Carmen is unfailingly beautiful and full of life. The young Spanish gypsy is irresistible to men and wholly unafraid of her sensuality. The dark-haired heroine of George Bizet’s opera, titled “Carmen,” plays in Portland until Sept. 29.
If only Carmen was a bit more agreeable, then the opera would not have been banned from the stage and the press when the French composer Bizet premiered it in Paris in 1875. If she did not lead many men into disrepair, Carmen’s character would have faded comfortably into anonymity. But Carmen as a character and an archetype is as beautiful as she is lethal to a man’s heart.
Before those in attendance head for the exits out of fear of falling into the trap of such a vixen, all must sit for the lovely tale of all the characters that help make Carmen’s story.
The soldiers fawn over the gypsy women until they see the breathtaking Carmen. They demand to know when they will have her love and she quite clearly tells them, “If you love me, I don’t love you,” and if he does not love her, she loves him and he had better watch out. She presents Don José (the only male character who pines after another woman, his loyal and plain fiancé, Mica