"Carmen" is a French Prosper . Mérimée wrote a short story which later became the subject of the famous opera Carmen.
Carmen, an opera in four acts, premiered on March 3, 1875 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. The plot describes the beautiful and strong character of the gypsy girl Carmen fell in love with the military police officer Hosse and make him fall in love, Hosse therefore abandoned the original lover and left the army to join the Carmen where the smugglers. But then Carmen falls in love with Escamilio, a bullfighter. As a result, the conflict between Hosse and Carmen grows more and more intense. In the end, the stubborn Carmen rejects Hosse's love and dies under Hosse's sword. An opera with a strong chorus,
The opera Carmen has become the most popular and most performed work in all opera houses. It has also been turned into a dance drama, a musical, and reached millions of homes through movies and television. The opera's famous numbers, including the provocative Habanera and Segidia, the Matador's Song, and the overtures to Acts I and IV, have become popular.
But the 1875 Carmen was seen as a failure. One critic described the orchestra's playing as "disorganized", while another commented that the score lacked "innovation and individuality".
To modern eyes, the Parisian critics' disparagement of this melodious, brilliantly orchestrated, and astonishingly inventive opera speaks of ignorance and malice. However, the critics of the time were simply expressing a widely held view that Parisian high society could not tolerate the opera's subject matter.
Today, Carmen has gained both critical acclaim and popularity, and is one of the few 19th-century operas to rival the work of the incomparable Mozart.
Reviews of Carmen:
The opera Carmen is Bizet's greatest operatic masterpiece, and remains the most performed opera in the world!
The famous aria "Love is a Free Bird" from the opera Carmen: at the beginning of the play, the sexy Carmen comes out slowly, a large group of handsome men instantly surrounded by Carmen, Carmen winks and throws her eyes, but she stares at Don José, the sentry who doesn't even look at her, and then steps to the rhythm of the Habanera dance, seducing Don José with her color, and showing him her love. The lyrics are a self-expression of Carmen's concept of love.
"Synopsis"
Scene 1 Severnaya City Square
The left side of the square is the cavalry barracks, near noon, a group of officers and soldiers are looking at the square boringly, people come and go, pass the time. Suddenly, a young girl appeared in the crowd, a slightly flustered girl from the countryside, Micaela, who had come to the city to look for her fiancé, who served as a corporal in the cavalry, and who, after being asked by a soldier of the cavalry, was looking for Don Hershey, but Hershey was still on guard duty at the time, and Micaela left to avoid being accosted by the other sergeants and soldiers of the cavalry.
Soon, the footsteps of the guards, led by Hershey, were heard in the distance as they returned to the barracks for their shift, and the children in the square swarmed around them, mimicking the march of the cavalry (the Soldier's Song). At the end of the shift, one of the sergeants tells Hesse that a woman has come to visit him and describes her appearance. Hesse realizes that it is his fiancée, Mikaela, from his home town, and waits for her to come back to visit him again. It's almost noon, and the bell rings for the lunch break at the tobacco factory across the street. A group of female factory workers come out, one cigarette in each hand, and go out to the square to meet their lovers (chorus of the female factory workers: "Smoke floats up to the sky"). Suddenly a group of men ask, "Where's Carmen?" The men surround Carmen to get a glimpse of her, but Carmen is only interested in Hershey, who sits in silence and concentrates on her work. She sings, intentionally or not: "Love is like an untameable bird, or an unruly gypsy child, a man has no heart, but a girl has a heart, and if you don't love me, and I love you, then beware! If you don't love me, and I love you, beware!" (Habanera).
At the end of the song, Hershey still hadn't looked at Carmen, so Carmen went up to her and pulled a saffron from her chest and threw it at Hershey. Amidst the laughter of the crowd at Hesse, Carmen left again like a whirlwind, leaving Sai still in a state of shock from Carmen's throw. Suddenly there was a soft call from behind Hersey, and when he turned around, it was Mikaela! She brought greetings and a letter from Hershey's mother, and Hershey felt the warmth of kinship, as if he had seen his beautiful hometown and kind mother again, and promised in his heart that he would marry Mikaela (Duet: Mother's Greetings), and Mikaela was shy, and excused herself, saying that she had to go to the street to buy something, and that she would come back later to get the letter Hershey had written to her mother.
Not long after Mikaela left, there was screaming and fighting in the tobacco factory. Carmen and one of the other women had gotten into an argument and fought, while the rest of the women took sides and blamed each other. Cavalry Captain Zunica sends Hersey into the factory to investigate and arrest Carmen. When the chaos ends and the crowd disperses, only Carmen and Hersey remain in the square, Carmen entices Hersey to let her go and go to a tavern by the walls to have a drink with her (Cecuadilla); Hersey refuses but cannot resist Carmen's magical attraction and unties Carmen's hands, while Carmen conspires with Hersey to surprise Hersey with a surprise murder of Carmen's hands as they are being escorted to the prison. Carmen conspires with Hersey to knock him down by surprise on the way to the prison and then run away in a flash. Hersey is so mesmerized that she agrees to Carmen's demands, but her naivety comes at a price; in the end, Hersey is stripped of her rank by Captain Zunica and ordered to be taken into custody.
