Carmen

Opera in four acts
Music by Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Recitatives by Ernest Guiraud (1837-1892)
Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella by Prosper Mérimée
Creation: Opéra-Comique, salle Favart, Paris, 3 March 1875
Staatsoper, Vienna, 23 October 1875 (with Guiraud's recitatives)
New production, 
co-produced with the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and the Opéra de Marseille

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Première at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, 16 February 1886
Final performance at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, 26 January 1999
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What if Carmen's success lay not in the meeting of a gifted composer, but in unequal delights? Without Carmen, would The Fair Maid of Perth or the somewhat superior The Pearl Fishers have been such successes, transcended by the genius of their author? Of course, Prosper Mérimée clearly knew his way around a portrait of a strong, independent woman facing down destiny. From Colomba to the gypsy Carmen, his heroines are free spirits, who make no concession to the literary or bourgeois conventions of the age. When his work met with failure before the family audience at the Opéra-Comique, Bizet's health suffered as a result, and he died soon afterward at the age of just 36. The scale of his disappointment could be equalled only by the knowledge that he had finally created a masterpiece. While Carmen was panned by the Parisian critics, the likes of Wagner, Brahms and Nietzsche immediately recognised the genius of Bizet's opera: "Within ten years, Carmen will be the most famous opera in the entire world." History would prove Tchaikovsky's observation well-judged.

For our great pleasure!

Chorus of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo – Académie Rainier III Children's Chorus, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra

Salle des Princes
20 November 2020 at 6 pm
22 November 2020 at 3 pm

To book tickets: www.opera.mc