Music writer)

In the city of Seville, Spain, Carmen works at a tobacco factory and her bewitching charm makes the men yearn for her. When she starts singing during her break, the men around her and her coworkers cheer her on. When the earnest soldier Jose pretends not to notice, Carmen, perhaps annoyed or concerned, provokes him and throws a bright red flower at him.
Carmen is arrested by the police after injuring a colleague in a fight. The earnest Jose is tasked with taking her to prison. He is easily seduced by Carmen, who seduces him with her charms in an attempt to untie his rope and set him free.

"Oh, you really love me!"

Later, Jose has a dispute with his superior officer and is unable to return to the military, so he and Carmen take refuge with a shady smuggling gang.
But Carmen is fickle, and her love interest is the handsome bullfighter Escamillo.
In a corner of the bullring, Jose stabs Carmen to death when she stubbornly refuses to get back together with him, even though he has a knife in his hand.

Carmen is a masterpiece opera by French composer Bizet.
This is a truly miraculous opera in which music, story, and the characters of the characters all come together.

Carmen sings "Habanera" during a break at the factory.
If you chase them, they run away, if you run away, they chase you
That's what love is like, I'm a bird of the wild
No matter how many times I listen to it, it gets my heart racing and thrills my spine.
"It's dangerous if he falls in love with me"...! © Michiharu Okubo

Escamillo's bullfighter song is thoroughly heroic and cool.
Micaela, the fiancée of the earnest Jose, sings of the sadness of a sincere and unrequited love.
Passionate flamenco is scattered throughout.

When the former Bolshoi Ballet's prima ballerina Plisetskaya produced a ballet version of "Carmen," she asked the great Soviet composers Shostakovich and Khachaturian to compose new music. However, it is a famous story that both Shostakovich and Khachaturian refused to compose new music, fearing that Bizet's music was too perfect and that it was well known as the music of "Carmen."
You can't write a bad song... © Michiharu Okubo

And then the climax.
Jose presses for reconciliation with a bold and feminine side.
In the background, the hustle and bustle of the bullring where Escamillo is likely performing intertwines with music with a somewhat ominous atmosphere.

"Carmen obeys no one, she is born free and she dies free."

Carmen speaks up.
The ending is tragic, but it doesn't feel sad.
I felt a strange sense of relief, as if it was finally over.
Characters who lived well, loved well, and died well.

This spring, "Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project XVII ROHM CLASSIC SPECIAL" will be performed at Yokosuka Arts Theater.
© Michiharu Okubo

Anyway, I would like you to go to the theater and see it at least once.
It's an endless parade of famous songs that you've surely heard somewhere before!
Before you know it, your heart is transported to the city of Seville. You become part of the crowd surrounding Carmen and Escamillo, and begin to soar freely!

This event has ended.

Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project XVII ROHM CLASSIC SPECIAL
Bizet: Opera "Carmen "

Date: Thursday, March 21st (National Holiday)
Venue: Yokosuka Arts Theatre (Large Theatre)
Start: 15:00 (doors open at 14:00)
Ticket price: S seats ¥25,000 / A seats ¥21,500 / B seats ¥17,000 / C seats sold out / D seats ¥8,000
*Preschool children are not allowed to enter.