Ever since I was a little girl, I have always had a love for performance productions whether it’d be on the streets or a show on Broadway. However, I never had the opportunity to watch an opera and so I had great expectations for the production of Carmen. I wasn’t sure what to expect but as soon as I laid eyes on the beautiful building of the Lincoln Center and attire of the people there, I got the sense that this was a lot more sophisticated than the shows that I have seen before.
As I took my seat, I noticed that the curtain was filled black with one striking red line running up it. Thankfully, because of the research we did prior to the show, I was able to understand that the red line exemplified Carmen herself. Red, the color of sexuality and desire, represents Carmen’s promiscuity.
The setting of the stage was absolutely stunning. The two brick walls that had to be at least two stories high broke apart and aligned with ease and smoothness. The costumes worn by the performers were beautiful as well, even the ones worn by the lower class. I really liked how the costumes easily defined the social status of every character. The cigarette factory workers wore duller colors whereas the high standing characters, more specifically, Escamillio, wore bright colors with expensive accessories like fur and feather.
Music played a huge role throughout the entire opera, well, obviously. The way in which soprano and tenor were assigned to Carmen and Don Jose, respectively, musically illustrated their relationship has woman and man. The soprano part that was sung by Micaela showed competition between her and Carmen as women who both desired Don Jose’s love. My favorite part musically was how they utilized the flute to represent delicateness and femininity of Mercedes and Frasquita.
I thoroughly enjoyed Bizet’s production of Carmen and I’m glad that this was my first experience watching an opera.
I am belatedly posting my poem that I had written on the day we met Mr. Saeed Jones. Mr. Jones’s encouragement along with hearing the poet himself inspired me to create my own poem. My poem, “The Shoe”, similarly follows the format of “The Blue Dress” by Saeed Jones.
a shoe is art,
is a shield
is an expression of individuality
is a gateway to adventure and shares all experiences that would be unattainable without them,
is a collectors item,
is a riot producer,
is a brainwasher,
is a murder-causer,
with its absence life wouldn’t be the same
Lines 6, 7, and 8 are similar in a sense that they have to do with the sneaker-head culture. I chose the words “riot producer”, “brainwasher” and “murder-causer” because in the past, people used to gather outside a shoe store starting the day before a release in order to get the chance to secure a pair. These gatherings would turn into riots due to people cutting other people and also the hype that is built around a shoe- similar to a door opening on Black Friday. This hype surrounding the shoes brainwash people into spending ridiculous amounts of money on them and cause them to waste their day away waiting on line. Specifically, the powerful word “murder” was used because on several accounts, people all over the world have been killed over the shoes on their feet. Usually in robberies people have died trying not to give in their prized possessions. This is not just a new thing that is happening. In 1989, Michael Thomas was found “strangled in the woods near his school by seventeen-year-old James David Martin”. Another example of similar occurrence is seen in December of 2012, when twenty-two year old Joshua Woods was shot and killed by three men in an attempted robbery. Shoes are not just the things that you wear everyday on your feet to get around, but they have formed a culture and can also be sold for profit. Wherever there is money involved, there is danger.
As a person who grew up in the 21st Century surrounded by vast media entertainment such as cable television and the internet, I had never seen an opera before and I believed them to be boring. As a result, when I walked into the Metropolitan Opera, went up the spiral, red stairs, through the narrow halls, and sat down in my seat to watch Act 1 of Carmen, I was not expecting much. Three and a half hours later, I clapped for three minutes straight.
The best aspect of Carmen was the music. It told the story; it expressed anger; it signaled the entrance of a character; it expressed innocence. The music of Carmen established the tone for every scene and revealed every message to the point where all a person needed was good hearing to understand everything. I watched the majority of Act 1 without my translating monitor turned on (I did not realize what all those rectangular things were). However, I was still able to understand and feel the emotions of the characters because of the orchestra and the music they played.
The r
ole of the orchestra’s music in Carmen revealed to me that the nature of a opera’s success is a duality. Success depends as much on the actors on the stage performing with all the passion in their bodies as the conductor, the violinists, the flutists and the rest of the orchestra playing their instruments in harmony to define the tone of a scene through their music.
