"Melons! Coupons!"
Shuffle! Cut!
- Shuffle!
- Cut!
- Good, that's that!
- Three cards here... four there!
And now speak, my lovelies,
give us news of the future;
tell us who's going to betray us,
tell us who's going to love us!
Speak! Speak!
- Me, I see a young suitor,
no one could love me more.
- Mine is very rich and very old,
but he talks of marriage.
- I settle myself firmly on his horse
and he carries me off into the mountains.
- In an almost royal castle
mine installs me in queenly state!
- Never-ending love,
every day new raptures!
- As much gold as I can take,
diamonds, precious stones!
- Mine becomes a famous leader,
a hundred men march in his train!
- Mine...can I believe my eyes?
Yes...he dies!
Ah! I'm a widow and I inherit!
And now speak, my lovelies,
give us news of the future;
tell us who's going to betray us,
tell us who's going to love us!
Speak! Speak!
Let's see –
let me try my turn.
Diamonds, spades...
Death! I read it clearly...me first.
Then him...for both of us, Death!
In vain to avoid bitter replies,
in vain, you will shuffle;
that is of no avail,
for the cards are sincere
and will not lie!
In the book above,
if your page is a happy one,
shuffle and cut without fear,
The card under your fingers
will turn up happy,
foretelling good luck.
But if you are to die,
if that terrible word
has been written by fate,
begin over twenty times -
the pitiless card will repeat:
Death!
Yes if you are to die,
begin again twenty times,
the pitiless cards will repeat
Death!
Again! Again!
Always Death!
Bizet’s Carmen is one of the most popular and familiar operas. When Bizet created Carmen, he broke operatic convention by celebrating proletarian and immoral ways of life. He also vividly brought to life the character of Carmen (almost a side note in the original story) as a complex, proud and spirited woman who strove at every turn to claim independence and agency in her life, love and friendships.
Carmen and the gypsies seek a bohemian life, finding freedom outside of the law. José, drawn to Carmen and this unconventional world, is torn between love, duty and honour. Micaëla, innocent and pious, represents a simpler way of life, and the charismatic bullfighter Escamillo, in many ways also free of society’s restrictions, soon becomes a rival for Carmen’s affections.
The dramatic resolution of the opera’s story was shocking and unconventional in depicting such violence on stage at its premiere in 1875. Just as shocking is that this tragedy is still pertinent today, where the simple act of saying ‘no’ too often turns love and passion into abuse and fatal revenge.