Bizet's Carmen from Maribor, Slovenia

Carmen and her girl-gang work in a cigarette factory, from which they emerge in a riotous gaggle, attracting the attention of a group of soldiers, led by Don Jose: it won't end well!

It was a director of Paris's Opéra-Comique, who suggested that Bizet collaborate with two of the city's leading librettists: Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy (a cousin by marriage).

Bizet proposed an adaption of the novella by Prosper Mérimée, Carmen. Completed by the summer of 1874, Bizet was sure he had composed a work of merit: "…this time I have written a work that is full of clarity and vivacity, full of colour and melody."

During the rehearsals, Bizet had to fight against a reluctant management to retain the realism of the story of Carmen, the brazen cigarette-factory girl whose flirtations with an army officer and a toreador end with her dramatic murder.

Carmen premiered in 1875 to a damning critical reception. It dealt Bizet a terrible blow. Unprepared for the sight of women smoking on stage, the 'low-life' characters and its theme of erotic obsession, the critics damned Carmen as vulgar, undramatic and contemptible.

Despite the criticisms, or perhaps because of them, the opera had a fine run of 37 performances in its first season and Bizet was made a Chevalier De La Légion D'honneur.

On the night of Carmen's 31st performance and his wedding anniversary, 3 June 1875, he suffered a fatal heart attack and died. He was 36. He died still believing his opera was a failure. Within weeks, a second production of Carmen in Vienna was acclaimed as a masterpiece and is now regarded as one of the most popular operas of all time.

Set in early 19th-century Seville, this production sees Guadalupe Barrientos in the title role of Carmen with Sabina Cvilak as Micaëla. The hapless men in Carmen's life are Don José, Corporal of Dragoons, sung by Martin Sušnik and the hero of the ring, Toreador Escamillo, sung by Luka Ortar.

Bizet's Carmen is considered a masterpiece of French opera: it's impossible not to sing, whistle or hum along to the Habanera and Seguidilla (Carmen), Flower Song (Don José) or the Toreador's Song (Escamillo).

Live concert recording courtesy of Euroradio.

Program

Georges Bizet: Carmen, opera in four acts, based on Prosper Mérimée's novella of the same name

Artists

Guadalupe Barrientos (mezzo-soprano, Carmen, a gypsy girl)
Martin Sušnik (tenor, Don José)
Luka Ortar (bass-baritone, Escamillo, toreador)
Sabina Cvilak (soprano, Micaëla, a village maiden)
Marko Mandir (bass, Zuniga, lieutenant in the dragoons)
Sebastijan Čelofiga (baritone, Moralès, corporal in the dragoons)
Valentina Čuden (soprano, Frasquita, friend of Carmen)
Dada Kladenik (mezzo-soprano, Mercédès, friend of Carmen)
Bogdan Stopar (baritone, Le Dancaïre, a smuggler)
Dušan Topolovec (tenor, Le Remendado, a smuggler)
Bojan Hinteregger (spoken role, Lillas Pastia, an innkeeper)
SNG Maribor Opera Chorus
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra
Jon Svinghammar (conductor)

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