UMS Concert Program, February 15, 1969: Goldovsky Grand Opera Theater -- Boris Goldovsky

Concert: Eighth
Complete Series: 3643
Hill Auditorium, Ann Asbos, Michigan

The University Musical Society
of
The University of Michigan
Presents
The
Goldovskf Grand Opera Theater
(Goldovsky Opera Institute, Incorporated)
BORIS GOLDOVSKY, Artistic Director
CARMEN
An Opera in Four Acts Music By Georges Bizet
Libretto by
Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy Based on the novel by Prosper Merimee
English version by Boris Goldovsky and Sarah Caldwell
Produced and staged by..... Bows Goldovsky
Conducted by........ Boris Goldovsky
Scenery designed by...... Aristides Gazetas
Costumes designed by...... Leo Van Witsen
Saturday Evening, February IS, 1969, at 8:00 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Eighth Concert Ninetieth Annual Choral Union Series Complete Programs 3643
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Morales, corporal............John Merrick
Micaela, young girl adopted by Don Jose's mother . . . Joan Morcom
Don JosS, corporal of the guard.......Allen Cathcart
Zuniga, captain............Edwin Clauss
Carmen, gypsy girl..........Nancy Williams
Frasquita, her companion........Fredreika Wisehart
Mercedes, her companion........Barbara SmithDavis
Escamillo, toreador............J. B. Davis
Remendado, smuggler..........Enzo Citarelli
Dancairo, smuggler...........Lucien Olivier
Gypsy dancers.....Nancy Falloon, Rosalie King, Sari Mexia
Lillas Pastia, innkeeper........Benjamin Matthews
Guide..............Jan Hilfreich
Cigarette girls, Gypsies, Soldiers, Cavaliers
and Urchins.....Members of the Goldovsky Opera Theater
The action takes place in and around Seville, Spain, about 1820. ACT I --A square in Seville ACT II --The tavern of Lillas Pastia ACT III--A mountain pass ACT IV--A square in Seville
There will be a 3minute intermission between Acts I and II, and Acts III and IV; and a 15minute intermission between Acts II and III.
SYNOPSIS
ACT I
It is noon time on a square in nineteenth century Seville. Several dragoons, guarding the tobacco factory, lounge outside their post. Micaela, a country girl sent by Jose's mother, enters looking for him. She manages to outmanoeuver the attentions of the soldiers who try to flirt with her and leaves, promising to return later. Preceded by a squad of urchins, the relief guard marches in, among them Captain Zuniga and Corporal Jose. Soon, the cigarette girls, summoned by the factory bell, start reassembling after their lunch break. Carmen, a much admired gypsy beauty, appears last. Piqued by the indifference of Don Jose, she teases him, throws a flower in his face, and then runs into the factory along with her companions. Micaela returns, and Jose is greatly moved by the girl's charm and by his mother's message of affection. After Micaela leaves, there is a sudden uproar in the cigarette factory and the girls pour out crying that Carmen has wounded a fellowworker. Brought before Zuniga, the gypsy defies him brazenly and while he is busy writing out the order for her arrest, she promises Jose a rendezvous and induces him to help her escape. Amid the laughter of onlookers, Carmen breaks away from the soldiers, leaving Don Jose to be arrested in her stead.
ACT II
Two months later, in Lillas Pastia's tavern, Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercedes entertain Zuniga and other officers. Soon, the toreador Escamillo arrives with a group of followers. He returns the greetings of the soldiers by treating them to a round of drinks and singing a rousing toast. Escamillo is greatly impressed by Carmen, but it is closing time and all the guests must leave
the tavern. The gypsy girls remain behind and are urged by Remendado and Dancairo to join them on a smuggling expedition. Carmen refuses saying that she is expecting a visit from Don Jose who has just been released from prison. When Jose arrives, Carmen greets him warmly and starts entertaining him with a dance. She is interrupted by bugles that sound the retreat and make it clear that Jose must at once return to the barracks. Throwing a tantrum, Carmen refuses to listen to Jose's explanations. He protests his passion by showing her that he kept the flower she threw at him. But she insists that if he loved her he would follow her into the mountains. Jose refuses to desert his duty, but when Zuniga returns to see Carmen and orders him to leave, Jose disobeys. The two men are about to fight when the gypsies rush in and disarm the amorous captain. Don Jose realizes that he has no alternative but to throw in his lot with Carmen and her gypsy friends.
ACT III
It is early dawn in the mountain retreat used by the gypsies for the stockpiling of contraband goods. Six months have passed since Don Jose's desertion from the army and Carmen is beginning to tire of him. After the smugglers carry in the merchandise, Dancairo bids them rest while he and Remendado go to reconnoiter the approaches to Seville. Frasquita and Mercedes pass the time by reading their fortunes, but when Carmen tries her luck, the cards keep on foretelling her nothing but tragedy and death. Dancairo returns, orders Jose to remain behind as a lookout, and tells the rest of the gang to proceed to Seville with part of the loot. After a while, Micaela enters in search of Don Jose, but when she notices that he is about to fire his rifle, she becomes terrified and hides behind a pile of bales. The man at whom Jose was firing is none other than Escamillo who is looking for Carmen. He and the jealous Jose soon come to blows, but their fight is stopped by the gypsies who return, attracted by the noise of the gun shot. Escamillo leaves, after inviting all those present to the bullfight in Seville, and the smugglers are about to resume their journey when they discover the presence of Micaela. Learning that his mother is dying, Jose agrees to go with the girl, but warns Carmen not to imagine that she will ever be free to take another lover.
