Carmen Synopsis
By John Peter Jeffries and Robert Lyall

Carmen's brilliant prelude is an energetic corrida that opens with the blaring music of the bullring and the bustle of people in the town square.

Soldiers of the guard comment as they watch people come and go across a public square in Seville that is framed by a military guardhouse and the local cigarette factory. 

Micaëla, a shy young girl from Don José's hometown enters looking for him. Morales, the sergeant of the guard, informs her that Don José is not there   but will return shortly.  He gallantly invites her to wait in the guardhouse. The other soldiers flirt with the young woman and encourage her to join them inside. But, Micaëla is able to elude their playful grasp and flees the square, choosing to return after the guard has changed.

As trumpets sound, citizens gather to watch the changing of the guard.

Following the arrival of the new guard, Moralès tells Don José that a young woman was in the square looking for him.  From the description, Don José knows that it must be Micaëla. Before he can inquire further, Lieutenant Zuniga orders the old guard to retire to the barracks and they march off accompanied by excited street urchins.

Zuniga is newly posted in Seville so he questions Don José about the cigarette factory. He asks if pretty women work there, but Don José confesses that he has actually never paid much attention.

When the factory bell signals a work break, Don José tells Zuniga that he can judge the girls for himself. The cigarette girls amble into the square, brazenly smoking their own wares. Groups of young men from the town and some of the soldiers comment flirtatiously on the girls' exotic demeanor. The girls listen to the young men's ardent comments, but playfully dismiss them as words of love no different from the smoke that is gently dissipating on the breeze.

Carmen dramatically appears and the men amorously demand to know if this is the day that she will love one of them. The sultry gypsy answers proudly that she doesn't know when she'll fall in love, perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps never.

In the Habanera, Carmen expresses her views on life and love. "Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame," she proclaims, "and it's all in vain if it chooses to refuse." 

Carmen's allure has captured every male admirer.  They crowd around, imploring Carmen to notice them, but she ignores them all. Carmen has spotted Don José at the edge of the throng. An ominous fate theme swells in the music, as she approaches to brazenly throw a flower at him.  The cigarette girls taunt Don José with the mocking refrains of Carmen's Habanera.  They have seen her throw her flowers before.  Carmen's love is likened to a gypsy child who has never succumbed to the rule of law or order.  The factory bell sounds again, summoning the cigarette girls to return to their work. They hurriedly enter the factory as their admirers disperse.

Don José's eyes remain fixed on the flower that Carmen has thrown at him.  He picks it up while passionately denouncing her with the comment that, if there are witches, then Carmen is certainly one.

He is startled out of his reverie by Micaëla calling his name, and hastily hides Carmen's flower in his tunic. When he asks for news from home,   Micaëla reveals that she has been sent by his mother. Micaëla delivers his mother's letter and shyly tells him that she was also asked to bring him a kiss. Their simple, enchanting duet, expressing both Michaela's loyalty and Don José's cherished memories of mother and home, constitutes their own delicate declaration of love.

Don José asks Micaëla to wait while he reads the letter. In it, his mother indicates her fervent hope that he will return home and marry, even suggesting that the best candidate would be the young woman who brought him the letter. Don José tells Micaëla to return his mother's love and to tell her that he has plans that will please her.  He asks Micaëla to take a kiss back to his mother but, flustered at this suggestion, Micaëla hastily leaves without waiting for the rest of his reply. Watching her hurry away, Don José promises his mother that he will do as she wishes.

Sounds of a loud altercation break out inside the factory as cigarette girls frantically spill into the square. Accusations and arguments fly among the women as they tell Zuniga about a fight between Carmen and Manuelita.  Zuniga sends Don José into the building with some soldiers to investigate He returns with Carmen under guard to report that witnesses say Carmen started the fight and attempted to carve a cross in the other woman's cheek with her knife.

Zuniga questions Carmen, who casually responds by singing a few contemptuous tra-la-las.

Frustrated, Zuniga asks if it really was Carmen who started the fight.  Several women confirm Don José's information, so Zuniga orders the soldiers to tie Carmen up.  He tells Don José to guard her while he writes out the warrant for her arrest and imprisonment.

After Zuniga and the other soldiers have departed, Carmen complains to Don José that her bonds are hurting her wrists and asks him to loosen them.  She implores him to let her escape. 

When he rebuffs her, Carmen tells Don José that she knows   he will free her, because he is in love with her. When he scorns her advances, forbidding her to speak, Carmen sings the Seguidille. She seductively urges him to join her under the ramparts of the city where, in Lillas Pastia's tavern, they will drink and dance.   These are pleasures best shared she says, by two. Overcome by the beautiful gypsy's temptations, Don José agrees to free her and to join her later.

Zuniga returns with the completed warrant and Carmen, pretending to be still tied up, whispers for Don José to assist when she makes her break.  She suddenly gives Don José a tremendous shove and he pretends to fall. Carmen breaks away and slips through the crowd as the other gypsy women laughingly surround Zuniga and his soldiers to prevent them from giving chase.

