Georges Bizet was a child prodigy. Entering the Paris Conservatory at the age of nine, he counted among his teachers Antoine Marmontel, François Benoist and Jacques Halévy. At nineteen Bizet won a Prix de Rome. That same year he wrote his first opera, 'Le Docteur Miracle', a one-act comedy. After his studies in Italy he returned to Paris with the intention of writing music for the stage. His 'Les Pêcheurs de perles' (1863), 'La jolie fille de Perth' (1867) and 'Djamileh' however met no more than moderate success. Bizet remained in relative obscurity until 1872, when his incidental music for Daudet's "L'Arlésienne" won him a degree of fame. It was at the suggestion of Camille du Locle, director of the Opéra-Comique, that Bizet composed his opera 'Carmen'. Bizet's librettists, Henri Leilhac and Ludovic Halévy, had based their adaptation on a short novel by Prosper Mérimée. After initial bad reviews, today 'Carmen' is probably the most known opera in the world. The composer's strong dramatic sense, sensuous melodies, vivid orchestration and pulsating rhythms combine into what more than one critic has termed "the perfect opera.
The Berliner Philharmoniker dedicate their New Year's Eve concert to famous lovers from the repertoire, embodied with intensity by French tenor Benjamin Bernheim. On the program: Don José (Carmen by Georges Bizet), Lenski (Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky), ...
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Director Carrie Cracknell makes her Met debut, reinvigorating the classic story with a staging that moves the action to the modern day, in a contemporary American industrial town. ...
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Conducted by Stéphane Denève with the talent of pianist Lise de la Salle, the Orchestre National de France celebrates the New Year through Bernstein, Gershwin, Bizet and Offenbach. ...
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The opera "Carmen" caused a scandal at its premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Now the feisty Carmen returns to where it all began. Andreas Homoki sets his new production at the Opéra Comique in several eras. Mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez shines in th ...
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During the anti-communist uprisings of the late 1950s, a writer of comedic poems against socialism was constantly pursued by Securitate troops. ...
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Phantom hunter duo Brio and Drusilla clash with an Opera singer from another realm. ...
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Carmen: Impetuous Carmen seduces Don José in order to convince him to let her out of jail. Once outside, she thinks she's finally free before realizing that she's in fact prisoner of a love triangle: she wants to be with the famous Torero Escamillo, but s ...
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Mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprises her remarkable portrayal of opera's ultimate seductress, a triumph in her 2017 debut performances, with impassioned tenors Yonghoon Lee and Roberto Alagna as her lover, Don José. Omer Meir Wellber and Louis Lang ...
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The year 2019 marks the 350th year of existence of the Opéra de Paris, and the Opéra national is staging two exceptional shows at the Palais Garnier in the form of an inaugural gala. Under the direction of Dan Ettinger, the principal dancers, soloists, c ...
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This ever-popular opera is given a fresh point of view in Barrie Kosky's highly physical production, originally created for Frankfurt Opera. The Australian director is one of the world's most sought-after opera directors, whose Royal Opera debut with Shost ...
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In this documentary, award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke explores the creation of the Metropolitan Opera's storied home of the last five decades. Drawing on rarely seen archival footage, stills, and recent interviews, The Opera House looks at an importan ...
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Seebühne (or floating stage), with its 7,000 seat open-air amphitheatre, is the location for the French composers most successful opera. With a set designed by British artist Es Devlin, who has designed sets for stars such as Adele, U2, Take That and Kan ...
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Boldly rewriting the opera's dialogue to accommodate his concept, Mr. Tcherniakov presents "Carmen" as a large-scale role-play, a novel bit of psychotherapy for a numb modern man. ...
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From the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Terme di Caracalla "Carmen" by Georges Bizet. Director Jesus Lopez-Cobos. Orchestra, Chorus and Corps de Ballet of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. ...
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With a devilish sway of the hips and a hint of Andalusian flair, Carmen, the beautiful cigar-maker sets her sights on a soldier: Don José. Fate will do the rest. Composed to a libretto by Meilhac and Halévy based on Prosper Mérimée's novella, the opera ...
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Bizet's rarely heard opera returned to the Met for the first time in a century on New Year's Eve 2015, in Penny Woolcock's acclaimed new production. Star soprano Diana Damrau sings Leïla, the virgin priestess at the center of the story. Matthew Polenzani ...
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Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili gives a dynamic performance as Bizet's iconic gypsy, the woman who lives by her own rules. Aleksandrs Antonenko is Don José, the soldier who falls under her spell, and Ildar Abdrazakov plays Escamillo, the swagg ...
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Live performance from the Opéra de Lyon, July 1 2012. Controversial production by Olivier Py. ...
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Roberto Alagna, Marina Poplavskaya, Beatrice Uria-Monzon are hot hot hot. This Carmen perfectly hits the gypsy theme as a way of life rather than just some sleazy seductress. This Carmen is troubled, intense, manipulative and totally believable as "damaged ...
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Passion, jealousy and betrayal take center stage at Londons Royal Opera House in a spectacular production of the worlds most popular opera. Bizets Carmen is packed with some of the best-loved and memorable music in all of opera. In this characteristically ...
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Richard Eyre's stunning new production of Bizet's opera was the talk of the town when it was unveiled on New Year's Eve 2009. Elīna Garanča leads the cast as the iconic gypsy of the title—a woman desired by every man but determined to remain true to he ...
