你好 There can be little doubt about it, Bizet’s opera Carmen, the world’s most popular opera ever written was a total fluke. The strange thing is that evidentally when it came to musical talents , Bizet seemed to have everything. Sight-reading, singing, getting to the point, Bizet was extraordinarily gifted. He was encouraged by both of his parents from early on, and entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of nine. As a teen he won prizes for piano and organ performance and at the age of nineteen he was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome, the French musical establishment’s seal of approval.

But his output was mostly mediocre, his music was second rate. Bizet just couldn’t get interested in the kind of music the French establishment of his time wanted: masses, cantatas and grand symphonic works. Even his best works, his young Symphony, even parts of another of his operas, Les Pecheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) , are attractive but definitely in the late 19th century French salon traditions of Bizet’s time. His reputation as one of the France’s greatest 19th century composer rests entirely on Carmen.

The idea for the opera seems to have occurred to the composer in 1873. His librettists Meilhac and Halevy based their work on a dark novella by French writer Prosper Merimee; a psychotic solider, Don Jose, remembers his obsession with a wild, irresistible creature named Carmen, an obsession that ends with his killing her.

The opera turned out to be not a much prettier story, in spire of the lusty gypsy women with big earrings, and roses tucked behind their ears. Carmen, the title character is irresistible to men, with a kind of wild dignity all her own. She lives under no law – she does what she places until she makes the fatal mistake of ruining the life of the very disturbed Don Jose. She lives in a world outside the law, a liberated, non-judgemental world that tolerates deception, thievery and cruelty, where violence is the counterpart of beauty.

Carmen may be his only masterpiece, but it got a cool reception in 1875 Paris when it was first produced. Opening night reviews complained about a “’lack of color’ in his score….the music lacks novelty and distinction” Worst of all critics heard something that reminded them of Richard Wagner. In the wake of the Franco-Prussian war, any suggestion of German-ness, or Richard Wagner’s musical influence was considered to be an insult, an insult to the honor of France. (The so-called musician of the future, Wagner, absolutely detested the opera. Critics – go figure.)
In any case, Bizet was terribly disappointed. To make matters worse, he got seriously ill shortly after the premiere and died exactly three months later, after the thirty-third performance of the opera. He was just thirty-six years old. He never got a chance to taste his world-wide fame.

What’s on our player now: “Carmen”: Victoria de los Angeles (Carmen) Nicolai Gedda (Don Jose), French Radio Choir, French Radio National Orchestra/ Sir Thomas Beecham, EMI CDS7 49240-2

A true classic, partly because of de los Angeles’ authentic singing of the title role and Beecham’s flawless conducting, but it’s got some important rivals including Marilyn Horne under Bernstein (DG) and Callas under Pretre (EMI) (she never performed the role on stage, only in this studio version), and a very dynamic account with Rise Stevens under Fritz Reiner (RCA)