"Carmen Loves Jazz" at Saaremaa Opera Days

A jazzy reworking of "Carmen" is cheekier than  its operatic predecessor - charged with urban undertones and explicitly sexual. Surely it was not in vain that the saxophone was a prohibited instrument in the frigid Soviet Union during the sixties.

The Big Band instrumentation with its juicy timbres and lush improvisation brings out new nuances in Mérimée’s story. In this rendition Carmen's cynical attitude rises to limelight: "If a smile will help me to prevail, what of it? - I'll smile!" (Bizet's "Carmen" Act III). A view in which the sexual appeal can be easily put to use in your favor. But the question remains: how to do it so skillfully that you don’t end up with a knife between your ribs? Whether it be in the direct or metaphorical sense...