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Carmen is the heroine of a tale of tragedy by the French writer Prosper Merimee (1875) who was a huge fan of Andalucía and a frequent visitor. The plot concerns a cigarrera (cigar roller) in a Seville cigar factory, who falls in love with a soldier from the north of Spain.
The story formed the basis of an opera by French composer Georges Bizet which premiered in 1984.
In 1983 a film of Bizet's opera was shot partly in Ronda, in the barrio Padre Jesus.
It starred a relatively young and slim Placido Domingo, who went on to become one of "The Three Tenors" alongside Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti in 1990.
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Another film, "Bizet's Carmen" (2003), also starred Domingo. This film premiered in
"Carmen Jones" (1954) updated the story to be set in a World War II, African-American setting. With book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, "Carmen Jones" was directed by Otto Preminger and starred Dorothy Dandridge and a young Harry Belafonte.
[Film poster courtesy of IMDb] [Film poster courtesy of Wikipedia]
In 1990, Placido Domingo began singing with fellow tenors Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras as part of "The Three Tenors". The first recording by the trio became the best-selling classical album of all time.
Carmen 2025
I met Carmen a few nights ago in my local, Hotel Ronda Valley, just outside Ronda. A very well-preserved specimen, Carmen was dark-haired, sultry, tanned, with a voluptuous figure despite having given birth to two children. At 59 she looked way younger.
Plaza de España, Sevilla [Diario de Sevilla]
She was accompanied by her husband Fran (Francisco), a mere youngster aged 58.
This Carmen did not roll cigars on her nubile thighs like the heroine of Bizet's opera. Instead she works for a charity supporting older people.
Fran is a funcionario who runs his own company.
Carmen and Fran plan to retire in four years time when they intend to leave Sevilla, the city of their birth, for somewhere smaller, rural and cooler, where they would be able to afford a house with land, a finca.
They have pets and Carmen wants a huerta to grow her own vegetables.
Una huerta tipica [ManoMano]
Dinner Date
Carmen, Fran and I got on very well. Carmen asked about my wife.
I told them about Rita, that she was German, that I met her at the Feria de Pedro Romero in Ronda in September 2008. Rita was already living here, in nearby Montejaque. We fell for each other straightaway. She and I were both single (divorced).
At that time Rita had three children and two grandchildren. I had two children and no grandchildren.
Rita and I married in 2010 in Maulbronn Monastery (Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany) and the following year bought the house where we still live just outside Ronda.
17 years later our respective families have expanded. Rita now has four grandchildren, three girls and a boy. I have four, all boys.
Rita and Paul get married [HMR]
Carmen was intrigued by our history and suggested we meet for dinner the next night at their hotel, Molino del Puente, just down the road from our house.
We did that and had a fine old time, until it was time to go home .....
..... but the least said about that, the better.
Hotel Molino del Puente, Ronda [Kayak]
© Pablo de Ronda
Photos:
Carly Love, Diario de Sevilla, Facebook, HMR, IMDb, Journal amusant, Kayak, ManoMano, Wikipedia
Tags:
"Bizet's Carmen", cigarrera, cigar roller, Carmen, Carmen Jones, Diario de Sevilla, Dorothy Dandridge, Facebook, finca, Fran, Harry Belafonte, Hotel Molino del Puente, HMR, Hotel Ronda Valley, huerto, IMDb, Journal amusant, Kayak, ManoMano, Oscar Hammerstein Jr., Otto Preminger, Wikipedia