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Act I
Scene 1 Morning. Work begins at the tobacco factory. The women roll cigars, indignant at the oppressive monotony of their lives. Belatedly, after everyone else, Carmen appears. She is in no hurry to get down to business, her voice of protest against the daily routine sounds louder than the others. A guard detachment arrives to protect the factory. The attention that the women show the soldiers makes Carmen jealous. A fight begins. The young officer Jose orders the soldiers to intervene and arrest the instigator. But Carmen's charms prevent his plan from being realized. Soon he himself finds himself in their captivity. Taking advantage of the opportune moment, Carmen disappears. Scene 2 Siesta. The empty square in front of the factory. Jose tries to comprehend what has happened. The feelings that Carmen stirred in his heart are new to him. Even the memories of the mother and fiancée he left behind cannot overshadow the image of a proud gypsy. Unexpectedly, Carmen, who was secretly watching the officer, interrupts the painful course of his thoughts. In amusement, she showers Jose with reproaches for his rudeness. But behind the mask of cold flirtation, a reciprocal feeling begins to awaken. The fanfares announcing the arrival of soldiers make the lovers hide. Scene 3 A dark room with closed shutters. The toreador is preparing for the upcoming bullfight. Thoughts of death and the need to kill again haunt him. In the image of his eternal rival - the bull - he sees his fellow sufferer. Scene 4 Twilight falls. Carmen takes Jose out of the city. Having become a deserter, he is having a hard time breaking with the world he is accustomed to. But the feeling for Carmen that has awakened in his heart makes him forget all his worries. The sudden appearance of the gypsies dramatically changes the mood of the evening. The prediction they receive throws the fugitives into confusion. Act II Scene 5 In the square in Seville, people are discussing the news of Jose's escape. No one believes that Carmen will remain faithful to him. They say that his main rival in the fight for the gypsy's heart is the famous bullfighter Escamillo. Scene 6 The smugglers make their dangerous way along the mountain paths. Excitement and thirst for profit make them boldly look death in the eye. Carmen and Jose join them at the rest stop. The bandit's morals disgust the fugitive officer. But Carmen is adamant. To keep her love, he must become one of them. Unable to resist passion, he agrees. Scene 7 The city is preparing for the start of the bullfight. The jubilant crowds greet the march of the bullfighters. Under the walls of the arena, Carmen meets Escamillo. The proud image of the bullfighter makes her forget about the promises she made earlier. Without fear of being recognized, Jose finds his beloved in the arms of another. In a rage, he wants to take revenge on his successful rival. But against his will, the punishing hand of fate chooses Carmen as its victim. Scene 8 Jose mourns Carmen's lifeless body. In his thoughts, he returns to unfulfilled dreams and hopes. From the author: Carmen's story is an almost ideal reason to look inside ourselves, to admit how little responsibility for the feelings of other people is inherent in our nature. The classic triangle in which the images of officer Jose, the bullfighter and Carmen are built does not imply a division into those who are right and those who are guilty. Each character here has his own truth and his own unwritten scenario of how to live, love and die. Finding themselves in the power of a merciless fate, they attract and repel each other, fervently striving for idyllic harmony, in order to then destroy their own and others' destinies. In our performance, I wanted to avoid those cliches that have become established in musical theater in the interpretation of the characters of the main characters, to show them deeper and more voluminous. In this regard, the form of a one-act fresco ballet, proposed for Carmen by the outstanding 20th century choreographers Roland Petit and Alberto Alonso, seemed to me insufficiently complete for solving this problem. In the ballet score we included not only music from the opera of the same name, but also fragments of Bizet's instrumental works, such as the symphonic cycle "Arlesienne", the overture "Fatherland" (Op. 19 Patrie), and a number of others. Mikhail Venshchikov