Shimmering Harmonies

San Diego Opera's 'Carmen' delighted MARIA NOCKIN

On 5 April 2006, San Diego Opera presented a performance of Carmen, preceded by a Noche de Opera reception at the Westgate Hotel for music lovers from both the US and Mexico. Consuls from both governments were present, as were many important members of the business and artistic communities. This well-attended affair enabled American opera goers to meet like minded folks from Tijuana, Mexicali and other nearby Mexican cities. Participants were treated to a tasty buffet and the event was covered by San Diego's NBC TV channel.

At the first performance of Georges Bizet's Carmen on 3 March 1875 at the Opéra Comique in Paris, the audience found the opera quite shocking. That theater catered to a bourgeois family clientele and many parents did not like having their children exposed to choristers who smoked and fought on stage, not to mention a heroine whose motives were morally questionable.

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