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Carmen Mușat
''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 Carmen (novella), 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 Western canon, canon; the "Habanera (aria), Habanera" and "Seguidilla#The_'Seguidilla'_in_opera , Seguidilla" 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 Jos ... [...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, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Guiraud
Ernest Guiraud (; 23 June 18376 May 1892) was an American-born French composer and music teacher. He is best known for writing the traditional orchestral recitatives used for Bizet's opera '' Carmen'' and for Offenbach's opera '' Les contes d'Hoffmann'' (''The Tales of Hoffmann''). Biography Guiraud was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He began his schooling in Louisiana under the tutelage of his father, Jean-Baptiste-Louis Guiraud, who had won the Prix de Rome in 1827. At age 15, he set to music a full-length libretto about King David, which he and his father had found on a trip to Paris. The result was ''David'', an opera in three-acts, which had a resounding success at the Théâtre d'Orléans in New Orleans in 1853, sealing his future. In December of the same year, Guiraud sailed back to France to continue his musical education. He studied piano under Marmontel and composition under Halévy at the Paris Conservatoire. Remarkably gifted as a student, he was awarde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. 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 Franz von Suppé, Johann Strauss II 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, Kingdom of Prussia, the son of a synagogue hazzan, cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire; he found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year, but remained in Paris. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geneviève Halévy
Marie-Geneviève Raphaëlle Halévy-Bizet-Straus (26 February 1849 – 22 December 1926) was a French salonnière who was the wife of composer Georges Bizet. She inspired Marcel Proust as a model for the Duchesse de Guermantes in his novel '' À la recherche du temps perdu'' (1913). Life Geneviève Halévy was born in Paris into a Jewish family of Portuguese descent as the youngest daughter of composer Jacques-Fromental Halévy and his wife Léonie (née Rodrigues-Henriques). Geneviève Halévy's youth was sad: She lost her father when she was 13 years old, her elder sister when she was 15 years old, and her mother suffered from periods of mental instability. In 1869, Halévy married Georges Bizet, a pupil of her father. Two years later in 1871 she gave birth to their son Jacques. In school he became a friend of Marcel Proust. Bizet died suddenly of a heart attack in 1875. A year later, Geneviève and Élie-Miriam Delaborde, a close friend of both her and her late husband ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Docteur Miracle
''Le docteur Miracle'' (''Doctor Miracle'') is an opérette in one act by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto, by Léon Battu and Ludovic Halévy, is based on Sheridan's play ''Saint Patrick's Day''. Bizet wrote the work when he was just 18 years old for a competition organised by Jacques Offenbach. He shared first prize with Charles Lecocq. His reward was to have the piece performed 11 times at Offenbach's Bouffes-Parisiens theatre. The premiere took place on 9 April 1857 at Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens in Paris. Roles Plot The story takes place in Padua in the middle of the nineteenth century. The mayor and his wife Véronique are woken up very early one morning by what appears to be a noisy advertising campaign outside their house, shouting the talents of a Doctor Miracle. This is, in fact, a young officer, Silvio, who had thought up this ruse in order to be able to serenade the mayor's daughter Laurette, with whom he has fallen in love. The mayor, who h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Djamileh
''Djamileh'' is an ''opéra comique'' in one act by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Louis Gallet, based on an oriental tale, ''Namouna'', by Alfred de Musset. Composition history De Musset wrote ''Namouna'' in 1832, consisting of 147 verses in three 'chants' (only the last dozen or so deal with the tale of Namouna). In 1871 when Bizet was stalled on other projects for the stage, Camille du Locle, director of the Opéra-Comique suggested to him a piece written some years earlier by Louis Gallet based on ''Namouna''. After some hesitation, Bizet composed the work during the late summer of 1871 but the premiere production was delayed due to trouble in finding suitable singers.Dean W. ''Bizet''. London, J M Dent & Sons, 1978.Programme for Djamileh. Opéra de Lyon, 2007. The original production formed part of a trio of new short works at the Opéra-Comique that spring: Paladilhe's ''Le Passant'' in April, then ''Djamileh'', and '' La princesse jaune'' (also an orientalist work) by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Austro-Prussian War, Prussian victory over Austria in 1866. According to some historians, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to induce four independent southern German states—Grand Duchy of Baden, Baden, Kingdom of Württemberg, Württemberg, Kingdom of Bavaria, Bavaria and Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hesse-Darmstadt—to join the North German Confederation. Other historians contend that Bismarck exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. All agree that Bismarck recognized the potential for new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Jolie Fille De Perth
