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Carmen Road
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalised its first audiences. Bizet died suddenly after the 33rd performance, unaware that the work would achieve international acclaim within the following ten years. ''Carmen'' has since become one of the most popular and frequently performed operas in the classical canon; the " Habanera" from act 1 and the "Toreador Song" from act 2 are among the best known of all operatic arias. The opera is written in the genre of '' opéra comique'' with musical numbers separated by dialogue. It is set in southern Spain and tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. José abandons his chil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire. During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist, though he chose not to capitalise on this skill and rarely performed in public. Returning to Paris after almost three years in Italy, he found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result, his career stalled, and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others. Restless for success, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revue Des Deux Mondes
The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' (, ''Review of the Two Worlds'') is a monthly French-language literary, cultural and current affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829. According to its website, "it is today the place for debates and dialogues between nations, disciplines and cultures, about the major subjects of our societies". The main shareholder is Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière's FIMALAC Group. History The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' was founded by Prosper Mauroy and Pierre de Ségur-Dupeyron, first appearing on 1 August 1829. It began when an anodyne periodical, ''Journal des voyages,'' was purchased by the young printer Auguste-Jean Auffray, who convinced his college roommate François Buloz to edit it. Its original emphasis on travel and foreign affairs soon shifted; according to its website, it was created to "establish a cultural, economic and political bridge between France and the United States", the Old World and the New. It was purchased in 1831 by Franço ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolphe De Leuven
Adolphe de Leuven (30 September 1802 – 14 April 1884) was a French theatre director and a librettist. Also known as Grenvallet, and Count Adolph Ribbing. He was the illegitimate son of Adolph Ribbing, who was involved in the assassination of Gustav III of Sweden in 1792, and Jeanne-Claude Billard. He took his name as a variation of that of his paternal grandmother, Eva Löwen. He produced over 170 plays and librettos, with operatic settings by Adolphe Adam, Adam including ''Le postillon de Lonjumeau'', Clapisson, Félicien David (''Le Saphir'') and Ambroise Thomas, Thomas.Wright L A"Leuven, Adolphe de"in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', four volumes, edited by Stanley Sadie. London & New York, Macmillan, 1997. He was associated with the Opéra-Comique for fifty years and was director (with Eugène Ritt as administrator) from 1862 to 1870 and co-director with Camille du Locle from 1870-1874. He resigned in protest at the on-stage murder in ''Carmen''.Winston Dean, ''Bizet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' remains part of the standard opera repertory. Born in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musical the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
