Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies (1824) by Alexander Pushkin. Mérimée had read the poem in Russian by 1840 and translated it into French in 1852.
The opera premiered at the Opéra-Comique of Paris on 3 March 1875, but its opening run was denounced by the majority of critics. It was almost withdrawn after its fourth or fifth performance.
Since the 1880s it has been one of the world’s most performed operas and a staple of the operatic repertoire. Carmen appears as number four on Opera America’s list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America.
Prelude
Maria CALLAS sings Carmen HABANERA in covent garden
Bizet – Entr’Acte To Act III
The Red Army Choir – March Of The Toreadors
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Brilliant . Carmen Bizet. Frank Cork