Nearly thirty years after the publication of Mérimée's novel Carmen, Bizet took the initiative in suggesting that an opera be written on the subject, clearly recognizing the story's depth and musical potential. Although the rehearsal of the opera was frustrated by the boldness and excitement of the storyline, Bizet stood his ground and argued for the opera to be brought to the stage of the Opéra Comique in Paris. Unfortunately, Bizet died soon afterward, and was unable to see Carmen's triumph on stages around the world. From 1875 to the present day, Carmen has flourished and remains one of the audience's favorite operas. Through opera, through music, Carmen has gone global.
Since the birth of Carmen by Mérimée, the name has become a famous symbol in Western culture with a multidimensional symbolic meaning. In nearly 160 years of evolutionary history, the female character of "Carmen" has attracted a variety of heroes, and has been interpreted through different media, such as literature, music, film, and dance, but it is only in the opera "Carmen" that "she" has gained a full and flesh-and-blood But only in the opera Carmen does "she" acquire a full and flesh-and-blood existence. This is a character who must rely on the breath of music to gain her full life, her sultriness, exuberance, passion and determination, the sensual magic of her whole body, almost "instinctively" calling for music to join her - because music is one of the most effective and direct sensory stimulants of all artistic mediums. of all artistic mediums, because music is one of the most effective sensory weapons for piercing the nerves. The advantages of using music to shape Carmen are self-evident. Carmen seems to have been made for music, and music is looking forward to Carmen.
Bizet's vivid music infuses "Carmen" with searing southern European tones and a rich Spanish flavor. Behind the bustling streets of Seville and the crowded applause of a bullfight, a surprising tragedy of love is enacted. José, a dragoon, is seduced by Carmen and falls under her skirt. However, the two have a disagreement, Jose threatens to die, and Carmen refuses to give in, which ultimately leads to a tragedy. The plot is straightforward, the characters distinctive, with glorious music and rhythmic dance. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who saw Carmen twenty times in a row, still retains the tone of his excitement and forgetfulness: "The music is delightful, but not French or German delightful, but African delightful. Predestination hangs over it; its pleasures are short, sudden, and unappreciative. I envy Bizet for having the courage to express a sensibility that no words could have previously expressed in this European genteel music - this more southern, brownish-black, burnished sensibility ...... There is also love, love that has been removed to nature! Love as a destiny, a catastrophe, ironic, blunt, brutal, like nature itself! The final cry of Don José, which closes the work-'It was I who killed her, I ...... my dear Carmen!' , so grimly, so terribly expressive of the tragic irony that forms the core of love, I have never seen it before."
In the end, it was the great thinker who was well versed in music. With his typically acute sensibility, Nietzsche hit the essence of the opera "Carmen" right on the head. Yes, "Carmen" is about love. But Carmen is not just about love. Or rather, the love in Carmen is not love in the ordinary sense. Through love, it writes about the unpredictability and inscrutability of sensual life, and also writes about the perversity, blindness and ruthlessness of life's destiny. Carmen, a gypsy girl, is beautiful, spirited and untamed. She is the prey of all men and the trap of all men. José, an ordinary soldier, follows the rules and does his duty. However, he unconsciously walks into Carmen's magic circle, and his bad luck haunts him from then on until he goes to ruin. This is the original state of sensual life - "southern, brownish-black, burning"; this is also the true archetype of love - "ironic, blunt, cruelty."
However, in the opera Carmen, the cruel reality of life and the piercing moral paradoxes never give people a depressing and heavy feeling. This must be attributed to Bizet's musical talent and keen judgment. The dominant motive of "Fate" is ominous and gloomy, but it is rare to find it deliberately rendered in the music, and it often follows Carmen's figure, transforming itself into a bird-like lightness and agility. Carmen's musical configurations are consistently chromatic and seductive and danceable, and the seductive appeal of her music vetoes the possibility of the audience making orthodox moral judgments about her. José is sympathetic and revolting, and Bizet utilizes the tonal shifts in the music to fully demonstrate his hesitation, helplessness, inability to help himself, pain, and finally hysteria. Even the bullfighter, who is a bit of a pain in the ass, was also impressed in the audience's mind by the powerful and heroic "Matador's Song," a character without much dramatic weight.
Opera Carmen, through this "lightness of touch", paints a searing picture of life in the South with ease and a bright, dry tone. As stated at the beginning of this article, this kind of black and white contrast, light and dark, positive and negative interlacing is precisely the most prominent artistic qualities of Carmen. Carmen reveals that the positive values of life (love and freedom) and the negative threats (degradation and death) ironically complement each other. It presents the dialectical tragedy of human nature with realistic realism, but without any unnecessary romantic tears. This is due to the composer's ability to approach each of his characters and situations with a transcendent yet thoughtful mindset. For this reason, Bizet achieved in Carmen an accomplishment comparable to that of Mozart. More than eighty years after Mozart's death, Carmen recreates a Mozart-like intelligence under different circumstances and conditions, while at the same time heralding the advent of realism. Translucent Mozart and brownish-black realism, two seemingly unrelated categories, meet head-on in Carmen. This miracle occurs only once in the entire history of opera.