Word: ducreux
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Directed by Marseille-born Composer-Playwright Louis Ducreux, the ambitious production had two curtains, four sets, and no fewer than 265 costumes designed by famed Painter Bernard Buffet. In the title role was the Metropolitan Opera's Regina Resnik, who has sung Carmen all over the world. Don José was U.S.-born Richard Martell, a tenor who once sang with the San Francisco Opera and has built a fine European reputation...
Every sign seemed to point toward success, but Director Ducreux had apparently forgotten that Marseille audiences are a strange breed. Fiercely proud of their opera house, they resent outside interference; they doubt any operatic judgment but their own. A Marseille fisherman or barber may buy a third-balcony seat, show up for his favorite aria and leave immediately, either exalted or enraged. Director Ducreux might have anticipated trouble because of his new, untraditional production, his largely imported cast, or the presence of a socialite audience flown in for the occasion by chartered plane from Paris...
Critics stoutly defended the new Carmen, praising Martell's performance and calling Resnik "the best Carmen ever seen." Last week it was apparent from the SRO signs outside the house that Director Ducreux had a hit on his hands. As for the riot, noted Ducreux tolerantly, "It was a cabal against me, a vegetable rich cabal. The hecklers were only looking for a raison d'être. They have-modified Descartes' statement to make it "I boo, therefore I exist...