Act II The Tavern by the Walls of Seville
In the dimly lit tavern, where drinkers, smugglers, and gypsies mingle, Carmen and her two companions, Vlasquita and Mercedes, dance to a lively gypsy song. Just as the owner of the hotel announces that it is closing time and the crowd is about to leave, another group of people pours into the hotel. It turns out that Escamillo, the bullfighter, has come to the hotel to celebrate a little, surrounded by the crowd, and the drinkers who were about to leave stay in order to get a glimpse of the famous Escamillo, who, in order to thank the crowd for their support, sings the famous "Bullfighter's Song". Escamillo sings the famous "Matador's Song" to thank the crowd for their support, describing the tension and excitement of the bullfight. At the end of the song, Escamillo notices Carmen sitting beside him, and he intends to make a pass at the seductive gypsy woman, but Carmen replies, "It's impossible to fall in love with you right now. But Escamillo left with hope in his heart.
At last, when the crowd had dispersed, the two smugglers - Dancero and Remendado - appeared. They declare that they have a good deal to do, but they need the ladies' help; Carmen says that she is in love, and that work is second nature to her, and the two smugglers and Carmen's two chaperones, surprised, hasten to ask her to think it over (quintet: There's a Good Deal to be Done). At this moment, a loud song comes from afar, and Carmen runs to the window to see that it is her "current" sweetheart, Don Hershey, who has arrived! In order to thank Hesse for his sacrifice, Carmen danced for her lover; coincidentally, while Hesse was intoxicated by Carmen's dance, the sound of the army's bugle sounded in the distance, and although Hesse couldn't bear to see Carmen go, he had to consider his military duty and honor and left, which made Carmen very unhappy, and then Hesse pulled out the red to yellow sword that Carmen had thrown to him. So Hershey pulls out the little flower that Carmen threw to him earlier, which has now "turned from red to yellow", as a proof of his love for Carmen. Hesse tells Carmen that while he is in prison, he looks at this flower every day and misses Carmen (Song of the Flower); Carmen, after hearing this, turns from anger to joy, and asks Hesse to go to the mountains with her to live like a gypsy and enjoy her freedom to the fullest; Hesse almost falls into Carmen's temptation again, but then he thinks of his own military service, and he is unable to follow Carmen to roam around. Just as Hershey is about to leave, Zunika, the captain of the cavalry, suddenly appears! It turns out that he is also in love with Carmen, and because he can't get over it, he comes back to talk to Carmen again, but unexpectedly he sees Hercei, who has just been released from prison, there; Zunika tells Hercei to go back to the camp in real time with the tone of "stay above and stay below", and a heated fight breaks out between the two of them, and Carmen, upon seeing this, rushes to call for help, which results in a large group of smugglers of his own group subduing Zunika. The situation is so desperate that Hershey has no choice but to follow Carmen into a life of gypsy wanderlust, with the earth as his home.
Scene 3: Night in the Valley
The scene moves to the valley at night, with a flute and harp introduction. The smuggling party slowly climbs the mountainside, carrying their heavy loads (chorus of smugglers). After the group has taken a break, Hershey approaches Carmen with the intention of making peace with her, but Carmen coldly replies that she doesn't love Hershey as much as she used to, and asks him to behave himself. Carmen and her companions then play a game of fortune-telling with cards, but the symbols of "death" appear (the orchestra plays "Theme of Fate"): "First I die, then he (Hershey)! Carmen is helpless, but she has to accept it, because the cards are honest and don't lie (Card Trio).
After the smuggling party had rested, they were about to head back down the mountain to make their trade, leaving only Herse behind to guard the camp. Micaela appears with her mountain guide, who is on a mission to find Hersey, who has been completely bewitched by Carmen, and persuade him to return home soon. After the departure of the guide, Micaela is left alone in the wilderness, and she prays to the gods for the fulfillment of her mission (Aria: I am fearless). When Micaela spots Hershey, she tries to call out to him, only to see him pick up his gun and aim it at a specific target. It turns out that another visitor has arrived, the bullfighter Escamillo, who has come to the mountain in search of the woman he loves, Carmen.
Hesse's jealousy at the sight of his rival is so great that a fierce fight breaks out between the two men, which is broken up by the return of the smugglers. Escamillo politely invites everyone to see his upcoming bullfighting show in Severnaya, and then goes down the hill singing the tune of the bullfighter's song, while Carmen's heart is completely captured by Escamillo!
When the smuggling party was about to start again, someone noticed a figure behind a big rock, and Hershey saw that it was Mikaela! Micaela tells Hershey that his mother is seriously ill and will die soon, and asks him to return home. Hershey is upset, but before he leaves, he gives Carmen a message: "I'll see you again someday!
Scene 4: Seville Bullfighting Square
On the day of the bullfighting show, the square was crowded with vendors, gamblers, and spectators waiting for the show to begin. Then, to the cheers of the crowd, Escamillo appears (the Matador's March); he professes his love for Carmen, to whom he wishes to dedicate the glory of the bullfight. At this point, Flascita and Mercedes realize that Hershey is in the crowd and warn Carmen to be careful, but Carmen is not impressed and goes outside the bullfighting arena, ready to talk to Hershey. Hershey, who is already poor, has abandoned his military service and family for Carmen. He asks Carmen to return to him for the sake of her past love, but Carmen is not moved and says that she is no longer in love with Hershey. At this moment, there are cheers in the bullfighting arena, Carmen is about to turn around and enter the arena, Hershey takes an arrow step to block Carmen's way, and he asks Carmen twice if she still loves the bullfighter Escamillo, but Carmen is not resistant to Hershey's threat, and she returns the ring that Hershey has given to her earlier, and Hershey is furious, and he takes his knife and stabs Carmen in the chest. When the bullfighting show ends, the crowd disperses, only to find Carmen in a pool of blood and Hershey lying on top of Carmen, crying in pain! (End of scene)