Opera women’s characters in the context of paired images (on the example of G. Bizet’s opera “Сarmen”)
Authors: Pei YongTing 
Published: December 2023

Statement of the problem. The study of the dramaturgy of the world-famous Georges Bizet’s opera «Carmen» remains an unsolved question in modern domestic musicology. However, a deep understanding of drama is the key to a successful performance and is directly related to the activity of conductors, vocalists, and instrumentalists who participate in the production of an opera. The general issues of musical dramaturgy are represented in the scientific articles by O. Beloіenko (2020), V. Vyshynsky (2016), O. Chyrkov (2006); the main problems of the opera genre are studied in the works by V. Rozhоk (2014), M. Cherkashina-Hubarenko (2022), J. Kerman (2005). M. Dibbern’s work is dedicated to the different editions of the opera “Carmen”; the article by M. Christoforidis reveals the significance of the opera “Carmen” for the development of the Spanish national opera. The relevance of the proposed topic is determined by the lack of research specifically devoted to paired female opera images. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the study is to reveal the specifics of the composer’s embodiment of paired women’s characters (Carmen and Michaela) in the context of the general dramaturgy of G. Bizet’s opera “Carmen”. General and special research methods, such as phenomenological, comparative, genre-stylistic, semantic, functional-structural were used in the study. The novelty of the work consists in determining the dramatic function of paired women’s characters and their influence on the overall dramaturgy of the opera performance using the example of G. Bizet’s opera “Carmen”. Research results. In the creative heritage by G. Bizet (1838–1875), the genre of opera is central. The dramaturgy of his famous opera “Carmen” is a rather complex, multifaceted phenomenon, the main characters (Carmen, Jose) combine different qualities and transform during the work, and it is difficult to determine whether they belong to positive or negative groups – each of them, as it were, follows his own path, a pre-prepared year of evil fate. The interaction between the characters of Mikaela and Carmen, which can be called paired, is interesting: on the one hand, they are opposites, on the other hand, they are complementary (the common dramatic “axis” is the influence on the evolution of Jose’s image). The image of Carmen is presented in an expanded and developed way, since Carmen is the main character of the opera. However, both female characters – Carmen and Michaela – play an important role in the overall dramatic development through their interaction with the main male character – Jose. The exposition of both images is presented in the context of other characters, where the vocal parts of the heroines are combined with a choral sound. Interaction with Jose is observed in ensemble numbers. The main female characters do not fundamentally change throughout the opera. Mikaela remains a kind, compassionate girl who lives by high moral principles. Carmen also remains a free woman, true to her passionate, volatile nature. However, both characters influence the evolution of Jose’s image. The figurative relationship of “Mikaela-Jose” is connected with the initial characteristic features of the hero: his honesty, decency, caring for loved ones. Even after significant changes in Jose’s image, Mikaela once again “awakens” these qualities in Jose (Act III, the finale). Carmen – on the contrary, contributes to the transformation of the initial image of a man, endowing him with dishonesty, rudeness, cruelty. As a result, she dies at the hand of the character, “mutilated” by such love relationships (the finale of Act IV). Conclusion. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the “pairing” of the characters manifests itself through a bright contrast on the visual and emotional level: Mikaela is the personification of the traditional ideal woman, a strongly expressed positive character. The opposite is the image of the gypsy Carmen, who attracts much more attention from men with her passionate, free, fiery nature, but doesn’t care about the suffering of others. This figurative contrast is reflected in the musical language: Mikaela’s solo episodes have a pronounced cantilena beginning (a smooth melodic movement prevails, which is combined with moves on wide intervals), while Carmen’s numbers rely on dance genres (habanera, seguidilla). The two characters complement each other, as both Micaela and Carmen embody the feminine, and each of them has a different effect on the evolution of the main male character, Don Jos&#233;. Therefore, the importance of understanding the dramatic role of paired images and studying them not separately, but together, is undoubted.