THIS DAY IN HISTORY: GEORGES BIZET

Full Name: Georges Bizet
Nationality: French | Activity: French composer
Born: 25-10-1838 | Died: 03-06-1875

(born Oct. 25, 1838, Paris, France—died June 3, 1875, Bougival) French composer. Son of a music teacher, he gained admission to the Paris Conservatoire at age 9, and at age 17 he wrote the precocious Symphony in C Major (1855). Intent on success on the operatic stage, he produced The Pearl Fishers (1863), La Jolie Fille de Perth (1866), and Djamileh (1871). Disgusted with the frivolity of French light opera, he determined to reform the genre of opéra comique. In 1875 his masterpiece, Carmen, reached the stage. Though its harsh realism repelled many, Carmen quickly won international enthusiasm and was recognized as the supreme example of opéra comique. Bizet's death soon after its premiere cut short a remarkable career.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

CARMEN OPERA
Carmen is a French opera written in 1875 by Georges Bizet. The story is based on the story of the same title by Prosper Mérimée.

The story

Carmen is about a gypsy girl who works in a factory. She falls in love with a soldier called Don José, who loves her. However, he is already engaged to somebody else. Later, he leaves the girl he was engaged to and the army for Carmen. Running away together, they are happy for a while until Carmen decides she loves a bullfighter called Escamillo. She leaves Don José. One day when Carmen is watching a bullfight, Don José waits for her and then tries to make her come back. She refuses, so he stabs her to death. Horrified at what he has done, he goes to jail.

From the movie Carmen, with Julia Migenes-Johnson as Carmen, Placido Domingo as Don Jose, and Ruggero Raimondi as El Matador.

Maria Callas, sings G Bizet's Carmen, 1962