Henri Meilhac (1830–1897)

This is a detailed guide to Bizet's opera Carmen from the English National Opera Guide series. More detailed and more scholarly then the normal program notes you get when attending an opera, it is definitely not light reading. It offers a number of essays on a variety of topics starting with a detailed musical analysis of the evolution of Carmen from the book by Merimee to the opera from Bizet and his two librettists. It continues with a look at how Carmen challenged the normal repertoire of show more the Opera-Comique where it premiered.. This is followed by essays on it's worldwide performance history and the stories of many of the advocates for the opera after it was criticized at it's premiere.

The book includes a selection of the musical themes and a complete libretto in both French and English. What was particularly useful was the use of the libretto that included both detailed stage directions and the spoken dialog instead of the recitative version. A translation of the recitative version is also included although I found the spoken dialog version better at conveying the story. In fact, reading this libretto version made me realize how really clever the original libretto was for the opera.

This guide is not really suitable for someone looking for an easy introduction to the opera prior to seeing it for the first time but can easily be recommended to someone interested in getting a richer understanding of the opera. show less

This version with Risë Stevens came highly recommended by Jim Svejda, who is nothing if not opinionated. It's the only cd version I have and I hadn't compared it favorably against my LPs of Marilyn Horne, Tatiana Troyanos, etc. But now that it has been years since I've listened to the LPs (my turntable needing repair but is a 70s Garrard worth it?), it's sounding better to me. And Carmen is just sooo listenable. There's probably a reason it's America's favorite opera ... or was at one show more point. Jan Peerce is a bit annoying, for the same reason I find many opera singers annoying - the resonant nasal quality that sounds like they're singing for themselves instead of the back of the house. Maria Callas springs to mind. Terrific actress and in her early days sounded great. Why sing like you have a mouth full of marbles?
Anyway, good recording. Great opera for newbies, introducing motives and, like, other serious stuff. show less

CD and accompanying book. Excellent performance, plus an informative short book with archive illustrations of famous performances/performers.

Love cleaning to this energtic opera