I sang the role of Don Jose in the opera Carmen by George Bizet in more productions than any other opera in my repertoire. In fact, it was the first opera I ever saw in person, which isn’t entirely true because I was in it. I played the role of El Remendado, one of the smugglers, and understudied Don Jose as a 20 year old clueless singer/actor in 1981, my 21st birthday was in June. I actually got to sing several rehearsals of it and I didn’t have an understudy for Remendado, so there it is.
I have sung it in English, German, French, in the dialogue version and the recitative version, in a circus tent as well as in some pretty nice theaters. So, while I may not be an “expert” on the role or the subject of Carmen or the music in Bizet’s opera, I do have a good idea what it is like to sing this role and would like to share some of my thoughts with you about this great role in this very popular opera.
Character wise, the role is not as simple as it seems on the surface. Don Jose is a complicated person, deeply troubled about something that I can only ascribe to as being a young man without a father, because all that is spoken of in the opera is his mother.
Generally I believe Don Jose is underrated as a person in the usual operatic way. The same mistake people make with Jose is also the mistake they make with Carmen and roles like Catherine in Taming of the Shrew or Kiss me Kate. Everybody sees these roles in their worst behavior, violent, always looking to pick a fight. They aren’t. But they aren’t weeping wall flowers either.
First off, Don Jose is a Don. Meaning he comes from nobility. Meaning his manners would be courteous and straight forward. His attachment to his mother is I believe not because he is a Mama’s boy, but rather because he feels protective of her and his relationship with Micaela, a childhood sweetheart and family friend is also very dear and close to him. It is most likely that the two were predestined to be married and while he probably wasn’t necessarily madly in love with Micaela, he could envision himself having a very happy life with her.
Dons are officers in the army as a general rule, so Jose would have had excellent military training, knowing how to fight and use a sword. So my explanation for his exile in Seville is not that he murdered someone, that would have gotten him put to death, but rather that he got into a fight and killed the man in the fight, because he was a much better fighter. His punishment was to serve in the military in Seville for a time.
Obviously, when someone grows up with the restraint expected of a Don and is mixed in with being surrounded only by his mother and Micaela, then I assume he had a lot of pent up emotional baggage, which being from the Basque region of Spain would make him even more flammable.
Being a Don he was an elitist. He probably was raised thinking he was simply a member of a God given race, above the commoners in his country. It can be assumed that he considered Gypsies as untouchable and probably saw them as trashy thieves with no religion. Jose did not react to Carmen at first because essentially he is a racist. There is no way he would ever even consider being associated with Gypsies, much less being attracted to one.
Jose is an arrogant, elitist, racist, and well trained fighter who is generally angry because he is in Seville with the other soldiers in barracks and not at home in his Villa. So, really he has no sense of humor at all and is bored by the entire spectacle of Seville. But, he is not weak. He is who he is and is damn proud of it.
Carmen on the other hand is a Gypsy whose moral compass points in a totally different direction. She wouldn’t agree with Jose about Gypsies at all, because she feels that they are free to live a life the way they choose to live it, and that people like Jose, the Dons are prisoners of their own wealth and position. They don’t do things because they want to, but because they are expected to act in a specific manner.
If you have never been targeted by a Gypsy then it is difficult to understand how Carmen’s magic could cast a spell on Jose. But, I have.
I was walking down a street in the old city in Osnabrueck, Germany, and this really cute girl locked her eyes on me and she knew exactly what she was doing. Had I not done Carmen, this may have surprised me, but she worked her way over to me wanting me to give her money, not really asking for it, more like expecting it. She was a Gypsy girl, and if you think this sort of Gypsy is a thing of the past, think again.
She was very nice and beautiful, deep brown eyes, the dark olive colored skin and the long flowing brunette-black hair. A very attractive girl for sure and not shy about it in the least, in fact very strong and aggressive, but in a good way.
So, when I think of Carmen’s approach to Jose, she has several agendas. First of all, she needs his help to spring her from custody, secondly she finds it amusing to be so direct to someone she knows actually thinks she is low life, third he is a strapping soldier, young strong and confident, and attractive not only physically but also because he is a Don. It is a challenge to turn this officer into putty in her hands.
We shouldn’t get the idea that Carmen actually is interested in Jose for real. In the tavern scene she says as much, “I pay my debts, I pay my debts, I pay my debts.” That is a Gypsy code of honor. So she paying Jose back at the tavern by dancing for him, and she says she is in love, but she is in love with someone different every week, as we see with Escamillo. She just eats em up and spits em out. She figures Jose is in it for the fun too.
When the trumpets blow from the fort and Jose wants to leave she is offended because she doesn’t follow any rules and expects him to do the same. Then he spills his heart out to her that he is totally infatuated with her, which if you ever met anyone in your youth who captured your passions you will understand, and tells her he loves her.
When she says “No, you don’t love me.” For all of the reasons he can’t love her, like taking off with her on a whim, living in nature, going away for a week to the mountains to be a part of the gypsies for a while. He can’t do it, because he has to go back to Seville, back to Micaela and back to his mother. Then, being caught by Morales at Lilas Pastia’s, he escapes arrest and is now forced to stay with the gypsies, but without the affection of Carmen. That never goes well.
Jose is basically depressed at this point because he is infatuated with Carmen, but Carmen has already dumped him, but is bound and determined to win her back. When Escamillo arrives at the camp, then Jose’s possessive jealousy overcomes him and he faces off with the Toreador, who is also good at fighting, bulls. So, that is an interesting fight. A soldier against a bull fighter. Jose would have killed him, if the Gypsies hadn’t stopped him. Micaela shows up and Carmen mocks his loyal duty to his mother. Conflicted, humiliated, jealous and angry he agrees to leave, but promises to return.
Jose has had time to cool down a bit and comes to the bull fight in Seville to make amends. But, he isn’t really giving Carmen a choice in the matter. Jose sees her as his possession, and isn’t going to lose against Escamillo or anyone else and if she doesn’t come with him, he must kill her for putting her demonic spell on him. Carmen, like the Bull in the ring, doesn’t relinquish any ground and tells him to just leave, but Jose in a violent fit of rage kills her, quickly and effectively.
Mirroring the triumph of the Toreador in the Bull Fight, he proudly stands above his fallen trophy, claiming her for his own and nobody else’s.