Carmen
Last update: Wednesday 07th of January 2009
For other uses, see Carmen (disambiguation). | Operas by Georges Bizet |
|---|
 La maison du docteur (1852)
Le docteur Miracle (1857)
Don Procopio (1859)
Les pêcheurs de perles (1863)
Ivan IV (1865)
La jolie fille de Perth (1867)
Djamileh (1872)
Carmen (1875)
Noé (completion of Halévy opera) (1885) | v • d • e |
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself influenced by the narrative poem "The Gypsies" (1824) by Pushkin. Mérimée had read the poem in Russian by 1840 and translated it into French in 1852. The opera premiered at the Opéra Comique of Paris on 3 March 1875, but its opening run was denounced by the majority of critics. It was almost withdrawn after its fourth or fifth performance, and although this was avoided, ultimately having 48 performances in the first year, it did little to bolster sagging receipts at the Opéra Comique. Near the end of this run, the theatre was giving tickets away in order to stimulate attendance. Bizet died on 3 June 1875, never knowing how popular Carmen would become. In October 1875 it was produced in Vienna, to critical and popular success, which began its path to worldwide popularity. It was not staged again at the Opéra Comique until 1883. Since the 1880s it has been one of the world's most performed operas and a staple of the operatic repertoire. Carmen appears as number four on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America. Bizet's final opera not only transformed the opera-comique genre that had been static for half a century, it virtually killed it. Within a few years, the traditional distinction between opera (serious, heroic and declamatory) and opera-comique (light-hearted, bourgeois and conversational with spoken dialogue) disappeared beyond recovery. Moreover, Carmen nourished a movement that was to win both celebrity and notoriety first in Italy and then elsewhere: the cult of realism known as verismo. The early death of Bizet and the negligence of his immediate heirs and publisher led, as with most of Bizet's operas, to major textual problems for which scholars and performers only began to find solutions since the 1960s. The story is set in Seville, Spain, circa 1830, and concerns the eponymous Carmen, a beautiful Gypsy with a fiery temper. Free with her love, she woos the corporal Don José, an inexperienced soldier. Their relationship leads to his rejection of his former love, mutiny against his superior, and joining a gang of smugglers. His jealousy when she turns from him to the bullfighter Escamillo leads him to murder Carmen.
Carmen
Need Help? For help with Carmen questions or technical problems, contact the Help Desk: by email at carmen@osu.edu; via the web at 8help.osu.edu, or; by phone at 688-HELP.
Read more...
Carmen Info
Carmen is a service of TELR in the Office of the CIO. Having trouble accessing this page? Contact us at 614.688.4357 (688-HELP) (V), 614.688.8743 (TDD) for assistance.
Read more...
Welcome to Carmen
Read more...
Carmen Electra
Carmen Marc Valvo is a New York based Women's Fashion Designer of Couture, Collection, CMV, Swim, Fur, and Fine Jewelry.
Read more...
Carmen Marc Valvo
Carmen can refer to: Carmen (name), a unisex given name. Carmen, a story by Prosper Mérimée; Carmen, a French opera by Georges Bizet based on the above story; Carmen (1949 ballet ...
Read more...
|
