Bizet based his work on Prosper Mérimée's short novel, Carmen, which had appeared in October 1845. Mérimée's tale was itself inspired by a true 1830 murder case in Spain, and the librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy invented the character of Micaëla, who does not appear in the original novella.
Despite its popularity today, Bizet's work bombed at its 1875 première at the Opéra Comique of Paris on March 3, 1875 as the audience found the risqué plot, with its robbers, gypsies and cigarette-girls, too hot to handle. The critics denounced it a failure, accusing it as being "immoral" and "superficial." "What is really wrong with this Carmen is that there's not a good tune in it," splattered one reporter. By the end of its first run of 48 performances, the theatre was giving tickets away in order to stimulate attendance.
Bizet was devastated and died of a heart attack three months later aged 36. Five months after the composer's death, it was produced in Vienna, to critical and popular success, which began its path to worldwide popularity. Since the 1880s it has been one of the world's most performed operas and a staple of the operatic repertoire. Tragically, Bizet never knew of the opera's eventual success.
Carmen has been the subject of several popular-music adaptations over the years. Many of you will be familiar with Carmen Jones, a 1943 Broadway musical adaptation with book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Bizet never once set foot in Spain, yet his depiction of Seville, with its bullfighters, smugglers and cigarette factory, became the world's definitive image of the country.
Carmen's famous entrance aria, the Habanera "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle," was not actually written by Bizet from scratch; he adapted it from "El Arreglito," a tune by Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier, believing it to be a folk song.
 |
| A lithograph of act 1 in the premiere performance, by Pierre-Auguste Lamy, 1875 |
Bizet was devastated and died of a heart attack three months later aged 36. Five months after the composer's death, it was produced in Vienna, to critical and popular success, which began its path to worldwide popularity. Since the 1880s it has been one of the world's most performed operas and a staple of the operatic repertoire. Tragically, Bizet never knew of the opera's eventual success.
Carmen has been the subject of several popular-music adaptations over the years. Many of you will be familiar with Carmen Jones, a 1943 Broadway musical adaptation with book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Bizet never once set foot in Spain, yet his depiction of Seville, with its bullfighters, smugglers and cigarette factory, became the world's definitive image of the country.
Carmen's famous entrance aria, the Habanera "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle," was not actually written by Bizet from scratch; he adapted it from "El Arreglito," a tune by Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier, believing it to be a folk song.
Célestine Galli-Marié, the mezzo-soprano who created the title role at the 1875 premiere, reportedly made Bizet rewrite the Habanera as many as thirteen or fourteen times before she was satisfied with it.
The word "Toreador," used in the opera's celebrated song, is not real Spanish; the correct term is "torero," but Bizet added a syllable so it would fit his melody.
Carmen is now among the most performed operas in the world, with over 24,000 recorded performances tracked by Operabase, placing it second only to Mozart's The Magic Flute.
Source Songfacts
No comments:
Post a Comment