The first fatal flaw is Troyanos' relentless, overly fast vibrato. As José departs, vowing to return, the fate theme is heard briefly in the woodwind. [82] The quintet that follows is described by Newman as "of incomparable verve and musical wit". Au secours! [90] The long finale, in which José makes his last pleas to Carmen and is decisively rejected, is punctuated at critical moments by enthusiastic off-stage shouts from the bullfighting arena. [78] After the opening crowd scene, the bullfighters' march is led by the children's chorus; the crowd hails Escamillo before his short love scene with Carmen. The successful Her Majesty's production, sung in Italian, had an equally enthusiastic reception in Dublin. As for recommendations, besides the Horne/Lewis highlights recording already mentioned, my first choice is the Leontyne Price/Franco Corelli recording, and my second choice is the recording featuring Grace Bumbry and Jon Vickers. In the card scene, the lively duet for Frasquita and Mercédès turns ominous when Carmen intervenes; the fate motif underlines her premonition of death. [5] The subject of the projected work was a matter of discussion between composer, librettists and the Opéra-Comique management; Adolphe de Leuven, on behalf of the theatre, made several suggestions that were politely rejected. "La Carmen authentique de Bizet, avec dialogues parlés, est un chef d'œuvre que je place, en tant que produit d'un génie absolument original et sans antécédents, sur le même plan que Les Maîtres Chanteurs et Don Giovanni. Carmen enters and sings her provocative habanera on the untameable nature of love ("L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"). [70], Dean has commented on the dramatic distortions that arise from the suppression of the dialogue; the effect, he says, is that the action moves forward "in a series of jerks, rather instead of by smooth transition", and that most of the minor characters are substantially diminished. [34], Bizet was reportedly contemptuous of the music that he wrote for Escamillo: "Well, they asked for ordure, and they've got it", he is said to have remarked about the toreador's song—but, as Dean comments, "the triteness lies in the character, not in the music". She had sung leading roles in many of Offenbach's operas, but she was unacceptable to Bizet and was turned down by du Locle as unsuitable. Parmi quelques versions caracolant en tête de la discographie, celle-ci vaut son pesant d'or. [107] Robert Townsend's 2001 film, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring Beyoncé Knowles, is a more recent attempt to create an African-American version. It was his wedding anniversary. The music of Carmen has since been widely acclaimed for brilliance of melody, harmony, atmosphere, and orchestration, and for the skill with which Bizet musically represented the emotions and suffering of his characters. Qui va là? [105] Francesco Rosi's film of 1984, with Julia Migenes and Plácido Domingo, is generally faithful to the original story and to Bizet's music. However, she married and left the stage altogether in 1876, refusing Mapleson's considerable cash inducements to return. Hervé Lacombe, in his survey of 19th-century French opera, contends that Carmen is one of the few works from that large repertory to have stood the test of time. Zuniga, the officer of the guard, learns that Carmen has attacked a woman with a knife. [55], In the following five years performances were given in numerous American and European cities. In act 3 only Micaëla's aria earned applause as the audience became increasingly disconcerted. [82] The quintet that follows is described by Newman as "of incomparable verve and musical wit". [15] Dean sees Bizet's principal achievement in the demonstration of the main actions of the opera in the music, rather than in the dialogue, writing that "Few artists have expressed so vividly the torments inflicted by sexual passions and jealousy". In her act 1 defiance of Zuniga, Carmen sings the words "Coupe-moi, brûle-moi", which are taken from Mérimée's translation from Pushkin. [95][96] From the mid-1990s numerous video recordings have become available. [9] It may have been influenced in part by Alexander Pushkin's 1824 poem "The Gypsies",[10] a work Mérimée had translated into French;[n 1] it has also been suggested that the story was developed from an incident told to Mérimée by his friend the Countess Montijo. [23] During the period of rehearsals, which began in October, Bizet repeatedly altered the music—sometimes at the request of the orchestra who found some of it impossible to perform,[21] sometimes to meet the demands of individual singers, and otherwise in response to the demands of the theatre's management. [37] The role was then offered to Célestine Galli-Marié, who agreed to terms with du Locle after several months' negotiation. José arrives with the new guard, who is greeted and imitated by a crowd of urchins ("Avec la garde montante"). Meilhac and Halévy were a long-standing duo with an established division of labour: Meilhac, who was completely unmusical, wrote the dialogue and Halévy the verses. Carmen is delighted to learn of José's release from two months' detention. In act 3 only Micaëla's aria earned applause as the audience became increasingly disconcerted. [n 5] This motif, played on clarinet, bassoon, cornet and cellos over tremolo strings, concludes the prelude with an