Today’s Staying Alive video features mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chávez singing “Habanera” from Carmen by Georges Bizet. She is accompanied by Lyndon Meyer.
Chávez last appeared on the Tulsa stage in 2014, when she sang the role of Sharon Falconer in Tulsa Opera’s production of Elmer Gantry.
“Habanera”—the popular name for “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”—is the aria Carmen sings when she makes her grand entrance in Act I. She tells the soldiers pleading with her that love is a rebellious bird which cannot be tamed. “Habanera” and the “Toreador Song” from Act II are two of the most famous arias in all of operatic canon.
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