The Metropolitan Opera Presents Georges Bizet S Carmen

(Amadeus). A riveting story of fatal attraction between a beguiling, strong-willed gypsy and a naive but passionate soldier who falls under her spell, Georges Bizet's Carmen pulses with seduction, obsession, and deadly betrayal. It was reviled at its Paris premiere, where its realism and perceived amorality proved shocking, but it became one of the most popular and highly regarded operas of all time. Arguably the greatest musical product of France's enduring fascination with Spain, Carmen features many numbers that are now almost universally familiar, including the seductive Habanera and the boastful but infectious Toreador Song. Don Jose is an idealistic young corporal in 1820s Seville when he encounters the gypsy Carmen, who is irresistible to all men seemingly except Jose, who loves the innocent country girl Micaela. But soon enough Carmen works her wiles on him to escape imprisonment, and a later twist of ever-looming fate forces him to completely abandon the world he knows and follow Carmen into a life of crime. When the bullfighter Escamillo wins Carmen's affections, Don Jose's explosive jealousy clashes with Carmen's resolve to remain true to herself, leading to one of opera's fiercest confrontations and most unforgettable conclusions.

A comprehensive guide to Bizet's CARMEN, featuring insightful and in depth Commentary and Analysis, a complete, newly translated Libretto with French/English side-by side, and over 30 music highlight examples."

"Qu'est-ce que c'est?" (What is it?) mezzo-soprano Celestine Galli-Marie asked when offered the title role in the 1875 premier of Bizet's new opera, Carmen. She was only the first in a long line of performers to ask. In the 140+ years since, each singer has crafted her own portrayal of the inscrutable Gypsy. The famous soprano Geraldine Farrar wrote: "Each one of us probably sees something that the others have not seen--or thinks she does--and that 'something' is her individual Carmen." This book explores the history of operatic portrayals of Bizet's elusive enchantress, tracing the development of vocal and dramatic interpretations from generation to generation around the globe.

"The heroine of the most performed opera in the world since 1875, Carmen has become a universal cultural icon. She has appeared in a multitude of ballets, on stage as well as ice rinks, and in some eighty international films. The success of Bizet' opera owns a lot to the libretto's singular accounting of the 1845 short story on which it is based. In her close textual analyses of Ludovic Halévy's and Henri Meilhac's libretto and Prosper Mérimée's novella, the author strives to account for the multiple aspects of Carmen's attraction that support George Bizet's acclaimed musical score. Through its multi-facetted cultural renditions through time and place, the story of Carmen can be said to have attained the status of a myth. Myths are stories that speak to us, in our own time and place, about personal, social, or cultural issues"--

Contains the complete text of the libretto with annotations in both English and Italian and a critical historical commentary. The text also includes the background of the composer, biographies of the principal singers and conductor. The two accompanying CDs contain the complete opera sung in Italian.

"Carmen" is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The opera, which became Bizet's most famous work, was first performed at the Op̩ra-Comique in Paris, on March 3, 1875, and was not at first particularly successful; its initial run extended to 36 performances. Before this run was concluded, Bizet died suddenly, and thus knew nothing of the opera's later celebrity. This is the choral score of the work, with French and English texts, and without notated accompaniment.

Carmen and the Staging of Spain explores the Belle Époque fascination with Spanish entertainment that refashioned Bizet's opera and gave rise to an international "Carmen industry." Authors Michael Christoforidis and Elizabeth Kertesz challenge the notion of Carmen as an unchanging exotic construct, tracing the ways in which performers and productions responded to evolving fashions for Spanish style from its 1875 premiere to 1915. Focusing on selected realizations of the opera in Paris, London and New York, Christoforidis and Kertesz explore the cycles of influence between the opera and its parodies; adaptations in spoken drama, ballet and film; and the panorama of flamenco, Spanish dance, and musical entertainments. Their findings also uncover Carmen's dynamic interaction with issues of Hispanic identity against the backdrop of Spain's changing international fortunes. The Spanish response to this now most-Spanish of operas is illuminated by its early reception in Madrid and Barcelona, adaptations to local theatrical genres, and impact on Spanish composers of the time. A series of Spanish Carmens, from opera singers Elena Sanz and Maria Gay to the infamous music-hall star La Belle Otero, had a crucial influence on the interpretation of the title role. Their stories provide a fresh context for the book's reappraisal of leading Carmens of the era, including Emma Calvé and Geraldine Farrar.