On Mar. 3, 1875, Carmen premiered at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, with music by Georges Bizet and libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella. Its depictions of working class life and the death of its main character broke comic opera conventions and scandalized early audiences. On June 3, the 36-year-old Bizet died of a heart attack. That night’s performance was cancelled, and the opera didn’t return until November, ending its run in February after a total of 48 performances.
The story is about the downfall of Don José, a Spanish soldier seduced by the gypsy Carmen, for whom he abandons his fiancée and deserts his military duties. When he loses Carmen to the bullfighter Escamillo, he kills her in a jealous rage. Below is Julia Migenes singing the seductive “Habanera” to Placido Domingo in Francesco Rosi’s 1984 film.
The opera has been the subject of many screen and stage adaptations, some using Bizet’s music and others only the outline of Mérimée’s original story. One of the more reverent to the opera was Peter Brook’s 1981 abridged stage version, La Tragédie de Carmen. Below is Zehava Gal singing “Habanera” to Lawrence Dale in the 1983 film version.
In 1943, Oscar Hammerstein II updated the opera for Broadway, changing the characters to African-American Air Force personnel in WWII. The cast was led by Muriel Smith as Carmen and Napoleon Reed as Joe, who both also starred in the 1945 and 1946 Broadway revivals. The 2018 Off-Broadway revival was led by Anika Noni Rose and Clifton Duncan. Below is Dorothy Dandridge singing “Dat Love” to Harry Belafonte in the 1954 film.
Michael Elliot updated the story for Robert Townsend’s 2001 MTV film Carmen: A Hip Hopera, with Sekani Williams providing most of the new score. Set in contemporary Philadelphia and Los Angeles, the film stars Beyoncé Knowles as aspiring actress Carmen Brown and Mekhi Phifer as police Sgt. Derek Hill. Below is the “Carmen Seduces Hill” section of the film.
One of the most celebrated dance pieces inspired by Carmen is the 1967 ballet Carmen Suite, choreographed by Alberto Alonso to new music by Rodion Shchedrin, who wrote the piece for his wife Maya Plisetskaya, a Bolshoi prima ballerina. Below is the first part of the filmed ballet, with Plisetskaya appearing about 3:10, after the credits and introduction.
Another acclaimed choreographic take on the story, using Bizet’s music, is Spanish director Carlos Saura’s 1983 flamenco film Carmen, which earned the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film and two prizes at the Cannes Film Festival in addition to an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Below are Laura del Sol and Antonio Gades dancing to “Habanera.”
A non-Western musical that borrows the plot (and some of the arias from the opera, with new lyrics by Chun-Ching Li) is the 1960 Hong Kong film The Wild, Wild Rose, director Wong Tin-lam’s contemporary cultural mashup that stars Grace Chang as the title character. Below is Chang in a flamenco dance from the film.