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LATIN FORUM {picture this} the gypsy Fiery, beautiful and tragically seductive, the
Spanish gypsy Carmen from Bizet’s opera of the same name has
become one of the world’s most iconic characters. Raven-haired
and ruthless, Carmen lures otherwise good men from their beloveds
for her amusement, leaving them destroyed once she grows tired of
them—or so the story goes. With a personality that big, she
was too much woman for one opera to contain her and has become the
muse for artists from many genres for a century. She is so iconic
that she has inspired hundreds of adaptations in movies, like Antonio
Gades’ classic Spanish film Carmen and Hollywood’s Carmen
Jones. Charlie Chaplin even created a version. And remember MTV’s
Carmen: A Hip Hopera starring Beyonce? In the original operatic form,
divas from Maria Callas to Anges Balsa have belted out Carmen’s
haunting Habanera. This month The Metropolitan Opera in New York interprets
Carmen’s story once again with Olga Borodina and Angela Gheorghiu
sharing the title role as the gypsy siren, translating all the story’s
passion, drama and tragedy through the classic score, new staging
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