The “Les Voici” chorus from Bizet’s opera Carmen, which takes place in Act IV as the bullfighters parade into town, makes a fine addition to a choral concert. The hero of the day is Escamillo, the “espada, la fine lame” (“The Matador, the skilled swordsman”), who first appeared in the opera back in Act II, when he and his fellow bullfighters visited the inn where Carmen was drinking and dancing. Escamillo was quite smitten with her at the time, but she had other fish to fry, namely the soldier Don Jose.
Haven’t we all known someone like Carmen? All the guys are after her and yet she herself is untouched. Her heart is never fully engaged. She tells us this herself in her famous “Habanera”–”Love is a rebellious bird that none can tame.” For Carmen, it is all about the thrill of the chase: “If you do not love me, I love you.” She is quickly bored, always ready to move on to the next lover; she’s a female Casanova. It’s fair to say that she has only one great love in her life: herself.
As long as her lovers are as footloose and fancy free as she is, all is well. She can garner admiration and passion and then move on. But the danger comes when someone takes her seriously, and that someone is Don Jose. What she considers to be a harmless flirtation he takes very much to heart. He ends up getting himself into more and more trouble because of her, deserting both the army and the kind, gentle girl from back home, Micaela, and in the end he kills Carmen.