Bizet's Carmen: A Short Guide to a Great Opera (Great Operas)

Bizet's Carmen: A Short Guide to a Great Opera (Great Operas)

The Paris audience in 1875 was shocked by the sexually explicit realism of Bizetâ€™s exotic operatic masterpiece, its â€˜verismoâ€™ depiction of low life and brutal passion. But since the disastrous premiÃ¨re â€“ a sensational failure which hastened Bizetâ€™s premature death â€“ it has been the greatest operatic success. It led to a film opera, a jazz opera, a rock ballet and a Broadway musical. Equally, it impressed great composers including Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Vaughan Williams.

The story, written by Prosper MÃ©rimÃ©e and adapted by librettists Meilhac and HalÃ©vy, is set in colourful Seville, in southern Spain, renowned for bullfights. The corporal Don JosÃ© is seduced by Carmencita, a gypsy whore who works in a tobacco factory. With her Habanera (a Cuban dance like the tango) and Andalusian Seguidilla, she charms him, and escapes prison. She falls for Escamillo, a celebrity toreador associated with the famous tune TorÃ©ador en garde. Don JosÃ©â€™s Flower Song fails to win her for long. We visit the haunt of Sevilleâ€™s demi-monde, Lillas Pastiaâ€™s bodega, and a gypsy encampment in the mountains, before JosÃ© stabs Carmen outside the bullring.

Written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, â€˜Short Guides to Great Operasâ€™ are concise, entertaining and easy to read. They are packed with useful information and informed opinion, helping to make you a truly knowledgeable opera-goer, and so maximising your enjoyment of a great musical experience.

Other â€˜Short Guides to Great Operasâ€™ that you may enjoy include Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin.
Country USA
Manufacturer Icon Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2013-02-20
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Icon Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2013-02-20
Format	Kindle eBook

Bizet's Carmen: A Short Guide to a Great Opera (Great Operas)

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