Carmen is still free and unbound and begins to contemplate her loves.
Bizet’s melody is played by Marsalis with responses from the orchestra and continues into an improvisation on the themes.Ĭarmen’s Loves begins with a 2-3 clave in the percussion. In honor of the historical music of Congo Square of New Orleans, the hometown of Branford Marsalis and myself, the string section layers entrances with figures based on various African-derived rhythmic cells (by West Africa, often by way of Haiti and Cuba) that would have been heard at Congo Square-the habañera, tresillo or bamboula, cinquillo, and a 3-2 clave. Following an improvised introduction by Marsalis, the celli enter with Bizet’s iconic ostinato from “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle,” which is based on the Cuban rhythm, habañera. The music features her freedom, love, and fearlessness, celebrating an imagined world in which Carmen lives and wins. In this version of the timeless story, Carmen’s voice is centered, as portrayed by Branford Marsalis. Along the way are several of the lengthy crescendos that were a virtual Rossini trademark (his nickname was “Monsieur Crescendo”), and one of these drives this sparkling music home in a great blast of energy.Ĭarmen Jazz Suite on Themes by Bizet, written for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra featuring Branford Marsalis, is a contemporary take on Bizet’s classic 1875 opera, Carmen. Solo oboe introduces the second theme-group, marked dolce, and this alternates with the main violin theme. The music rushes ahead at the Allegro con brio, with its famous “laughing” main theme, full of point and expectancy. The overture begins with a slow introduction marked Andante maestoso, which features crashing chords, gathering energy, and a beautifully- poised melody for violins. In modified sonata-form, the overture is scored for Mozart’s orchestra (pairs of winds, plus timpani and strings) with the addition of one very non-classical instrument, a bass drum.
It does, and-on the stage or in the concert hall- this music continues to work its charm. It seems hard to believe that an overture composed for a tragic opera could function so perfectly as the introduction to a comic tale, yet Finally, in 1816, it became the overture to The Barber of Seville.
And, two years later, Rossini used it again as the overture to his historical opera about Queen Elizabeth I, Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra. Yet this overture had originally been composed three years earlier as the introduction to a tragic opera, Aureliano in Palmira. The opera is one of the finest examples of opera buffa, full of witty music and comic intrigue in the battle of the sexes, and one of the most popular parts of The Barber has always been its overture, which sets exactly the right mood for all the fun to follow. From the moment of its premiere in Rome on February 20, 1816, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville has been an audience favorite.
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