Classical Art Events in Prague Programme – February 2017

Dear Art-Lover,

I’m glad to meet you again with Prague – February 2017 Classical Art Programme. I also thank you for the feedback that you send to me about January 2017 Prague Classical Art Programme. I hope we can keep our energy for February too.

Prague February Classical Art Programme

Download to the whole February Programme please click.

The point I want to focus on February art programme is what kinds of features “women characters” have in classical art works. In most of them, “women” were considered as different ways. Some of them are like;

• Violetta Valery (La Traviata -1853): The woman makes sacrifices everything (moral or material) for the man she loves, she is thoughtful and generous.
• Cio-Cio-san (Madame Butterfly -1904): She is the woman who waits her sailor husband with patient and at the end, for the sake of her child’s happiness she gives up her love of child; she is self-sacrificing character of the opera.
• Odette (Swan Lake -1876): She is the one who thinks her love man cheats on her and wants to die. She is deeply committed to her love and her man.
• Mimi (La Bohemia -1896): The woman who doesn’t care about his man’s financial statue, but loves him deeply. She is the emotional character.
• Aida (Aida -1871): To be able end her life with her lover makes sacrifices from her freedom. She is the one who adores him and gives herself up to her love.
• Floria Tosca (Tosca -1900): The woman who confronts difficulties to liberate her lover is a powerful character.
• Rusalka (Rusalka -1901): The nereid choosing to transfer to a ‘human being’ to be able to be with her lover.

Marie Fajtová – Violetta Valery (La traviata) (narodni-divadlo.cz)

Alžběta Poláčková – Rusalka (Rusalka) (narodni-divadlo.cz)

As you can see, in the most of the classical art works, “the woman” is patient, self-sacrificing, generous and thoughtful, these features are suitable of and related to the moral of the term and opera but it comes to “Carmen” that changes…

• Carmen (Carmen -1875) : She is free, bossy, when it comes to love jealous and the moment when she feels the man she loves doesn’t love her back she could hate him whom she adores and she is an independent character that she can ignore his man’s suffering from her love. That kind of character can be described as cruel or having a thick skin by men but the thing is being tried to be told in “Carmen” is deeper than this. Due to the basic features of the opera, Carmen on its premiere night in 1875 reacted against and was criticized sharply.

Favourite Event of the Month

Carmen

• Genre: Opera
• Librettist: Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halevy (in French)
• Composer: Georges Bizet
• Premiere: March 3, 1985 / Opéra-Comique / Paris-France
• The Event Place: The National Theatre (Národní divadlo)
• Date/Time: 1-27 February 2017, 19:00
• Duration: 2 hours 55 minutes (20 minutes break)
• Surtitle: Czech & English

Aria of Carmen “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle – Habanera’‘:

 

Carmen who works for cigarette factory is a free spirited gypsy. When the factory bell rings, a noisy troop of girls employed as cigarette-makers come pouring forth from the building, laughing and chattering gaily as they mingle with idlers in the square. Carmen sings ‘L’amour est un oiseau rebelle’ and declares she is going to fall in love with somebody who doesn’t love her back. While the crowd watches her in admiration, the corporal Don Jose doesn’t take an interest in her and that catches Carmen’s attention. When Carmen stops singing, before leaving the stage she throws a flower at Don Jose’s face and makes Don Jose who is engaged with a peasant girl named Michaele look at her. Carmen gets arrested by Don Jose by the reason that she stabbed somebody in the fight that she started in the factory however at the end she seduces him and escapes Don Jose’s clutches. Don Jose is fined thereon. During his prison term, two months, Don Jose keeps the flower Carmen gave to him and spends his time thinking about his love to her.

One day, a toreador; Escamillo and his soldiers come to the square and he flirts with Carmen but Carmen doesn’t want him. On the day Escamillo comes, Don Jose gets his freedom and he declares his love to Carmen. Carmen offers Don Jose a life with her with her style; free-gyps life but when the time Don Jose tells her he needs to go back to the army, Carmen’s love turns into detestation. Meanwhile, lieutenant- Zugniga shows up to arrest Carmen. Don Jose challenges him to a duel and hurts him to save her. After that Don Jose loses his rank.

After all, Carmen loses his faith to Don Jose’s love because once he rejects a life with her and she makes love with Escamillo. Don Jose gets crazy and begs her to come back to him in front of bullring. Carmen spurns Don Jose, flings the ring Jose gave to her down. Now, Don Jose hits the roof, when he realises his begging is useless, he pulls a knife to Carmen and threatens to change her decision. However, Carmen never changes her mind and Don Jose stabs her. As the crowd exits the area, Don Jose is knelling down beside Carmen’s death body and he is out of his mind with grief…

The opera Carmen with an independent woman character;

”tried to tell about a very thin line between love and detestation” to art-lovers.

Enjoy the show,

Yours sincerely.

Arman Orman