The Beauty of Carmen

I went to see a performance of Carmen for the first time tonight. I've always loved Carmen, but had not only never seen it staged before (live or recorded), I hadn't even really read the libretto. I had mostly just listened to Callas's recording. My favorite melody (and there are so many great melodies!) has long been the main melody in the first act duet between Don Jose and Micaela, in particular the melody that begins with "Votre mère avec moi". Having never bothered to read the libretto, I assumed that this was the love theme between Don Jose and Micaela, and found it quite lovely on that level.

Tonight, when I actually saw the libretto translated in supertitles, I realized that the melody isn't a love theme at all, but rather the hope for Don Jose's reunion with his mother, and ultimately his (unfulfilled) redemption. Once I saw that, the melody became even more beautiful to me. I have long had a soft spot for stories involving redemption, and the melody is so perfectly suited to that notion of optimistic longing, of hope for a better tomorrow, that it nearly made me cry (especially when Micaela sings it again, with much greater meaning, in the third act).

The entire opera, of course, just has melody after beautiful melody throughout, it was quite a joy to see it performed live. Still, that redemption melody is easily the most beautiful one.