OPERA TALK: CARMEN BY GEORGES BIZET
OPERA TALK: CARMEN BY GEORGES BIZET
Once a controversial opera, Carmen is now the most popular opera performed internationally. Carmen is a timeless representation of love, lust and seduction gone wrong.
1. Talk only with audio-visual presentation
2. Talk with 1 aria performed by the speaker
3. Virtual Talk
SUMMARY SETTING TANISHA’S PICKS LEGENDARY CAST OPERA-ALIKES
SUMMARY SETTING TANISHA’S PICKS LEGENDARY CAST OPERA-ALIKES
SUMMARY
Carmen, opera in four acts by French composer Georges Bizet—with a libretto in French by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy—that premiered on March 3, 1875. With a plot based on the 1845 novella of the same name by Prosper Mérimée, Bizet’s Carmen was groundbreaking in its realism, and it rapidly became one of the most popular Western operas of all time. READ MORE IN BRITTANICA
SETTING
As Sophia from the Golden Girls says “picture it” Carmen is set in and around Sevilla, Spain, about 1820.
ACT 1: A square in Sevilla, outside a cigarette factory.
ACT 2: Lillas Pastia’s tavern on the outskirts of Sevilla.
ACT 3: The smugglers’ encampment in the mountains.
ACT 4: Outside the corrida in Sevilla.
LEGENDARY CAST- WHO YOU WILL HEAR
Due to time constraint, this opera talk features a partial cast. If you loved the program, purchase from our affiliates or borrow the above DVD’s from your local library to see the full cast.
Carmen
GRACE BUMBRY
ELENA OBRATSZOVA
Carmen
GRACE BUMBRY
Dalila
SHIRLEY VERRETT
ELENA OBRATSZOVA
AGNES BALTSA
RISË STEVENS
Don José
JOSÉ CARRERAS
Dalila
SHIRLEY VERRETT
PLACIDO DOMINGO
JON VICKERS
Micaëla
LEONA MITCHELL
Dalila
SHIRLEY VERRETT
Escamillio
LAWRENCE TIBBETT
AGNES BALTSA
RISË STEVENS
Don José
JOSÉ CARRERAS
PLACIDO DOMINGO
JON VICKERS
Micaëla
Escamillio
LEONA MITCHELL
LAWRENCE TIBBETT
TANISHA’S PICK
This opera talk features Tanisha’s favorite casts from these recordings. Click the link to purchase them for your own collection.
Carmen [videorecording (DVD)]
Filmed Aug. 1967 Bavaria Studios; sound recording, June 1967, Sofiensaal, Vienna.
Cast: Grace Bumbry (Carmen), Jon Vickers (Don José); Wiener Staatsopernchor ; Wiener Philharmoniker ; Herbert von Karajan, conductor
Carmen [videorecording (DVD)]
Metropolitan Opera House, New York,
Feb. 1987
Cast: Agnes Baltsa, Jose Carreras, Metropolitan Chorus and Orchestra ; James Levine, conductor ; Metropolitan Ballet
Carmen [videorecording (DVD)]
Live from the Wiener Staatsoper, 1978.
Cast: Elena Obraztsova, Plâcido Domingo, Stage Orchestra, Orchestra and Chorus of the Wiener Staatsoper;The Vienna Boys' Choir ; Ballet of the Wiener Staatsoper ; conductor, Carlos Kleiber.
Risë Stevens in Opera and Song; Kultur [videorecording (DVD)]
Metropolitan[videorecording (DVD)] Released 1935. Richard Boleslawski (Director) Lawrence Tibbett (Actor), Virginia Bruce (Actor)
An opera prima donna leaves the Metropolitan Opera to form her own company in a temperamental fit of anger, leaving the distraught cast to fend for themselves. Starring Cesar Romero, Alice Brady, Virginia Bruce, and Lawrence Tibbett.
OPERA-ALIKES
If you liked Carmen then try these opera talks featuring powerful bold women
