"Bizet describes himself as 'pagan', and Carmen has a savage Mediterranean beauty quite unique in music. The essays included in this guide suggest some reasons for its legendary theatrical appeal. Martin Cooper describes the traditional mixture of spoken words and song that stimulated Bizet to exclaim, 'I want to revolutionize opera-comique!': the translators show the ingenious and inspired ways in which he set about it. Lesley Wright analyses the score and Michael Rabaud shows the uncanny appropriateness of Nietzche's support for Bizet in his famous attacks on the decadence of Wagner. This is the first time that the complete text of the verses that Bizet set to music and the full dialogue (much of it especially translated for this Opera Guide), have ever been published.
Contents: Introduction, Nicholas John; Opera-Comique, Martin Cooper; A Musical Commentary, Lesley A. Wright; 'Carmen': A tragedy oflove, sun and death, Michel Rabaud; Carmen: French text by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy after the novel by Prosper Merimee; Carmen: English version by Nell and John Moody"
- ISBN10 0486221113
- ISBN13 9780486221113
- Publish Date 1 January 1970 (first published November 1969)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 18 October 2003
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Dover Publications Inc.
- Format Paperback
- Pages 228
- Language English