''La jolie fille de Perth'' (''The Fair Maid of Perth'') is an opera in four acts by Georges Bizet (1838–1875), from a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jules Adenis, after the 1828 novel ''The Fair Maid of Perth'' by Sir Walter Scott. Many writers have reserved severe criticism for the librettists for their stock devices and improbable events, while praising Bizet's advance on his earlier operas in construction of set pieces and his striking melodic and instrumental ideas. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Lyrique Impérial du Châtelet), Paris, on 26 December 1867. The spectators were so amazed that 50% of them left a tip for the writers to create more. Performance history Although commissioned by Léon Carvalho in 1866 and completed by Bizet by the end of that year (with the soprano lead intended for Christine Nilsson), the dress rehearsal took place in September 1867 and the first performance three months later. Hugh Macdonal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Pêcheurs De Perles
' (, ''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run. Set in ancient times on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the opera tells the story of how two men's vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman, whose own dilemma is the conflict between secular love and her sacred oath as a priestess. The friendship duet "", generally known as "The Pearl Fishers Duet", is one of the best-known in Western opera. At the time of the premiere, Bizet (born on 25 October 1838) was not yet 25 years old: he had yet to establish himself in the Parisian musical world. The commission to write ' arose from his standing as a former winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome. Despite a good reception by the public, press reactions to the work were generally hostile and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Théâtre Lyrique
The Théâtre Lyrique () was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Paris Opera, Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien (1801–1878), Théâtre-Italien). The company was founded in 1847 as the Opéra-National by the French composer Adolphe Adam and renamed Théâtre Lyrique in 1852. It used four different theatres in succession, the Cirque Olympique (boulevard du Temple), Cirque Olympique, the Théâtre Historique, the Salle du Théâtre-Lyrique (now the Théâtre de la Ville), and the Salle de l'Athénée, until it ceased operations in 1872.Charlton 1992, p. 871. The diverse repertoire of the company "cracked the strict organization of the Parisian operatic world by breaking away from the principle that institution and genre were of one substance." The company was generally most successful with revivals of foreign works translated into French, particularly operas by Gluck, Mozart, Carl Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Léon Carvalho
Léon Carvalho (18 January 1825 – 29 December 1897) was a French impresario and stage director. Biography Born Léon Carvaille in Port Louis, British Mauritius, he came to France at an early age. He studied at the Paris Conservatory and sang as a baritone at the Opéra-Comique (1850–55), where he met the soprano Marie Caroline Miolan, whom he married in 1853. He then gave up singing and took on the direction of the Théâtre Lyrique in 1856, where he presented works by Beethoven, Mozart, Rossini, Weber, but most importantly opened his doors to new French composers turned down by the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique, such as Berlioz (he staged the first, very incomplete, performance of '' Les Troyens'' in 1863), Gounod, Bizet, Saint-Saëns and Delibes. He also staged the premiere of the revised version in a French translation of Verdi's ''Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be known more simply as the . Classical ballet as it is known today arose within the Paris Opera as the Paris Opera Ballet and has remained an integral and important part of the company. Currently called the , it mainly produces operas at its modern 2,723-seat theatre Opéra Bastille which opened in 1989, and ballets and some classical operas at the older 1,979-seat Palais Garnier which opened in 1875. Small scale and contemporary works are also staged in the 500-seat Amphitheatre under the Opéra Bastille. The company's annual budget is in the order of 200 million euros, of which €100M come from the French state and €70M from box office receipts. With this money, the company runs the two houses and supports a large permanent staff, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
