MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION

MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION

Carmen: More than an Opera
An illustrated presentation by Dr Punita G. Singh

This presentation will encounter the many facets of Carmen, the lead character of Georges Bizet’s opera, based on a story by Prosper Mérimée. First performed in 1875 to a mixed response, the opera has since become legendary and a favourite with performers and audiences around the world. The opera has also drawn criticism for its stereotypic, exoticized and negative representation of the Roma (gitano/gypsies). Some artists, writers and academics have presented counternarratives to claim Carmen as a symbol of autonomy and agency, rallying against machismo, patriarchy, racism and fascism. With its catchy music and scope for interpretation and reinvention, the opera will evidently endure and Carmen shall keep reincarnating to assert her rebellious spirit.
Dr Punita G Singh is a musicologist, linguist, acoustician, editor and educator based in New Delhi