Carmen Classics Classics Library Library Opera Opera Series ((INSTALL))

After the premiere, most reviews were critical, and the French public was generally indifferent. Carmen initially gained its reputation through a series of productions outside France, and was not revived in Paris until 1883. Thereafter, it rapidly acquired popularity at home and abroad. Later commentators have asserted that Carmen forms the bridge between the tradition of opéra comique and the realism or verismo that characterised late 19th-century Italian opera.

Dean has commented on the dramatic distortions that arise from the suppression of the dialogue; the effect, he says, is that the action moves forward "in a series of jerks, rather instead of by smooth transition", and that most of the minor characters are substantially diminished.[73][76] Only late in the 20th century did dialogue versions become common in opera houses outside France, but there is still no universally recognised full score. Fritz Oeser's 1964 edition is an attempt to fill this gap, but in Dean's view is unsatisfactory. Oeser reintroduces material removed by Bizet during the first rehearsals, and ignores many of the late changes and improvements that the composer made immediately before the first performance;[25] he thus, according to Susan McClary, "inadvertently preserves as definitive an early draft of the opera".[29] In the early 21st century new editions were prepared by Robert Didion and Richard Langham-Smith, published by Schott and Peters respectively.[77] Each departs significantly from Bizet's vocal score of March 1875, published during his lifetime after he had personally corrected the proofs; Dean believes this vocal score should be the basis of any standard edition.[25] Lesley Wright, a contemporary Bizet scholar, remarks that, unlike his compatriots Rameau and Debussy, Bizet has not been accorded a critical edition of his principal works;[78] should this transpire, she says, "we might expect yet another scholar to attempt to refine the details of this vibrant score which has so fascinated the public and performers for more than a century."[77] Meanwhile, Carmen's popularity endures; according to Macdonald: "The memorability of Bizet's tunes will keep the music of Carmen alive in perpetuity," and its status as a popular classic is unchallenged by any other French opera.[13][n 5]

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The collection has been digitized and a selection of Mr. Gettty's Pathé and Edison operatic cylinders is presented here. This cylinder radio program focuses on three groups of cylinders, five early Anglo-Italian Commerce Company (AICC) cylinders issuedby Pathé, and two groups of Edison cylinders, four from the two-minute "Grand Opera" series and three later Blue Amberol operatic recordings.

Edison's two-minute Grand Opera Series, with a "B" prefix before the number, were some of the best operatic cylinders released, combining world-class talent, serious repertoire, and Edison's superb recording standards. They stand up with the best of disc records of the time, like Victor's Red Seal series of classical recordings. Cylinders like Scotti's aria from Falstaff are examples of Edison's recordings of international stars at their best.

Compared with Ek's frequent reinterpretations of the classics (drawn from ballet, opera and literature), Matthew Bourne's recent "Swan Lake" with male swans looks positively namby-pamby. Ek is not as polite or as tame. Long known as a social-protest choreographer, he aims less for the applause meter than the gut.

The popularity of Carmen endures across generations and continents, with one of the most frequently performed and instantly recognizable operatic scores of all time and a libretto derived from Prosper Mérimée's novella of the same name, written 30 years prior to the opera's 1875 debut. In Georges Bizet's Carmen--the latest volume in the Oxford Keynotes series--author Nelly Furman explores the evolution of Carmen's story and its meaning, illuminating how the titular heroine has maintained her status as a universally recognizable cultural icon.Grounded in Ludovic Halévy's and Henri Meilhac's libretto--and drawing on a wealth of mostly French critical theory--this book traces the textual, operatic, and cinematic tellings and retellings of the story, from its success as a novella in the industrial age through to its iconic position in our own cinematic era. As Furman delicately navigates the fraught terrain of racial and gendered discourse and ideology that Bizet's setting of Mérimée's work traverses, she uncovers the elements of the story that give it cultural salience and resonance, both in its own right and in support of Bizet's acclaimed musical score. In doing so, Furman reveals how past and present renderings of the Carmen tale mirror the changing concerns and shifting values of individual authors and their societies--and how each new rendering has helped to embed Carmen into the global conscience. 2b1af7f3a8