ACT II
Carmen, accompanied by her two friends, Frasquita and Mercédès, join in an increasingly frenzied trio that builds from their solo voices to an orgy of dance music - the true sound and pulse of Spain. 

Soldiers flirt with the girls, who refuse their invitations.  Carmen learns that Don José has spent a month in jail for allowing her to escape and that he was released earlier that day.

Lillas Pastia, owner of the tavern, tells the officers that it is late and time to close. Zuniga and the others refuse to depart, telling Señor Pastia that they know full well he wants them to leave so that he can resume his nightly smuggling operations.

An offstage crowd is heard cheering in the distance.  Mercédès excitedly announces that a torch-light procession is coming down the street singing the praises of Escamillo, the bravest bullfighter in all Seville. The soldiers and gypsies quickly agree that such a brave hero must be invited in for a drink, so Zuniga calls to Escamillo and his admirers to join them.

Escamillo, accompanied by the cheering crowd of admiring townspeople, enters with a flourish.  He gladly accepts a glass and returns the toast in his great entrance aria, the Toreador Song. In it, Escamillo colorfully describes the art and drama of the bullfight and makes it sound like something quite beautiful.  To his entranced audience, he sings of facing danger in the bullring, but also of the many dark and beautiful eyes that are watching him and the love that awaits the triumphant torero.  The assembled crowd joins in on the choruses.

Escamillo flirts with Carmen, who rejects his advances, insisting that at the moment she is not available.  Escamillo says that he is quite content to wait. Lillas Pastia finally convinces the officers that it is time to leave. Zuniga, too, is interested in Carmen and offers to return to her after the guards' roll-call, but Carmen tells him not to bother. In an aside, he proclaims that he will be back just the same. 

Lillas Pastia tells Carmen, Frasquita and Mercédès that the smugglers, Dancaïre and Remendado have arrived and have been waiting for the soldiers to depart before revealing themselves.

The gypsy girls and smugglers join in a brisk song reviewing the plans for that evening's operation. Despite the prospect of a profitable night to be gained by distracting the customs guards, Carmen begs off. She cannot gobecause... she is in love!  Dancaïre and Remendado are disappointed but not exactly surprised. This is not the first time Carmen has given up work for pleasure.

Don José's voice is heard singing in the distance as the smugglers and gypsies prepare to leave.  Jokingly, Dancaïre suggests that Carmen persuade her new lover to join them. "If only that were possible," she replies.

Don José arrives as the smugglers slip into the shadows. He reveals that he has only been out of jail for two hours and has come straight to the tavern to find Carmen.  She teases him, saying that Zuniga was just there and that she danced for him. "Are you jealous?" she chides.  "Of course, I'm jealous!" he replies. "Good," she replies. " Now I'll dance for you -- for you alone."  As Carmen accompanies herself on the castanets, Don José watches, totally entranced.

When bugles are heard in the distance, sounding the guards' retreat for the evening, Carmen artfully uses this added accompaniment   to taunt Don José.  He has also heard the call back to the barracks and tries to force her to stop.  He is torn between his need to report for duty and his overwhelming desire to stay with her. Wonderful dramatic tension is created in the contrast of Carmen's sultry and seductive song and the distant bugle calls.

When Don José prepares to leave, Carmen's response is to deride him, challenging his assertions that he loves her.  To prove otherwise, he pulls the flower that she threw at him in the square out of his tunic and reveals that he kept it safe throughout his incarceration. His passionate avowal of love is the aria "Le fleur que tu m'avais jetée."

Carmen responds not with ecstasy, but with doubt.  She urgently tries to persuade Don José to run away with her to join the smugglers. He replies that, on the basis of honor, he cannot.  He offers his final good-bye.

A sudden bang on the door tavern door signals that Zuniga is forcing his way in.  He sees Don José and chides Carmen for settling for a common soldier, when she could have an officer as her lover. Zuniga orders Don José to return to the barracks and when he refuses, Zuniga strikes him. The men angrily draw swords for a fight.

Calling for help, Carmen jumps between the quarreling soldiers, as many gypsies and smugglers appear quickly to overpower Zuniga.  The gypsies bind the officer and with polite humor invite him to come with them. Zuniga wryly observesthat he is hardly in a position to refuse their gracious hospitality.

Realizing that he no longer has any real choice and that his fate has been cast with the smugglers, Don José announces that he is now one of them. 

ACT III
Smugglers and gypsies enter their hideaway heavily loaded with the contraband. Their chorus bemoans the hazards of smuggling and the special dangers of negotiating treacherous mountain paths.

As the smugglers lay their burdens down to set up camp, Dancaïre and Remendado leave to scout the surrounding terrain. Carmen and Don José angrily resume an earlier quarrel.

