"Carmen" on film

One of the books that our younger daughter is doing for the oral part of the Matura (the Swiss university entrance exam) is Prosper Mérimée's “Carmenâ€Â. She came home the other day with the school library DVD of Franco Rossi's film version of Bizet's opera, starring Placido Domingo and Julia Minguenes. Not sure why, as the story and the opera are in some ways quite different, but I'm not complaining.

This version is now quite old (must be about 20 years old). Not being a big opera fan, I don't know how this rates musically with the competition (and I'm sure that there are about a zillion other versions), but it sounded pretty good to me. It is beautifully filmed on location in Spain (although there is a certain incongruity in people singing and speaking in French in such a genuine Spanish setting), Domingo is in excellent voice (as well as being an excellent actor) and Minguenes (or Minguenes Johnson as she then was) really does look and act the part of the sultry temptress, unlike the usual substantial divas.

Above all there is the music. I'd forgotten just how chockful of great tunes is “Carmenâ€Â, tunes that everyone, not just opera lovers, knows – the Habañera, the Toreador's Song. You can't help yourself, especially in the Toreador's Song (sung by Ruggiero Raimondi) you just moan along, tap your feet, conduct the band and generally make a complete fool of yourself. It's worth a look and a listen. To paraphrase the Toreador, le plaisir t'attend.

(Alas, le plaisir n'attend pas my daughter, who does the oral next week…)