Simply scandalous: Opera Southwest to present the classic opera 'Carmen' en Español

One of the most popular operas of our time, “Carmen” is traditionally performed in the original French.

Opera Southwest is ditching the conventional by producing Georges Bizet’s classic in an almost unknown Spanish language dating to the Romani.

“As far as we know, this is the professional U.S. premiere of this version,” said Tony Zancanella, OSW executive director. “Due to the general popularity of ‘Carmen’ and the rarity of this Spanish language version, we’ve expanded our usual run of three performances to six.”

Simply scandalous: Opera Southwest to present the classic opera 'Carmen' en Español

The opera opens on Saturday, May 4, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

The translation by Eduardo de Bray was first presented in Barcelona at the Teatro Circo Algeria in 1890.

“Part of what makes this version so exciting is there are original Calo (the gypsy language) expressions,” said director Carson Gilmore. “It’s the Spanish dialect of the Romani language. There are words in here that don’t exist in the French. It is almost an underground language. They had to have a language so the Spanish couldn’t control them.”

For about 300 years, Romanies were subject to a number of laws and policies designed to eliminate them from Spain as an identifiable group.

“Carmen” is written in the genre of opéra comique with musical numbers separated by dialogue. Set in southern Spain, it tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts his military duties, yet loses Carmen’s love to the glamorous torero Escamillo, after which José kills her in a jealous rage. The depictions of proletarian life, immorality and lawlessness, and the tragic death of the main character on stage, broke new ground in French opera and sparked controversy.

The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same name by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalized its first audiences.

The Paris Opera House produced what were thought of as more prestigious operas.

Opéra-Comique “was sort of the Hallmark Channel of the era,” Gilmore said. “It was more for the middle class, so it was very shocking.”

Bizet died suddenly after the 33rd performance, unaware that the work would achieve international acclaim within the following 10 years.

“The melodies were so brilliantly written as earworms,” Gilmore said. “I think the songs themselves have become more popular than the opera. And Carmen is one of the great femme fatales.”