Georges Bizet was born in Paris, France, on October 25, 1838, and died in Bougival, France, on June 3, 1875. The first performance of the opera Carmen took place at the Paris Opéra-Comique on March 3, 1875. The Carmen Suites are scored for two flutes (1st and 2nd doubling piccolo), two oboes (2nd doubling English horn), two oboes, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, snare drum, castanets, tambourine, cymbals, bass drum, harp, and strings. The approximate performance time of the excerpts from the Carmen Suites is ten minutes.
Georges Bizet’s Carmen, one of the most performed and beloved operas, was a failure at its March 3, 1875 premiere. Bizet died three months later, at the age of 36. Some have suggested that Bizet’s death was hastened by the failure of Carmen. It’s not difficult to understand the reasons for Carmen’s early lack of acceptance. The plot, based upon an 1845 novel by Prosper Mérimée, tells the story of a gypsy who has multiple affairs and is murdered by one of her jealous lovers. This did not sit well with the audience of the Paris Opéra-Comique, a theater usually reserved for light opera and family entertainment.
One critic labeled Bizet’s Carmen “music of the future.” And though the critic did not intend this as a compliment, Carmen was an opera far ahead of its time. With its graphic depiction of the passion and violence of everyday life, Carmen anticipates by 15 years the Italian verismo (or “Realism”) operatic movement. Bizet’s masterful and dramatic employment of various melodic leitmotifs is another aspect that looks forward to operas of the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Over time, the elements that caused such a stir at Carmen’s premiere became recognized as the foundation of a gripping theatrical experience, beloved by audiences around the world. And Bizet’s genius for melody and rich, inventive orchestral sonorities helped to make Carmen a mainstay not only in the opera house but on the orchestral concert stage and in popular culture as well. Bizet’s Carmen is a work that continues to fascinate, beguile, and intoxicate audiences. Almost a century and a half following Carmen’s scandalous premiere, the gypsy has lost none of her powers of seduction.
The two Carmen Suites feature instrumental excerpts from the opera, as well as vocal selections transcribed for orchestra. This concert features excerpts from both Suites.
Les Toréadors (Suite No. 1)
Prélude (Suite No. 1)
Aragonaise (Suite No. 1)
Danse bohème (Suite No. 2)
program notes by Ken Meltzer