The Star Online _ the MPO’s Carmen Festival Set to Stir Audiences With Its Themes of Love, Passion...

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17/01/2015 The Star Online | The MPOs Carmen Festival set to stir audiences with its themes of love, passion and betrayal

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Thursday January 15, 2015 1 2:00:00 AM

The MPOs Carmen Festival set tostir audiences with its themes of

love, passionand betrayalBY DINESH KUMAR MAGANATHAN

MPOs Carmen Festival will be presented in a ballet, a concert and anabridged opera
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Her two-syllabled name Carmen just rings with unbridled passion and

wanton desire. Just saying her name out loud conjures something amorous.

It is no surprise then that Don Jos, a soldier and a man of the world, fell under

her spell. Never so fiercely has a man loved a woman. And it is with such a kind

of love the hammer stroke of betrayal hits the hardest.

Carmen transgressed their love affair and chose another man instead. Blinded

by his jealous rage, Don Jos unwittingly murdered the one woman he so

passionately loved.

So, you dont really want to miss this tragic tale presented in such operatic

heights and impassioned orchestration when Malaysian Philharmonic

Orchestras (MPO) Carmen Festival opens tomorrow night. Helmed by MPOs

new principal conductor Fabio Mechetti, the three-weekend festival at Dewan

Filharmonik Petronas in Kuala Lumpur offers different treatments to themasterpiece composed by French composer Georges Bizet in 1875. This year

marks the 140th anniversary of Bizets Carmen.

Brazilian-born Mechettis relationship with Carmen began at the tender age of

seven when he was part of the operas childrens chorus. He grew fond of the

opera for its timeless and raw portrayal of human passions.

Sometimes we artists think everything that becomes too popular is not good.

And some of it is true. But in Carmenscase, it is not so. I think it is a great

masterpiece, says Mechetti during a break from rehearsals at DFP.


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Don Jos, played by Valenti, kills Carmen in a fit of rage and jealousy.

It is a very difficult score, it is beautifully done and there are no moments in the

opera where you look down and think yeah, okay, whats next, he adds.

Mechetti even shares a bit of trivia on Carmen. Friedrich Nietzsche, the

philosopher and a very good friend of another opera legend, Wagner, actuallysaid that the greatest opera of that time was Carmen! says the maestro.

Bizets Carmen tells a tragic tale of love, passion, betrayal, lust, jealousy and

broken heartedness.

Written originally as a four-act opera, its passionate and soaring scores have

mesmerised audiences around the world. Such is its popularity that it has been

adapted into numerous films, Broadway plays and several ballets.

Mechetti pointed out what makes Carmen flexible as a body of music (the ballet

suite was composed by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin) is the story itself.

The story is a very present story. Its a story of passion and how you react to

jealousy. This is something that has been happening since the Greeks. We

have passionate crimes happening every day.

So, we can use that story as a common thread throughout generations. It is

the story of a jealous man who cant live without the woman and the only way to

do that is to kill her, explains Mechetti.


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San Francisco Ballet's principal dancer, Tan Yuan Yuan, will play Carmen in Carmen InDance.

The festival will present a ballet performance, a family concert and an abridged

version of the opera.

Called Carmen In Dance, the 45-minute ballet score will be conducted by

Mechetti himself and choreographed by Malaysian Choong Wan Chin, the

artistic director of KL Dance Works. She was a dancer before she sustained a

bad injury many years ago.

Tan Yuan Yuan, a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet, will play the

titular role. The other dancers who will be involved in the ballet are Sergey

Kheylik, Chew Zi Xin, Steve Goh and Svetlana Danilova, among others.


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Bardon plays the alluring gypsy Carmen in Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras CarmenFestival.

This will be followed by a more relaxed and family themed concert called

Carmen For The Family conducted by Ciaran McAuley. Intended to be an

introductory concert for those who are not familiar with Carmen, this is suitable

for families and young music lovers.

The grand finale is naturally the opera itself. Of course, this will be an abridged

version of Bizets Carmen. Nonetheless, it will not be rent of the originals

vivacity and potency.

This story of visceral love and jealousy will surely enthral, haunt and bring

audiences to electrifying heights with its stunning scores.

Dublin-born Patricia Bardon, a renowned opera singer, will assume the role ofCarmen, with Mechetti returning as conductor. Bardons repertoire includes

works by Monteverdi, Handel, Glck, Rossini and Verdi. American tenor James

Valenti will play Carmens jealous lover Don Jose.

Mechetti, a highly acclaimed operatic conductor himself, had conducted

Carmenmany times previously on top of La Boheme Madame Butterfly and

Don Giovanni and shared that his treatment for this semi-staged performance

will be slightly different.

This is very different because this is not really an opera performance. The


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whole writing of the score was done with the idea that the orchestra will be in

the pit. All the dynamics was for such a setting.

The balance becomes a problem when you move the orchestra up. However,

the ensemble can be better because the communication between singers,

orchestra and conductor is more direct, says Mechetti, who ended his 14-year

tenure with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra (United States) prior tojoining MPO last August.

We are all attracted to tragic love tales, like moths to a flame. And we soar to

heights of emotions when grand music and operatic excellence stir our deep-

set emotions. Carmen is such a tale and it will be a tragic injustice to deprive

yourself of a thrilling human experience.

The Carmen Festival opens tomorrow night at the Dewan Filharmonik

Petronas, Level 2, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur and will play until Feb 1.Schedule: Carmen In Dance (Jan 16 & 17, 8.30pm, Jan 18, 3pm). Carmen For

The Family (Jan 24-25, 3pm). Bizets Carmen (Jan 28 & Jan 30, 8.30pm, Feb 1,

3pm). Tickets for Carmen In Dance and Bizets Carmen range RM100 to

RM320. Tickets for Carmen For The Family range RM30 to RM80. For ticket

booking, call 03-20517007 or visit www.mpo.com.my.

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The Star Online _ the MPO’s Carmen Festival Set to Stir Audiences With Its Themes of Love, Passion...

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