New revised edition with a facing literal translation. Includes colour and black and white photographs.

Carmen is one of the most enduringly popular of all operas, and the most successful of Georges Bizet’s works. Following its premiere at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1875, it has gone on to be performed at all the major opera houses of the world. With its searing depiction of passion, obsession and jealousy, it has never lost its hold on the opera-going public.

In this guide, Richard Langham Smith explores the development of the opera from Prosper Mérimée’s novella and includes a detailed discussion of its music. Lesley A. Wright places Carmen in the context of its challenge to the prevailing traditions of the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and George Hall examines the opera’s extensive performance history and the developing interpretations that singers and directors have brought to it. Gary Kahn gives examples of some of the many distinguished admirers that the work attracted from its very earliest performances.

Contains:

Carmen: From Mérimée to Bizet, Richard Langham Smith

Carmen and the Opéra-Comique, Lesley A. Wright

A Selective Performance History, George Hall

Carmen’s Early Lovers, Gary Kahn

Sources and Editions, Richard Langham Smith

Carmen: Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy after the novella by Prosper Mérimée

Carmen: English translation by Richard Langham Smith

For a full list of Overture Opera Guides in association with English National Opera click here

Also available Carmen by Prosper Mérimée