abrupt crescendo. When challenged, Carmen answers with mocking defiance ("Tra la la... Coupe-moi, brûle-moi"); Zuniga orders José to tie her hands while he prepares the prison warrant. On hearing a gunshot she hides in fear; it is José, who has fired at an intruder who proves to be Escamillo. In the Paris of the 1860s, despite being a Prix de Rome laureate, Bizet struggled to get his stage works performed. For this version, first staged on 23 October 1875, Bizet's friend Ernest Guiraud replaced the original dialogue with recitatives, to create a "grand opera" format. The more conservative critics complained about "Wagnerism" and the subordination of the voice to the noise of the orchestra. Confused yet mesmerised, José agrees to free her hands; as she is led away she pushes her escort to the ground and runs off laughing. Micaëla appears, seeking José. [1] Bizet's professional relationship with Léon Carvalho, manager of the independent Théâtre Lyrique company, enabled him to bring to the stage two full-scale operas, Les pêcheurs de perles (1863) and La jolie fille de Perth (1867), but neither enjoyed much public success. [109], This article is about the opera. Au secours! [9] It may have been influenced in part by Alexander Pushkin's 1824 poem "The Gypsies",[10] a work Mérimée had translated into French;[n 1] it has also been suggested that the story was developed from an incident told to Mérimée by his friend the Countess Montijo. [28], Dean considers that José is the central figure of the opera: "It is his fate rather than Carmen's that interests us". After her beguiling "Seguidilla" provokes José to an exasperated high A sharp shout, Carmen's escape is preceded by the brief but disconcerting reprise of a fragment from the habanera. He would later become a baritone, and in 1887 sang the role of Zurga in the Covent Garden premiere of Les pêcheurs de perles. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalized its first audiences. [39] At the time it was generally believed that she and the composer were conducting a love affair during the months of rehearsal. [33] The musicologist Hugh Macdonald observes that "French opera never produced another femme as fatale as Carmen", though she may have influenced some of Massenet's heroines. Would Bizet have written it like that if he had ever envisioned a soprano in the role? As José makes his last entreaty, Carmen contemptuously throws down the ring he gave her and attempts to enter the arena. De Leuven reluctantly agreed, but his continuing hostility towards the project led to his resignation from the theatre early in 1874. When only Carmen, Frasquita and Mercédès remain, smugglers Dancaïre and Remendado arrive and reveal their plans to dispose of some recently acquired contraband ("Nous avons en tête une affaire"). [21] Early on 3 June, the day after the opera's 33rd performance, Bizet died suddenly of heart disease, at the age of 36. After all, at the end of the Toreador Song, three different women sing the word, "L'amour". While he pleads vainly for her to return to him, cheers are heard from the arena. [98] In 1967, the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin adapted parts of the Carmen music into a ballet, the Carmen Suite, written for his wife Maya Plisetskaya, then the Bolshoi Ballet's principal ballerina. [21], Bizet, who had never visited Spain, sought out appropriate ethnic material to provide an authentic Spanish flavour to his music. [55], In the following five years performances were given in numerous American and European cities. [63] It enjoyed similar success in other American cities and in all parts of the world, in many different languages. It was published in 1887. I am with a previous reviewer who suggests that Solti has not been given his due as an opera conductor, yet he was at the helm for at least half dozen recordings - "Tannhäuser", "Arabella", "Salome", "Eugene Onegin", "Aida", "Le nozze di Figaro" and of course his "Ring" - which are always in the top recommendations. [21] In act 1 he is a simple countryman aligned musically with Micaëla; in act 2 he evinces a greater toughness, the result of his experiences as a prisoner, but it is clear that by the end of the act his infatuation with Carmen has driven his emotions beyond control. voici la quadrille des Toreros!". José is arrested for dereliction of duty. Having attacked a superior officer, José now has no choice but to join Carmen and the smugglers ("Suis-nous à travers la campagne"). Dean writes that Bizet improved considerably on the original melody; he "transformed it from a drawing-room piece into a potent instrument of characterisation". [23] During the period of rehearsals, which began in October, Bizet repeatedly altered the music—sometimes at the request of the orchestra who found some of it impossible to perform,[21] sometimes to meet the demands of individual singers, and otherwise in response to the demands of the theatre's management. [13] There is no clear indication of when work began on Carmen. José refuses to desert, but as he prepares to depart, Zuniga enters looking for Carmen. [47] In 1919, Bizet's aged contemporary Camille Saint-Saëns was still complaining about the "strange idea" of adding a ballet, which he considered "a hideous blemish in that masterpiece", and he wondered why Bizet's widow, at that time still living, permitted it.

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