Reframing the Violence of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’
Domestic abuse often happens behind closed doors. But it takes center stage at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in a production of Bizet’s “Carmen.” The show stars the mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina in the title role and the tenor Piotr Beczala as José, the soldier whose obsession with Carmen culminates in her murder.
The modern-dress production, set near the American border, aims to shed light on society’s complicity in violence against women.
In the case of Carmen’s death at the hands of José, the director, Carrie Cracknell, said, “we’re trying to frame that as an outcome that feels as much about gender as about two individuals.”
“Carmen” leaves many modern audiences uncomfortable, with its French colonialist fantasies played out in an Andalusia with licentious women and lawless smugglers, a place that risks luring a good man away from duty and family. When José stabs Carmen at the same moment that her new lover triumphs inside the bullfighting arena, it feels as if Bizet is restoring a hierarchical order.
The musicologist Susan McClary, who for decades has published studies on class, race and sex in classical music, said the music makes the audience complicit in craving the destruction of Carmen.
“The problem is that final chord, which seems to shout ‘hurrah!’ ” Ms. McClary said.
Ms. Cracknell said that while it is inevitable that audiences feel pulled toward the dramatic resolution, she wants to “de-romanticize” Carmen’s death.
“Women are still killed by their partners on an enormous scale in most places in the world,” she said. “And we are obsessed with that narrative.”
For the choreographer Ann Yee, removing “Carmen” from the Andalusian context helped to sharpen the message. “If you are looking too hard to situate it in one place, it becomes more difficult to realize that this could happen anywhere,” she said. By the time Carmen dies, Ms. Yee suggested, “we can all hold ourselves accountable.”
Ms. Akhmetshina said: “What is fascinating is that women hate Carmen and men hate Carmen. Women because they cannot have the same power, men because they cannot control her.” Even today, she said, “our world is not ready for Carmen.”
Ms. Cracknell emphasizes the number of witnesses who watch José’s jealousy turn more menacing without intervening. In a confrontation that results in Carmen’s being pushed to the floor, it is only Micaë-* la, her rival, sung by the soprano Angel Blue, who offers a helping hand.
Ms. Cracknell said Ms. Blue came up with the idea in rehearsal. “Angel just instinctively walked over and helped her up,” she said. “Micaëla’s choice was to support another woman and to see her as a victim in her own right.”