Review (PDF) Carmen
Georges Bizet's final opera, Carmen, has become one of the best-known plots with the most memorable of music, despite its initial rejection by Paris critics following its scandalous 1875 premiere at the Opera-Comique, a theatre known for works of a lighter flavour. Basing their work on Prosper Merimee's novella, librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy have fashioned a timeless story of love, jealousy, and violence in the Spanish city of Seville, all set into motion by Carmen, a seductive, free-spirited femme fatale."
Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Abbeville Press; Har/Com edition (September 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0789207192
ISBN-13: 978-0789207197
Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 1.1 x 10.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
Best Sellers Rank: #2,034,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #25 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Bizet #716 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Historical Period > Late Romantic #1509 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Opera
This book is enlightening for me in that it has a recording at the end that is unusual for Americans to hear. It says it is a rendition of the opera as first given at the Opera Comique. It is about half the length of the grand opera we mostly know now. It is led by the brilliant Clutens. This soprano performed this opera 500 times! The recording is from the early 1950's. According to my ear, it does not seem that her voice is suitable as it is small to very small. Her stage presence must surely have been a compensation. The sound is perhaps due to the microphones. However, the tenor is loud. He is the well known Raul Jobin. I do not think he is trying to steal scenes. I am struck to hear these wonderful and famous melodies largely reduced to their barest minimums. There are exceptions, the Habenera, for example. The opera is amazingly fast paced because of this and it is a pleasure to run across the original version.The book is good, however it does not measure up to the same author's "Magic Flute."
Historia De Carmen: Memorias De Carmen Diez De Rivera (Planeta Singular) (Spanish Edition) Carmen y los Secretos de la Isla Mistica: Carmen y los Secretos (Spanish Edition) Carmen: Opera in Four Acts Georges Bizet: Carmen (Cambridge Opera Handbooks) Black Dog Opera Library Box Set: Includes La Bohème, Carmen, La Traviata and The Marriage of Figaro Carmen The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Georges Bizets Carmen: Libretto, Background, and Photos Carmen (Dover Opera Libretto Series) (French and English Edition) Carmen in Full Score (Dover Music Scores) Carmen (Book and CD's): Black Dog Opera Library Carmen (Schirmer's Collection of Opera Librettos) Carmen (French Edition) Carmen: Chorus Parts (French, English Language Edition), Chorus Parts (Kalmus Edition) (French Edition) CARMEN SIMPLIFIED PIANO SOLO GET TO KNOW CLASSICAL MSTRPCS CARMEN LIB DIALOGUE VERSION (G. Schirmer's Collection of Opera Librettos) Carmen Vocal Score (G Schirmer Opera Score Editions) Carmen Jones CARMEN - EASY PIANO SOLO FRENCH/ITALIAN Bizet's Carmen - A Full Vocal Score in French and English Carmen. Vocal Score
