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

(Top image) © Michiharu Okubo

Enjoy it casually! A life with concerts
File 5: Bizet's opera 'Carmen'
(Mitsusaburo Mori / Music Writer)

In the Spanish city of Seville, Carmen works in a tobacco factory and her alluring charm makes her the object of desire for many men. When she starts singing during breaks, her entourage and colleagues cheer her on. When the earnest soldier, José, pretends not to notice, Carmen, perhaps offended or intrigued, provokes him and throws a bright red flower at him.
Carmen gets into a fight, injures a colleague, and is arrested by the police. The task of escorting her to prison falls to the earnest Jose. Carmen uses her flirtatious charm to seduce him and get him to untie her and let her go, and he easily falls for it.

"Oh, do you really love me?!"

Afterward, Jose had a falling out with his superior officer and was unable to return to the army, so he and Carmen took refuge with a shady smuggling ring.
But Carmen is fickle. Her next love interest is the handsome bullfighter, Escamillo...
In a corner of the bullring, Jose stabs and kills Carmen, who stubbornly refuses his pleas to reconcile, knife in hand.

Carmen, the great masterpiece opera by the French composer Bizet.
This is truly a miraculous opera, where the music, story, and characters all come together seamlessly.

Carmen sings "Habanera - Love is a Wild Bird" during a break at the factory.
They chase you, then run away; if you run, they chase you back.
That's what love is like, I'm a wild bird
No matter how many times I listen to it, it still makes my heart race and gives me chills.
"It would be dangerous if he fell in love with me"...! © Michiharu Okubo

Escamillo's "Toreador Song" is utterly heroic and incredibly cool.
Micaela, the earnest fiancée of the sincere Jose, sings of the bittersweet sadness of her unrequited love.
Passionate flamenco is scattered throughout the film.

It is said that when the Bolshoi Ballet's former prima ballerina Plisetskaya was producing the ballet version of "Carmen," she asked Shostakovich and Khachaturian, then great Soviet composers, to compose new music. However, it is a well-known anecdote that both of them refused to compose new music, fearing the high level of perfection and recognition of Bizet's music as the music of "Carmen."
You can't write a bad song... © Michiharu Okubo

And then the climax.
Jose, with his blatantly effeminate behavior, begs her to get back together.
In the background, the clamor of a bullring, where Escamillo is likely performing, intertwines with music that has a somewhat ominous atmosphere.

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

Carmen declared.
The ending is tragic, but I don't feel sad.
A strange sense of relief, as if to say, "It's 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 the Yokosuka Arts Theatre.
© Michiharu Okubo

In short, I would like you to go to the theater and see it for yourself.
It's sure to be a parade of famous songs you've heard somewhere before!
My heart drifted to the city of Seville. I became part of the crowd surrounding Carmen and Escamillo, and began to soar freely!

This event has ended.

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

Date: March 21st (Thursday, public holiday)
Venue: Yokosuka Arts Theatre (Yokosuka Arts Theatre Main Hall)
Start: 15:00 (doors open at 14:00)
Ticket prices: S seats ¥25,000 / A seats ¥21,500 / B seats ¥17,000 / C seats Sold Out / D seats ¥8,000
*Preschool children are not permitted to enter.