Carmen and the Staging of Spain

Carmen<em> and the Staging of Spain</em> explores the Belle �poque fascination with Spanish entertainment that refashioned Bizet's opera and gave rise to an international Carmen industry. Authors Michael Christoforidis and Elizabeth Kertesz challenge the notion of <em>Carmen</em> as an unchanging exotic construct tracing the ways in which performers and productions responded to evolving fashions for Spanish style from its 1875 premiere to 1915. <p/>Focusing on selected realizations of the opera in Paris London and New York Christoforidis and Kertesz explore the cycles of influence between the opera and its parodies; adaptations in spoken drama ballet and film; and the panorama of flamenco Spanish dance and musical entertainments. Their findings also uncover <em>Carmen</em>'s dynamic interaction with issues of Hispanic identity against the backdrop of Spain's changing international fortunes. <p/>The Spanish response to this now most-Spanish of operas is illuminated by its early reception in Madrid and Barcelona adaptations to local theatrical genres and impact on Spanish composers of the time. A series of Spanish Carmens from opera singers Elena Sanz and Maria Gay to the infamous music-hall star La Belle Otero had a crucial influence on the interpretation of the title role. Their stories provide a fresh context for the book's reappraisal of leading Carmens of the era including Emma Calv� and Geraldine Farrar.<br>