The final of G. Bizet's opera "Carmen": composer's direction as the basis of the performer's interpretation model

In: Kul'tura Ukraïny: zbirnyk naukovych prac', Heft 76, S. 91-103

Abstract

The scientific topicality. The opera "Carmen" by French composer J. Bizet is a part of the repertoire of leading opera theatres and has recently undergone many impressive interpretations, more aimed at something shocking than the disclosure of musical material. Nowadays when directors that are not musicians are involved in opera production, it is extre-mely important to return to the in-depth study of musical material in order to reveal the compositional direction of G. Bizet, hidden in the score.
The purpose of the study is to reveal the compositional intentions of the musical direction of the final duet and choir from Bizet's opera "Carmen" by deciphering the author's text, in particular the constructive, psychological and visual-plastic components of the stage action encoded in it.
The methodology. The research was carried out by using an integrated approach involving effective analysis of literary text, structural analysis of musical form, identification of patterns of tonal plan, analysis of psychological and visual-plastic components of the selected fragment of the opera, as well as using comparative analysis of its various productions.
The results. The article identifies the main components of the author's musical text that affect the quality of director's and performer's interpretation. A detailed description of the author's work on the formation and tonal plan of the final of the opera "Carmen" was made, which determine its psychological and visual-plastic essence.
The scientific novelty. For the first time in the study of the final of the opera "Carmen" music-theoretical analysis was combined with visual-plastic and effective one, which directly opens new perspectives for effective deciphering by performers of the author's intentions laid down in the musical text.
The practical significance. The materials of the article can be used in the practical activities of opera directors and performers, as well as in the educational process of training of vocal and conducting art masters.
Conclusions. It was determined that Georges Bizet's compositional skills are based on three main components — a deep psychological sense of the material, specific shaping and innovative tonal plan for the music art of his time.
The psychological completeness of the images of the heroes of the final of the opera "Carmen" is ensured not only by the use of leitmotifs, but also by the parallel presentation of images in the stage and off-stage (behind-the-scenes) space of the play.
The main shaping principle the final is the destruction, which coincides with the psychological state of the heroes who suffer from internal disorders.
G.Bizet's specific approach to the tonal plan together with extremely sharpened intonation brings the vocal parts of recitatives closer to expressionist aesthetics, the development of which will take place in French music of the XIX–XX centuries, in particular in the works of F. Poulenc.