Frasquita and Mercédès ignore them and pass the time by reading their fortunes as told by the cards.  Dealing the cards, the two gypsy girls lightheartedly foresee their happy futures: for Mercédès it is marriage to a great leader and for Frasquita marriage to a rich, old man.

Carmen joins her friends and draws her own cards. The tone of the music grows ominous and dark.  No matter how she shuffles the deck, every card that Carmen draws foretells her untimely demise:  "...you can reshuffle twenty times," she sings, "and the pitiless cards repeat: Death!"

Dancaïre and Remendado return, having spotted customs officers waiting at the bottom of the pass.  They send Carmen, Frasquita and Mercédès ahead to distract the guards so that contraband can be slipped through.  The women assure their fellow smugglers that one smile will be enough to make the customs agents forget their duty.  Struggling to control his jealous anger, Don José is posted as remote lookout.

The smugglers disperse into the night to distribute their merchandise, temporarily leaving the camp deserted.  Micaëla arrives.

Micaëla's sings "Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante," a prayer for courage and protection. Micaëla recognizes Don José standing guard in the darkness.  Mistaking her for an intruder, Don José fires his rifle, missing Micaëla but coming alarmingly close to another surprise visitor, Escamillo.  Micaëla quickly hides behind some rocks without being noticed as Escamillo announces himself to calm Don José.

Don José suggests that it probably would have been better if Escamillo had stayed in Seville.  Escamillo agrees, but lightheartedly reveals that he has actually come seeking the woman he loves, Carmen!  With his jealousy now boiling over, Don José challenges the bullfighter to a knife fight. 

The fight erupts and Escamillo slips and falls.  With knife ready, José is about to stab the torero, when Carmen and Dancaïre return.   The two quickly restrain the seething ex-soldier.  In the aftermath of the fight, the loyalties in the camp are decidedly with Escamillo, who is one of the smugglers' own.  Escamillo gallantly thanks Carmen for saving his life and invites the entire camp to be his guests at his next bullfight in Seville. As he departs, the smugglers pick up their bundles to resume their mission. 

Suddenly, Remendado spies Micaëla hiding among the rocks. Micaëla explains that she has come to beg Don José to return to his home and to his mother.

Carmen sarcastically agrees, stating that Don José should go home to his mother.  In a fit of blind jealousy, Don José refuses, proclaiming his intention to stay with Carmen, even if it cost him his life.

Micaëla interruptshis towering rage to tell him that his mother is dying, grievous news that quickly brings Don José back to his senses.  He relents on his defiant challenge and agrees to return home, but not before angrily warning Carmen that they will see one another again.

The tensions in the camp slowly subside as Micaëla hastily leads Don José toward the mountain pass and Escamillo is heard in the distance singing a seductive reprise of the Toreador Song.

ACT IV

The curtain rises on the street leading to the bullring in Seville on the day of a bullfight.  Vendors hawk their wares while customers purchase wine, fruit, food and souvenirs.

Matadors, toreadors, and bandarillos enter in procession on their way to the bullring.  The crowd excitedly cheers them as they pass.

The loudest cheers are reserved for Escamillo, who enters, escorted by Carmen, in a stunning dress. As they approach the bullring, Carmen and Escamillo pledge their love to one another in a short and sentimental duet.

The mayor arrives and Escamillo joins his party to enter the bullring.  As she turns to follow Escamillo, Carmen is stopped by Frasquita and Mercédès to warn her of danger. Don José has arrived and is hiding in the crowd.  Carmen brushes aside their warnings, saying that she is not afraid.  As the throng enters the bullring, she decides to wait boldly to confront her distraught ex-lover.

Their duet slowly builds with deadly passion as, gently at first, Don José begs her to come back to start a new life. Carmen replies without pity that to do so would be to live a lie and be untrue to herself.  Even knowing that Don José may kill her if he cannot persuade her to return, Carmen never falters. 

Don José asks if she no longer loves him, and she calmly affirms that she does not.  Carmen tells him that she will never give in.

Suddenly a loud chorus of cheers is heard from inside the bullring. 

Triumphant sounds from the bullfight provide an eerie counterpoint to the deadly drama unfolding outside.

Carmen moves toward the entrance and Don José steps in her way to stop her.  She quietly asks him to let her pass. He tells her that he will not. In desperation, he pulls his dagger to force her to come with him. Defiantly she replies, "Then stab me or let me pass."

Don José implores her for one last time to come with him, finally cursing her to hell. Carmen pulls off the ring that he gave her, throws it in his face and brazenly brushes past him to enter the ring. As fanfares and cheers sound from the bullring, Don José stabs Carmen to death.

The excited townspeople begin to exit the bullring, singing reprises of the Toreador Song. They stop in shock as they are met with the sight of Don José cradling Carmen's lifeless body.

In agony, Don José sings, "You can arrest me ... I have killed her...my beloved Carmen!"   The curtain falls.