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Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Caterina Antonacci bring rare erotic intensity to the drama of Don José and Carmen in this darkly passionate reading of one of the most popular operas. Kaufmann uses his burnished tenor and smouldering good looks to portray the man ...
Watch NowCar Men is a collaboration between the renowned choreographer Jíri Kylían and filmmaker Boris Paval Conen. Based on the opera 'CARMEN' by Georges Bizet they shot a hilarious and poetic short film in the destroyed landscape of a Czech brown coal mine. Th ...
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Martin Kušej's brilliant 2006 Carmen represents a landmark interpretation of a truly timeless opera. Led by Rolando Villazón as Don José and Marina Domashenko in the title role, the virtuoso cast joins forces with the celebrated Staatskapelle Berlin und ...
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A series of dark and troubling events forces Bill to reckon with the meaning of his life… or lack thereof. ...
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A village hires a priestess to pray for the safety of their pearl fishermen, but long lost love gets in the way. ...
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David McVicar's exhilarating new production, with Anne Sofie von Otter in the title role, restores the Opera Comique to Bizet's masterpiece. Philippe Jordan, in his Glyndebourne debut, conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Chorus, an ...
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A theater director decides to re-introduce Carmen with a new treatment, looking for an ideal actress to perform the main character, and the relationship between them soon develops for more than work. ...
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Utterly astounding, iridescent sand animation from Aleksandra Korejwo based around Bizet's Carmen. ...
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A stressed-out Kafkian man called Ruben retells an embarrassing dream he had. In it, his overbearing mother takes him, naked and embarrassed, to a noirish department store to buy him clothes, a penis and a wife. He looks for a way out. ...
Watch NowAnimated interpretation of the Bizet opera, second in a trilogy. ...
Watch NowAnimated interpretation of the Bizet opera, first in a trilogy ...
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Modern adaptation of the classic operatic drama, with a few twists. Micaela, José's Mother, and Mörd (Death) are played by the same dancer. The action is reduced to a single act in 13 scenes. The love scenes are played to a minimum and the working women' ...
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Bizet's masterwork, Carmen, directed for stage by the Spanish actress Núria Espert. Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 1989. ...
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This all-star cast is framed by Peter Hall's gritty, realistic production and conducted by James Levine, who brings out all the surging emotion and gripping drama in Bizet's score. At the center of the story is Agnes Baltsa, whose smoky mezzo is tailor-mad ...
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Film professor Michael falls in love with one of his students and is confronted with his pupil's father, with whom he had an affair over 15 years ago. This unexpected meeting abruptly overturns the lives of all the characters. When the tutor decides to und ...
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Don José is a guard who begins an affair with the tempestuous Carmen. He is imprisoned and loses his job, then flees with her to the mountains. When the relationship starts to break down José refuses to acknowledge it and will not leave, even when he get ...
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In the early 19th century, in Seville and the surrounding area, Carmen seduces the sergeant Don José, who deserts the army to be with her. But the beautiful gypsy falls in love with the bullfighter Escamillo, much to Don José's despair. ...
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Carmen, presented in a production at the French Opera House. ...
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Mikhail Baryshnikov and Zizi Jeanmaire sizzle in this ballet set to the music and story of Carmen. ...
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CARMEN is the classic tale of forbidden passion between a young man and a spoken-for woman, Carmen. From ORF and TDK Music, this release features a live performance of Georges Bizet's 19th century operatic masterwork Carmen. Directed by Academy Award-nomin ...
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A film almanac consisting of two short stories, united by a common idea of the need to maintain harmony between private and public interests: "Suite" and "One Fine Day". The hero of the story "Suite" is a lifeguard on the shore. The events taking place at ...
Watch NowA short film by Walerian Borowczyk in two parts. The first 'panel' follows the morning routine of Leon Boyer who, despite being almost 100 years old, still farms the land, drives a vintage car, and plays with his two dogs. The second panel shows shots of b ...
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This spectacular opera film was taped in 1967 and is based on the 1966 Salzburg Festival production directed by Herbert von Karajan himself, who also conducts the fabulous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The production features the three greatest exponents ...
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Maria Callas' legendary live performances from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, from 1962 and 1964 celebrate her triumphant return to the Covent Garden stage. Repertoire from these performances include Verdi: Tu che le vanità (Don Carlo), Bizet: Haba ...
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Lively scenes of Paris, all narrated by Maurice Chevalier, link together four dramatic ballet choreographies by Roland Petit: La Croqueuse de diamants (The Gold Digger), Cyrano de Bergerac, Deuil en 24 heures (A Merry Mourning), and Carmen. ...
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In this musical set in an all-Black army camp, civilian parachute maker and "hot bundle" Carmen Jones is desired by many of the men. Naturally, she wants Joe, who's engaged to sweet Cindy Lou and about to go into pilot training for the Korean War. ...
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Marcel Pagnol's adaptation of his own novel Manon des sources, the story of a shepherdess who exacts her revenge on the townsfolk she blames for killing her father, in two parts: Manon des sources and Ugolin. ...
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Manon has blocked the spring that feeds the village, whose inhabitants she hates. ...
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Talented cabbie with aspirations as a singer spends afterhours practicing with an amateur opera company, ignoring his sweetheart, the femme cab dispatcher. ...
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CARMEN is the classic tale of forbidden passion between a young man and a spoken-for woman, Carmen. From ORF and TDK Music, this release features a live performance of Georges Bizet's 19th century operatic masterwork Carmen. Directed by Academy Award-nomin ...
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