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- Herausgeber: Icon Books
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Serie: Great Operas
- Sprache: Englisch
The Paris audience in 1875 was shocked by the sexually explicit realism of Bizet's exotic operatic masterpiece, its 'verismo' depiction of low life and brutal passion. But since the disastrous première – a sensational failure which hastened Bizet's premature death – it has been the greatest operatic success. It led to a film opera, a jazz opera, a rock ballet and a Broadway musical. Equally, it impressed great composers including Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Vaughan Williams. The story, written by Prosper Mérimée and adapted by librettists Meilhac and Halévy, is set in colourful Seville, in southern Spain, renowned for bullfights. The corporal Don José is seduced by Carmencita, a gypsy whore who works in a tobacco factory. With her Habanera (a Cuban dance like the tango) and Andalusian Seguidilla, she charms him, and escapes prison. She falls for Escamillo, a celebrity toreador associated with the famous tune Toréador en garde. Don José's Flower Song fails to win her for long. We visit the haunt of Seville's demi-monde, Lillas Pastia's bodega, and a gypsy encampment in the mountains, before José stabs Carmen outside the bullring. Written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, 'Short Guides to Great Operas' are concise, entertaining and easy to read. They are packed with useful information and informed opinion, helping to make you a truly knowledgeable opera-goer, and so maximising your enjoyment of a great musical experience. Other 'Short Guides to Great Operas' that you may enjoy include Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013
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Published in the UK in 2013 by Icon Books Ltd,
Omnibus Business Centre, 29–41 North Road, London N7 9DP
email: [email protected]
www.iconbooks.net
ISBN: 978-1-84831-551-8 (ePub format)
ISBN: 978-1-84831-553-2 (Adobe ebook format)
Content previously published in Great Operas, published in the UK in 2012 by Icon Books Ltd
Text copyright © 2012, 2013 Michael Steen
The author has asserted his moral rights.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Typesetting by Marie Doherty
CONTENTS
Title page
Copyright
PREFACE
USING THIS EBOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BIZET’SCARMEN
THE OPERA AND ITS COMPOSER
WHO’S WHO AND WHAT’S WHAT
THE INTERVAL: TALKING POINTS
The first night failure: the audience
The first night failure: the story
Recitative or spoken dialogue
Why is Carmen so great?
ACT BY ACT
Prelude and Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Act 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sources of quotes
Other sources
NOTES
Short Guides to Great Operas
PREFACE
This guide is aimed at the ordinary opera-goer and opera-lover, usually a busy person who wants to know the essentials of the opera but has little time to grasp them.
It provides key background information to Carmen, told engagingly by someone who knows the opera intimately.
It is light, easy to read, and entertaining. Relevant information has been carefully selected to enhance your appreciation of Bizet’s work.
It is authoritative, but not dense or academic. It is unburdened with the clutter that can easily be obtained elsewhere. It concentrates on information that it will help you to know in advance.
Read quickly before going to the opera or listening to it at home, you will get the very best out of the performance and have a truly enjoyable experience.
Opera can be a great social occasion. Being knowledgeable and well-informed, you’ll appreciate this magical art-form much more if you read this first.
I hope you enjoy the opera!
Michael Steen
USING THIS EBOOK
A very quick grasp of the opera can be gained by reading the opening section on ‘The opera and its composer’ and the ensuing ‘Who’s who and what’s what’. Further elaboration may be found in the sections entitled ‘The interval: talking points’ and ‘Act by act’.
The footnotes and boxes are an integral part of the information. The reader is encouraged to go to these by clicking on the links.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Steen OBE studied at the Royal College of Music, was organ scholar at Oriel College, Oxford, and has been chairman of both the RCM Society and the Friends of the V&A Museum. He is a trustee of the Gerald Coke Handel Foundation and Anvil Arts, and Treasurer of The Open University.
BIZET’SCARMEN
A SHORT GUIDE TO A GREAT OPERA
The opera and its composer
Who’s who and what’s what
The interval: talking points
Act by act
THE OPERA AND ITS COMPOSER
Carmen is both a masterpiece, and ‘the most fantastic success in the annals of Opera.’ Films have been made of it; there have been jazz and rock ballet versions. It has been updated into an African-American setting in the Broadway musical Carmen Jones. A Russian has done a version for 47 percussion instruments and an American has done one for solo kazoo and symphony orchestra. A sound extravaganza has been produced called The Naked Carmen.
It is possibly the most colourful and exotic of operas. It was sexually explicit in advance of its time. Indeed, before a regular performance, the cleavage has to be sorted out, so that, to the audience, its possessor appears to be sexy but not sluttish.
It has been known for a prima donna to object vociferously to the little piece of black fabric she was expected to wear as a dress. On the other hand, one who seemed she might burst out of her bra earned ‘the undying devotion of stage hands and cognoscenti alike.’
