LEARNING GUIDE General Information pg. 2-4 • About The Belk Theater • About Opera Carolina TOC • Donizetti: Musical Mind Table of Contents Pre-Performance Activity pg. 5-9 • Introducing the Opera • Synopsis + Listening Links • Who’s Who in the Opera Performance-Day Activity pg. 10 • About the Opera & Expectations Post-Performance Activity pg. 11 • Responding to the Opera Classroom Extensions pg. 12 • Activate with Arts: Act it Out! • Reflecting on the Opera Experience GET THERE THE BELK THEATER Visiting Center MAKE ANY SEAT IN THE HOUSE THE BEST ONE City doesn’t have Attending an opera in the being sung) that are projected to be a tough trip. Belk Theater is an experi- onto a screen above the stage. ence not to be forgotten. The Blumenthal Performing performance you are attending is the final dress rehearsal in which Please remember that this Arts Center the cast performs one last full is a working performance 130 N. Tryon St run through of the opera before and the performers on opening night. Just like a regular stage are very aware of their Charlotte, NC 28202 performance, there will be an audience, especially a distracting intermission(s) between acts. audience. The polite au- dience member should always refrain from talking and Ride. Hop on the Lynx Upon entering the the- stay seated during a perfor- Lightrail. Check out ater, notice the production mance. Nothing shows more the options here. crew’s station in the orchestra respect and appreciation for the level seating (the lowest performers on stage than Drive. Directions from level of seating). The crew is set giving them your full attention. up with computers and head- door to door here. sets to allow them to commu- nicate with people backstage Shout Out Park.Participating to ensure that the performance Give a shout out to the cast af- runs smoothly. During this final ter a beautiful aria or at the end garages are just $5. rehearsal they will be making of the evening – literally! Shout Find details here. sure all cues and technical fea- “Bravi!” for a job well done to the tures of the performance are in whole cast, “Brava!” to the diva place. Also notice the supertitles who aced it, or “Bravo!” to the (English translations of the lyrics guy who left it all on the stage. Opera Carolina INVESTED IN OUR COMMUNITY AND ITS LIFE Then, now, & years from now today. Opera Carolina is rooted in the Let’s take a journey back to 1948: Carolinas; 90% of our company live and the Charlotte Music Club is formed work right here in our region, comple- by a handful of arts enthusiasts who menting the international artists who realize that Charlotte’s artistic join the resident company to perform landscape –but more importantly, on our mainstage. We guess you can cultural community– would be en- say we’ve got Carolina on our mind. hanced by opera performances. Fast forward to today: Opera Carolina is a 70 year-old company that’s still The House blossoming, hitting new highs with If the paragraphs before didn’t sell you each season of glorious music, drama, on our commitment to our communi- and all that encompasses the operat- ty, maybe information on the Opera ic art form. Your resident Opera con- Center will. Opera Carolina now resides tinues to bring high-quality standards in the historic Biberstein house, in the of the operatic repertoire to stages Elizabeth neighborhood. The last near you, but is also continually striv- remaining historic home in the ing to perform lesser-known gems. Uptown radius, Opera Caroli- na’s digs are as much a part of What does our future hold? A rich the community as is the company. commitment to our community – which we take seriously– to continue Built in 1906, the Biberstein House enriching the lives of citizens from all was designed and lived in by R. C. walks of life; a continual quest to produce Biberstein, one of the noted mill excellent opera from all eras on architects of the Southeast. Mr. our stage; and, most important- Biberstein is credited with build- ly, to connect our community. ing many of the mills in the Charlotte region, including the Highland Park #3 mill. Mr. Biberstein eventually moved The people his business into this house, his talents In the early days of Opera Carolina, and self-designed home playing a role volunteers designed the sets, built cos- in the New South Industrial movement. tumes, sang in the chorus, filled leading Today, the home is registered as a Char- roles and, of course, sold tickets and held lotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmark. fundraisers to support the company. The house has since been adapt- Now a fully professional company ed into offices and is now the that not only produces Opera per- proud home of Opera Carolina. The formances on a big scale but also Opera Center hosts the company’s travels programs into local schools and administrative offices but also serves community venues, we never forget as space for auditions, recitals, and the legacy of the original volunteers more. Our doors are always open. who made this company the what it is 10 operas written Although Carmen was a shocker at first, it ushered in a new era of music that depicted real life. Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Carmen’s Creator Georges Bizet was born into a musical family in When Carmen opened, much of the press re- Paris. His mother was an accomplished pianist, action was negative due to the title character and his uncle a distinguished singer and teach- being a something of a seductress. Even Bizet, er. At 9 years old, he began studying music at who had at first felt he had written something the Conservatoire, where the minimum entry of enduring value, became convinced of its fail- age was 10. He won the Conservatoire’s second ure. prize for piano in 1851 and first prize the follow- For most of his life, Bizet suffered from recurring ing year and entered the 1857 Prix de Rome throat problems. A heavy smoker, he may have and was awarded a prize that included a grant further compromised his health by overwork for a five-year course of study. (up to 16-hour days!) during the mid-1860s. De- In 1863, Bizet received an offer to compose the pressed by the (temporary) failure of Carmen, music for a three-act opera, which would be- Bizet was slow to recover from a bout of throat come his Les pécheurs de perles, which was trouble in 1875. He suffered an apparent heart not a huge success. For the next decade, Bi- attack and died that June at age 36. zet had intermittent success, but none substan- After a special performance of Carmen at the tial enough to earn him a lasting legacy. But in Opéra-Comique that night, the press – so dis- 1874, he began work on what would become his missive three months earlier – declared Bizet a greatest achievement – Carmen. master. Pre-Performance INTRODUCING THE OPERA Introductory Discussion Discuss the following question or weigh in online*: Carmen is a liberated woman who values her independence over everyone else’s well-being, even her own. Is freedom/independence power? Does total freedom equal total power? Is total freedom a worthy goal? Should there be a limit to personal freedom? Is absolute freedom really free? Are there costs to individual liberation? *Weigh in online by emailing your response to [email protected] so we can share your work on our social media channels! Or share your thoughts by tagging Opera Carolina on Facebook at www.facebook.com/operacarolina. The Setting + Historical Context Seville, Spain in 1820-30 - Seville is the capital of south- ern Spain’s Andalusia region famous for its flamenco danc- ing. This time period in Spain was period of uneasy peace sandwiched between a military coup in 1820 and a civil war starting in 1833. Gypsies in Spain - Gypsies, also known as the Roma people, first appeared in Spain in the mid-1400’s. By the time of Carmen, gypsies were an es- tablished lower class in the Spanish population, though they held a certain mystique for many writers and artists and also heavily influenced Spanish culture, particularly Spanish music and dance. Flamenco, which is the famous form of Spanish dancing, likely originat- ed with Spanish gypsies. For 1820 audiences, gypsies were considered to be restless and wild creatures of passion, seemingly without civility and morals. For more information on the Roma people - https://minorityrights.org/minorities/gypsies/ Noteworthy about Carmen - Most operas up to this point had a predictable cast of characters, usually drawn from the nobility. Carmen, how- ever, draws from the lives from common people like gyp- sies and factory workers. This would have been shocking and uncomfortable for the original audiences of the opera. Furthermore, Carmen is a strong female anti-hero (a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes) rather than the usual sweet, innocent soprano heroine of earlier operas. Carmen is not necessarily even a likeable heroine of a story, an idea far ahead of its time. Pre-Performance SYNOPSIS Note: The listening pieces have been integrated into the synopsis to allow students to listen to the pieces in context of what is happening in the opera. Make sure you have the “Who’s Who in Carmen” handout (on pg. 9) handy so you can explore it while you read the synopsis! The Story in Short An endearing tomboy, adopted and raised by a French army regiment, discovers she is actually of noble blood.