Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani believes fate is at the heart of Bizet’s tragic opera “Carmen.”
Lahyani knows a thing about fate, and “Carmen.”
She was singing the title role in the Opera Las Vegas production in summer 2016 opposite the Russian tenor Viktor Antipenko as Don José when cupid struck.
“We found very strong personalities in each other right away. It kind of struck us both; there is no way back. The fire was raging by the middle of the show run,” recalled Antipenko during a phone call from Phoenix, where the couple was appearing last week in Arizona Opera’s production of “Carmen.” The show comes to Tucson Music Hall this weekend for two performance.
It will be the couple’s first time recreating their roles together since the Vegas run. They married four years ago and now have two daughters — a 2-year-old and a 3-month-old.
“It was meant to be,” Lahyani says of the couple’s relationship. “It’s funny that it was fate, but ‘Carmen’ is all about fate. This opera is all about fate. She is a great believer in fate and it was our fate, too. This opera means a lot to both of us and to our relationship in general so it’s very fun to do it together again.”
The couple will be on stage together for the opening night performance on Saturday, Feb. 5, in what promises to be an exciting and emotional experience for the audience against a backdrop of some of the most beautiful music in the genre.
“Carmen” is the story of the fiercely independent seductress who rebuffs her lover Don José to her own peril.
“Carmen is the ultimate strong, independent woman. She’s a high spirit and a very strong, demanding woman. She is owned by herself and she reports to nobody and she makes her own decisions,” Lahyani said of her character. “She doesn’t care what people think of her. She is very authentic to herself. She doesn’t lead her life by society’s rules. She is very inspiring, but I also think that besides all her strong characteristics, she also is really fun. And I think she is super charismatic and super honest.”
“I love my character. He’s straight but honest,” Antipenko said of Don José.
And Don José’s got a little bit of a temper.
In “Carmen,” Don José ends up — spoiler alert! — killing the love of the life when she rejects him, telling him to go home to mama and the woman everyone expects him to marry.
The opera is very physical and emotional for the performers and the audience, which is why Lahyani said she loves playing Carmen opposite her husband.
“I think because there is a great amount of trust on stage that you have in your stage partner that you need to have, especially in shows that are so demanding physically and so involved emotionally … there’s a whole level of comfort when it’s a husband and wife doing it,” she said.
“Every time we go on stage, we put aside Viktor and Maya and we’re just being two characters,” Antipenko added. “Of course, the love scenes you do notice some difference when you can see people are comfortable. However, don’t judge hard the very end when I kill my wife. It’s not because I don’t love her. I love her to death.”
Antipenko was quick to note that the rage you see on stage is no reflection to the couple’s home life.
“That’s definitely highly professional stage performance,” he said with a laugh.