Overall, I do not regret the three and a half hours I used Tuesday night to watch Carmen. Rather, I was delightfully surprised with how enjoyable the experience was. Before the event, all I had on my mind was stress, thoughts about presentations and tests coming up soon and how I could be using my time then to prepare and study. However, once I sat down, all those feelings were gone and the only thing in my mind was how good Carmen was. I hope I can go see another opera one day.
Is A New You Is A New Me
is a boat is a train is a train wreck is a hospital bed is a comforter is a pillow is a deathbed is a sentence is a widow is a heartbreak is a smashed window is a car is a text message is a “hey” is a greeting is a farewell is a departure is a plane ride is a shuttle is a fare is a farewell is a get well is a get well soon is a congratulations is a celebration is a gathering is a birthday is a new day is a new test is a new passion is a new drive is a new feel is a new you
is a new life is a cool day is a fresh air is a new lung is a no smoking is a new perspective is a competition is a win is a loss is a regret is a doubt is a joy is a carefree outlook is an email is an opportunity is a cookie is a bake sale is a dollar is a bill is a declaration is a rule is a law is a restriction is a limit is a promise is a best friend is a connection is a bond is an unbreakable undefinable invincible new me
______________________________________________
I really enjoyed listening to Saeed Jones, and writing our own poems. His format of “is a ___” is a really simple concept that when repeated, creates a powerful emphasis on each word. The repetition reminded me of a winding pattern which led me to create this “circle poem”. The poem begins going outward ending with “new you”, and then continues going inward ending with “new me”.
In Carmen, as in almost any other production, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It wasn’t just the incredible projection of voices that caught my attention – the orchestra and set also stole my attention for much of the show.
As any scene began, the enormous fortress-looking set could not go unnoticed. It was potentially more than two stories high, with steps, and two separate pieces that seemed to mesh together perfectly into one layered setting. It made me realize how many people contributed to the magnificent production.
Notice the set in the background here
The music in Bizet’s Carmen is phenomenal. It is filled with songs that we’ve all heard in other forms of media without knowing its origin. The music is surprisingly catchy – I whistled and hummed to myself on the subway for over an hour. As the show is exclusively in song (reminding me of Les Mis), the orchestra plays an enormous role throughout. The orchestra sets the tone in every scene, it uses drastic dynamics for different moods. For example, a soft, quite dynamic suggests a sweet, somewhat innocent mood. The stronger, deep, loud parts are usually declarations or parts of high intensity (aided by at least 6 upright bases).
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the opera – much more than I expected. Whereas I thought I would be sleeping within the first hour, I found myself not being able to look away from the stage for very long. I focussed on the vocals, set, and individual instruments when possible. I enjoyed the plot and character development, as well as the pieces put together to create this unique experience.
So after last week’s trip to the National Jazz Museum and a discussion on jazz music in my English class, I decided to give listening to jazz a try. I went on Spotify, and under Classical music there’s a playlist called Jazz-Classical Crossings. It takes well known classical pieces such as Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and “jazzes” it up. I thought it was pretty cool because it mixes two genres of music that normally are 2 worlds apart. If you don’t have Spotify, you can sign up for free, or listen here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Andr%C3%A9+B%C3%A9nichou/Jazz+Guitar+Bach
A little bit about the composer:
Andre Benichou is a French classical guitarist and arranger. He primarily plays the electric guitar and is known mostly for his fusion-jazz electric guitar stylings. His most notable work, and most sought after, is the 1970 recording titled Jazz Guitar Bach.
Sources:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Benichou-Andre.htm
All Over the World
A plane
is a
bird
is a sky
is a bird in
the sky
is a place far away
is a reunion of loved o n e s
is a vivid memory of friends is
a meeting of new friends
is a making of new
memories to be
remembered
is to fly
across oceans
is an adventure is a
journey to begin is a world
waiting… to be discovered
to be explored is a
dream is a
person
wanting
to soar
to glide
to f l y.
Her dog
is a bag is a pail is
a car her
scarf is a marble
is a leaf, fragility
is a key, the
lion is a pit is choke
is an apple is
dead.
The clock is broken
12:07,
now
and forever
keeps going, never stands still
is the desert sands
of time.
The swirl is vanilla is chocolate
is both
never stops is
life’s
soft serve
ice cream
machine.
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