Carmen

Carmen PDF

Author: Susan McClary

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1992-07-09

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9780521398978

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Bizet's Carmen is probably the best known opera of the standard repertoire, yet its very familiarity often prevents us from approaching it with the seriousness it deserves. This handbook explores the opera in a number of contexts, bringing to the surface the controversies over gender, race, class and musical propriety that greeted its premiere and that have been rekindled by the recent spate of film versions. Beginning with a study of the Mérimée story by Peter Robinson and an examination of the social tensions in nineteenth-century France that inform both that story and the opera, the book traces the latter through its genesis and reception. The central core of the book presents a close reading of the opera that offers new interpretive possibilities. The handbook concludes with discussions of four films based on the opera: Carmen Jones and the versions of Carmen by Carlos Saura, Peter Brook, and Francesco Rosi. The volume contains a bibliography, music examples, and a synopsis.

Bizet's Carmen Uncovered

Bizet's Carmen Uncovered PDF

Author: Richard Langham Smith

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 1783275251

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Bizet's Carmen Uncovered exposes the myths and stereotypes that so often surround this much loved opera by exploring its first staging, and the particularly Spanish contexts in which the opera was conceived, written, and staged.

Georges Bizet's Carmen

Georges Bizet's Carmen PDF

Author: Nelly Furman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-01-22

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 0190059176

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The popularity of Carmen endures across generations and continents, with one of the most frequently performed and instantly recognizable operatic scores of all time and a libretto derived from Prosper Mérimée's novella of the same name, written 30 years prior to the opera's 1875 debut. In Georges Bizet's Carmen--the latest volume in the Oxford Keynotes series--author Nelly Furman explores the evolution of Carmen's story and its meaning, illuminating how the titular heroine has maintained her status as a universally recognizable cultural icon. Grounded in Ludovic Halévy's and Henri Meilhac's libretto--and drawing on a wealth of mostly French critical theory--this book traces the textual, operatic, and cinematic tellings and retellings of the story, from its success as a novella in the industrial age through to its iconic position in our own cinematic era. As Furman delicately navigates the fraught terrain of racial and gendered discourse and ideology that Bizet's setting of Mérimée's work traverses, she uncovers the elements of the story that give it cultural salience and resonance, both in its own right and in support of Bizet's acclaimed musical score. In doing so, Furman reveals how past and present renderings of the Carmen tale mirror the changing concerns and shifting values of individual authors and their societies--and how each new rendering has helped to embed Carmen into the global conscience.

Bizet's Carmen

Bizet's Carmen PDF

Author: Burton D. Fisher

Publisher: Opera Journeys Publishing

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 0977132005

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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."

Bizet's Carmen

Bizet's Carmen PDF

Author: Michael Steen

Publisher: Icon Books Ltd

Published: 2013-02-20

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13: 1848315511

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The Paris audience in 1875 was shocked by the sexually explicit realism of Bizet's exotic operatic masterpiece, its 'verismo' depiction of low life and brutal passion. But since the disastrous première – a sensational failure which hastened Bizet's premature death – 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 Mérimée and adapted by librettists Meilhac and Halévy, is set in colourful Seville, in southern Spain, renowned for bullfights. The corporal Don José 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 Toréador en garde. Don José's Flower Song fails to win her for long. We visit the haunt of Seville's demi-monde, Lillas Pastia's bodega, and a gypsy encampment in the mountains, before José stabs Carmen outside the bullring. Written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, 'Short Guides to Great Operas' 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 'Short Guides to Great Operas' that you may enjoy include Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin.

Bizet's the Pearl Fishers

Bizet's the Pearl Fishers PDF

Author: Burton D. Fisher

Publisher: Opera Journeys Publishing

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 17

ISBN-13: 1102008931

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Burton D. Fisher's extremely popular Mini Guides feature Principal Characters in the Opera, Brief Story Synopsis, Story Narrative with Music Highlight Examples, and an insightful and in depth Commentary and Analysis of the opera.

The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Georges Bizet's Carmen

The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Georges Bizet's Carmen PDF

Author: Henri Meilhac

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 2014-09-01

Total Pages: 157

ISBN-13: 1574674706

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(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.