Carmen

Ballet Theatre of Maryland artistic director Dianna Cuatto is looking to the past and the future as she prepares the troupe's next performance at its original home, which she hopes will become a "continuing tradition." Before Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts was founded more than 30 years ago, the ballet performed at St. John's College, where the troupe will hold its first production of the new year, "An American Southwest Carmen," in February. "It is my hope that BTM performances here will become a continuing tradition," Cuatto said.

The demise of the Baltimore Opera Company last season left a sizable void at the venue where the organization had long made its home. But losing a valued tenant hasn't taken the opera out of the Lyric Opera House. The theater has lined up its own operatic activity for the 2009-2010 season. Although modest in terms of quantity - just three performances - the series has the potential of delivering on the quality end, and of laying the groundwork for more extensive seasons in the future. "The Lyric is thoroughly committed to having opera here," says Jim Harp, former artistic administrator and education coordinator of the Baltimore Opera.

Woods says he'll return next week at Match Play golf Eight months after winning the U.S. Open on one good leg, a healthy Tiger Woods is returning to golf. Woods said on his Web site yesterday that he will defend his title next week in the Accenture Match Play Championship, believing his reconstructed left knee and his game are good enough to win. "I'm now ready to play again," Woods said. The Match Play Championship begins Wednesday in Tucson, Ariz., where Woods will end his 253-day break from competition.

On February 4, 2009, CARMEN L. JONES, beloved wife of the late Russell F. Jones, owner of Jones Trailer Park on Wise Ave. and member of Inverness Presbyterian Church. Funeral Services will be held at the family owned Duda-Ruck Funeral Home of Dundalk Inc., 7922 Wise Ave., on Monday at 10am. Interment Oak Lawn Cemetery. Friends may call on Sunday from 3-7pm.

When it was new, Bizet's Carmen generated little enthusiasm among the operatic intelligentsia. Typical of the reaction was this from The New York Times, after the opera's first U.S. performance in 1878: "As a work of art, it is naught." Even its tunefulness was called into question: "Of melody, as the term is generally understood, there is but little" said the Boston Gazette. Makes you wonder what kind of meds those guys were on. Needless to say, no amount of carping could ever stop Carmen from becoming one of the world's most popular operas.

Beware of flying crockery. I'm pleased to report that no members of the audience were accidentally beheaded during a recent performance of Le Cabaret de Carmen. That would be carrying the quest for authenticity a bit too far. But at times, it was a close call. Most singers portraying the Gypsy siren Carmen use castanets when they dance. Sophie-Louise Roland uses shards of a plate that she obligingly shatters on stage. At one point, Roland flung her arm so vehemently over her head that a heavy metal bracelet flew off her arm and ricocheted against the wall.

On April 13, 2008, CARMEN; beloved mother of Gelsell Majette. She is also survived by one brother, Clarence Carter, Jr.; two sisters, Amelier Horn and Rosita Mitchell and other family members and friends. Friends may call WYLIE FUNERAL HOME, P.A,, 638 N. Gilmore Street, on Friday, from 5 to 8 P.M., Family will receive friends on Saturday, 10 A.M., Wake and 10:30 A.M. Funeral Service Oak Street AME Church, 123 W. 24 Street. Inquiries : www.wyliefuneralhome.com

The gypsy sorceress Carmen sauntered into Annapolis over the weekend to shatter 35-year-old box-office records with the company's first-ever sold-out performances for both Friday and Sunday. Most opera fans who attended should not have been disappointed by what they heard in a fully staged production that brought together the talents of the Annapolis Opera, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra the Ballet Theatre of Maryland, and a lively children's chorus along with an adult chorus to support the stellar singers in leading roles.

Success has followed success in Annapolis Opera's 35th anniversary season, starting with an opening concert that many thought was the best ever, the traditional holiday Mozart concert and last month's 20th Vocal Competition. These events were mere preludes to this season's major undertaking: a fully staged production of Georges Bizet's Carmen. One of the world's most popular operas, Carmen boasts a fabulous melodic score that retains its excitement despite its familiarity. Although Bizet had never set foot in Spain, he captured in his opera all the flavor and color of 19th century Seville.