#Carmen opera famous songs plus#

Josè and two soldiers go inside the building, while the soldiers in the square try to bring order among the hysterical women. They fight and sing and it’s all very chaotic.

The women from the cigar-factory are screaming, and Zuniga comes rushing to the Square. Micaèla walks away but promises to be back for the answer to the letter. He will do so, for his mother, but also because he really loves her. She brings him a letter from his mother up north, in which she practically asks him to propose to Micaèla. Now there’s a light, melodic duet with Josè and Micaèla. In the end, she throws a cassia flower at the feet of Don Josè. She sings the first of her three famous arias, L’Habanera, L’amour est un oiseau rebelle… (Love is a rebellious bird, that none can tame…). Every man in Seville is secretly in love with her. She’s the most beautiful and most elusive of the women. The Women’s Choir sings and then the Men’s Choir but the star of the show is Carmen. The Bell rings and the Square slowly fills up with all the women from the factory. Josè and Zuniga (Bass), the new lieutenant, talk about the big building in the square, and Josè says it’s a big Cigar-factory, with hundreds of women rolling cigars from morning to evening. He has known her all his life and intends to marry her. Josè immediately recognizes her as Micaèla, his fiance as well as an orphan, taken care of by his mother. The new chief of the guards is Don Josè, and Moralès tells him that a girl has been there, searching for him. Avec la garde montante, nous arrivons, nous voilà. During this, there’s a very famous child chorus, where the children imitate the soldiers. The soldiers and Morales are all quite forward and pushy, but Micaèla, as she’s called, is only interested in one particular Brigadier, Don Josè. She’s looking for something or somebody.Ĭorporal Moralès (Baritone) asks her and she says that she’s looking for a Brigadier. A girl walks by and the soldiers notice her. But patrolling is tiresome when there’s no wind and the heat is tropical. Soldiers are supposed to patrol the square to keep order. The most common is to play it as Bizet first intended, with spoken dialogue. Today, there can be spoken dialogue, recitatives, or a mix between them – a hybrid version. Some things in this Synopsis below will be lost in many productions. This, together with the normal habit of cutting and rearranging, has created many different versions. So, Bizet’s friend and colleague, Ernest Guiraud rewrote the Opera. And when the Vienna court Opera was to perform it, there had to be recitatives instead of spoken dialogue. But it’s a bit like reading every second page in a book.īizet died shortly after the first-ever premiere of his masterpiece. In a non-French-speaking country that could seem logical. Many directors feel they interrupt the flow of the music and just cut them out.

Some of the spoken parts are often omitted. Carmen instead has spoken dialogue and the singers actually talk. The recitatives were the part where you talk, but, in the Italian tradition, these parts were sung, only they were sung in a more talkative style, with just a cembalo to accompany. The old Italian operas were divided into recitatives, choir, and aria. It’s a lighter, French style, where the dialogue is spoken rather than sung. Something about CarmenĬarmen is written as an Opera Comique. It’s also a melting pot with great influences from both north and south, from Europe and Africa. It’s on the main route from Cadiz, and Gibraltar towards the big cities in the north, and smuggling has always been a main enterprise. Please keep your phone turned off when inside the theater. Print it, fold it, and keep it in your pocket as a help when you’re at the Opera. Carmen should be the darkest of the female voices.īased on the short story Carmen by Prosper Mériméesĭownload this short Pdf-guide. The only thing that’s important here is that they have a lighter voice than Carmen. These are often sung by Mezzo Sopranos, especially Mercèdes. Often you will have to compromise between these requirements.) A Famous Bullfighter. (Needs to be a full, dark voice, but with good height.

Don Josè – Lyric-Spinto Tenor (A little darker and heavier than a Lyric Tenor).

She lives in the present, seduces anyone who resists her, and flees anyone who wants her.

Carmen – Mezzo Soprano – Without future and without past.

#Carmen opera famous songs plus#

Running Time – From 2 hours and 20 minutes till 2 hours and 50 minutes, plus intervals.Librettist – Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy ,.Premiere – 1875, March 3, Opera-Comique, Paris, France.