ACT IV
In a festive Seville square, a gay crowd gathers for the bullfight. Carmen arrives on the arm of her new flame, Escamillo, and they are both loudly acclaimed by Escamillo's admirers. After he goes off to the contest, she bravely confronts her former lover who is lurking nearby. Though wretched and dishonored, Don Jose pleads with her to return to him, but her heart is elsewhere and she refuses to submit to his threats. When shouts of victory are heard from the arena, Carmen is anxious to witness the triumph of her beloved. She pays no heed to Jose's entreaties until, maddened by her disdain for him, he plunges his knife into her heart.
The Coldovsky Grand Opera Theater uses no understudies. To insure uniformity of artistic results, singers of equal stature alternate in principal roles.
STAFF FOR THE GOLDOVSKY GRAND OPERA THEATER
General Manager.........Edward Alley
Assistant Manager........Edwin Clauss
Associate Conductor.......Frederic Popper
Production Manager......Aloysius Petruccelli
Master Carpenter........William Leming
Master Electrician.......William Doucette
Master Properties........Arthur Doucette
Wardrobe Supervisor.......Frank Boscarino
Wardrobe Assistant........Zelma Leming
Costumes executed by BrooksVan Horn Costumes, New York--Philadelphia
1968 --INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATIONS --1969
Auditorium BALLET FOLKLORICO OF MEXICO . . . 8:30, Wednesday, February 26
RUDOLF SERKIN, Pianist......8:30, Wednesday, March 5
MOSCOW STATE SYMPHONY.....8:30, Thursday, March 13
Tickets: $6.00--$5.50--$5.00--$4.00--$3.00--$2.00
Rackham Auditorium
COLOGNE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA . . . 8:30, Saturday, February 22
Helmut MullerBruhl, Music Director
Program: Concerto Grosso in D, Op. 6, No. 5.........Handel
Concerto for Trumpet in D major.........Torelli
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor.........Bach
Rondo in A major.............Sciiubert
"Eine kleine Nachtmusik"...........Mozart
Tickets: $5.00--4.00--$2.00
ANN ARBOR MAY FESTIVALApril 24, 25, 26, 27, 1969
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA AT ALL CONCERTS PROGRAMS
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 8:30
EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor.
RICHARD TUCKER, Tenor, will sing arias by Mozart, Handel, Meyerbeer, and Puccini. "Classical" Symphony (Prokofieff); "Iberia" (Debussy) and the Symphonic Poem "Pines of Rome" (Respighi).
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 8:30
THOR JOHNSON, Conductor.
JOANNA SIMON, Mezzosoprano, will sing Pantasileas's aria from Bomarzo (Ginastera). HANS RICHTERHAASER, Pianist, will perform Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 (Chopin). UNIVERSITY CHORAL UNION performs Psalm 150, Op. 5 (Ginastera) and the choral work "Fern Hill" by John Corigliano, with Joanna Simon.
SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 8:30
EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor.
All orchestral program: Overture to Die M eistersinger (Wagner) ; Symphony No. 3 (Charles
Ives); and Symphony No. 1 (Mahler).
SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2:30 THOR JOHNSON, Conductor.
UNIVERSITY CHORAL UNION performs Schubert's Mass in Aflat, with soloists: MARIA STADER, Soprano; JOANNA SIMON, Mezzosoprano; JOHN McCOLLUM, Tenor; WILLIS PATTERSON, Bass. ZARA NELSOVA, Cellist, performs the Elgar Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra.
SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 8:30
EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor.
REGINE CRESPIN, Soprano, will sing "Scheherazade" (Ravel) ; and the aria, "Ah Perfido,"
Op. 65 (Beethoven). Symphony No. 31 in D major--"Paris" (Mozart), and "La Mer" (Debussy).
Series Tickets: $30.00--$25.00--$20.00--$15.00--$10.00
RETURNED TICKETS have been gratefully received by the Musical Society for resale--this season already in the amount of $964--to help reduce the annual deficit. Subscribers who find they cannot attend a performance for which they hold tickets are encouraged to return their tickets (or phone in locations at 6653717), to allow resale. Receipts for full value of tickets are provided for tax deductions.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Gail W. Rector, President James R. Breakey, Jr. Paul G. Kauper
Roscoe O. Bonisteel, VicePresident Doughs D. Crary Wilbur K. Pierpont
Erich A. Walter, Secretary Robben W. Fleming Daniel H. Schurz
E. Thurston Thieme, Treasurer Harlan Hatcher Stephen H. Spurr