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It was a bit of a disappointment, on arriving at 08:30, to find myself about 60 places down the queue at the Royal Albert Hall. In fact this translated to a pretty good spot in the second row in the arena, so nothing to complain about.
Prom 52 was the Glyndebourne Prom, this year a performance of Bizet's Carmen. I knew the popular bits, but had never seen the complete work. Technically, this was a fine performance, and Rihab Chaieb did well in the title role.
A few interesting things for me did emerge from the performance. Firstly, that the well-known tunes seem to stem from the earlier parts of the opera; as the evening progressed, although there were echoes of the Toreador's theme, for example, the music was less familiar. Secondly, that the work is stitched together with spoken dialogue in several places - apparently a feature of the Opéra-Comique where the work was performed in 1875 - and that, had Bizet lived, he would likely have upgraded these sections so that it was fully sung. But also that Bizet was leant upon by Célestine Galli-Marié to enhance the music's Spanish character. The programme notes do not go quite so far as to suggest a Grainer/Derbyshire arrangement, but make plain the influence and changes that were made at her suggestion.
The plot itself, perhaps, has not aged so well - or at least, the likely interpretation by an audience has changed considerably. In the nineteenth century, it's the story of a wild Gypsy girl who drives a man mad with infatuation, and she ultimately deserves her fate. Nowadays it looks more like a case of someone asserting their female sexuality and suffering for it at the hands of a rejected stalker. Don José is therefore a difficult role to pull off. The programme notes helpfully attribute his issues to his devout mother.
And there was no fat lady.
Prom 52 was the Glyndebourne Prom, this year a performance of Bizet's Carmen. I knew the popular bits, but had never seen the complete work. Technically, this was a fine performance, and Rihab Chaieb did well in the title role.
A few interesting things for me did emerge from the performance. Firstly, that the well-known tunes seem to stem from the earlier parts of the opera; as the evening progressed, although there were echoes of the Toreador's theme, for example, the music was less familiar. Secondly, that the work is stitched together with spoken dialogue in several places - apparently a feature of the Opéra-Comique where the work was performed in 1875 - and that, had Bizet lived, he would likely have upgraded these sections so that it was fully sung. But also that Bizet was leant upon by Célestine Galli-Marié to enhance the music's Spanish character. The programme notes do not go quite so far as to suggest a Grainer/Derbyshire arrangement, but make plain the influence and changes that were made at her suggestion.
The plot itself, perhaps, has not aged so well - or at least, the likely interpretation by an audience has changed considerably. In the nineteenth century, it's the story of a wild Gypsy girl who drives a man mad with infatuation, and she ultimately deserves her fate. Nowadays it looks more like a case of someone asserting their female sexuality and suffering for it at the hands of a rejected stalker. Don José is therefore a difficult role to pull off. The programme notes helpfully attribute his issues to his devout mother.
And there was no fat lady.