Carmen Bizet story. See what "Carmen (opera)" is in other dictionaries. Young people and soldiers

The main characters of the short story by P. Merimee "Carmen":

Carmen-fatal beauty, gypsy and fortune teller;
Jose Navarro-robber, Basque, nobleman by origin (Lisarrabengoa);
Lucas- matador, handsome young man and heartthrob;
inquisitive scientist- in search of the ancient Munda, the narrator of the story.

Opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet

Main characters:
Carmen- a gypsy, a beauty, a factory worker;
Don Jose- sergeant of the guard;
Escamillo-bullfighter;
Michaela- bride Jose;
Dancairo and Remendado- smugglers.

Summary:

The action takes place in Seville, where the dragoon squadron stopped to wait. Captain Zuniga admires the beauty of the girls, workers of the local factory, but Sergeant Jose does not share the opinion of the boss, he has a bride, the beautiful Michaela. He has just confessed his feelings to his beloved. A working break at the factory, the girls go out into the fresh air, there is a quarrel and one of the girls is wounded with a knife. The soldiers watching the girls arrest the culprit - this is Carmen, a fatal beauty and conqueror of men's hearts. Jose is instructed to guard the prisoner, but the gypsy manages to seduce the sergeant and he helps her escape from custody. Carmen hides from smugglers who trade near the city.
Two months later, Jose is released from arrest, he was demoted to the soldiers. Carmen and her friends entertain the visitors of the tavern with dances when they tell her the news about Jose. and hurries to meet him, refusing Dancairo and Remendado in the next raid. The smugglers offer Carmen to lure Jose into their gang. Jose hesitates for a long time, but the order of Captain Zunigi decides the fate of Jose, he joins the gang.
Another outing of smugglers into the mountains, hiding the loot, they return to the city. Carmen's feelings have cooled down, she has cooled off towards Jose, she no longer needs him. Escamillo arrives in the mountains, he is looking for Carmen, knowing about the affairs of the gang. they want to find out who owns Carmen by arranging a duel with daggers, but Dancairo and Remendado, who have returned for prey, interfere with them. The bride Michaela finds Jose's refuge in the mountains, her mother dies and asks Jose to come to say goodbye. Jose hurries to Michaela's mother, but promises to return to sort things out with Carmen, and the bullfighter invites everyone to a bullfight, which he will dedicate to Carmen.
Seville, the central square, the roar of the crowd, Escamillo, the favorite of the public, is in the arena. Jose is closely watching Carmen, he is constantly next to her. Girlfriends warn Carmen of the danger, but she neglects advice, hoping for the power of her charms. Finally, they meet, Jose calls to Carmen's feelings, but they are gone, all her thoughts are about Escamillo. While mocking Jose's feelings, Carmen makes a fatal mistake, a stab ends the beauty's life. .

CARMEN

CARMEN (fr. Carmen) - the heroine of P. Merimee's short story "Carmen" (1845), a young Spanish gypsy. The image of K. is formed in the reader's mind as a result of a difficult procedure of "overlaying" three images of the heroine. It is significant that all three narrators are men, each of whom, in his own way, participates in the “portraiting” of K. To the traveler narrator, preoccupied with ethnographic research, K. “appears” on the Guadalquivir embankment. The young gypsy woman amazes the inquisitive and respectable philistine with her "strange, wild beauty" and extravagance of behavior. To the traveler, a creation of a foreign world is completely alien to him, a psychological curiosity, an ethnographic attraction. "The Devil's Minion" arouses interest in the French scientist, mixed with alienation and fear. The exposition of the image of the heroine is her portrait on the embankment, "in the gloomy light streaming from the stars" against the backdrop of a dark blue river. K. seems to be included in the system of natural phenomena to which it is akin. In the future, the narrator compares the gypsy with a wolf, then with a young Cordoba mare, then with a chameleon.

The second narrator, robber and smuggler José Navarro, paints a portrait of the heroine with "colors of love". Having embarrassed Jose's soul, forcing him to change his soldier's oath, tearing the hero out of his natural environment, K. is portrayed to him as a sorceress, the devil himself, or simply a "pretty girl." But the irresistibly attractive, criminal and mysterious gypsy is essentially alien to her lover, just as to the traveler who did not observe her for long. The unpredictability of the heroine, the apparent illogicality of her behavior, and finally, her divination are seen by José as hostile manifestations of the gypsy way of life.

The third (and most important) narrator is the author. His voice emerges from the complex counter-trapuntal of the voices of the ethnographer and Don José, as well as whimsical compositional effects. However, his voice merges with the voices of two observable narrators, with whom the author develops a "conflict" relationship. The "scientific" interest of the traveler and the unreasonable, blind passion of the soldier are "commented" by the entire artistic structure of the novel in a romantic vein. Merimee creates for the heroine a kind of "scene on the stage", where the character is subjected to a certain figurative doubling (and in our case even "triple": the author - the narrator - José). This technique makes the image “stereoscopic” and at the same time serves to distance it from the reader. “Chance”, “everyday history”, the heroine of which turned out to be K., despite the brightness, relief of her characteristics, appear in a “legendary” lighting that removes everything subjective, individual. So the love story of a runaway soldier and a gypsy takes on a truly antique scale, without losing anything in psychological concreteness.

The image of K. given in the “triple perspective” is nevertheless perceived as tangible, alive. K. is not the most virtuous literary heroine. She is cruel, deceitful, unfaithful. “She lied, she always lied,” Jose complains. However, K.'s lies and her unpredictable antics, gloomy secrecy, have for the author (and, consequently, for the reader) not at all the meaning that her acquaintances give to the "negative" manifestations of the heroine. The symbolism of the image of K. is connected by many threads with the folklore and mythological complex, and not only Spanish. In the guise of a gypsy, almost everything turns out to be “meaningful”: a combination of colors in a suit, a white acacia, which was then presented to Jose. An attentive ethnographer and a sensitive artist, Merime definitely knew that red (the red skirt at the time of the first meeting of the heroine with Jose) and white (shirt, stockings) in combination are endowed with a mystical meaning, linking blood and death torment with purification, the feminine - with life-giving passion . "Witch" and "devil", K. is still drawn to the imagination of poets and artists with an acacia flower, its indispensable attribute. This circumstance is also not accidental. The symbolism of the acacia in the esoteric tradition of the ancient Egyptians (remember that Merimee cites the legendary version of the Egyptian origin of the gypsies) and in Christian art expresses spirituality and immortality. The alchemical law "Hiram", symbolized by the acacia, says: "Everyone must know how to die in order to live in eternity."

There are numerous structural "floors" of the image of K. Its ancestral basis is undoubtedly associated with the image of the sorceress in Spanish folklore, primarily with the demonic figures of Lamia and Lilith, magically beautiful, but destructive for men seductresses. Particularly significant in K. is the theme of Lilith, the apocryphal first wife of Adam, who was in an inescapable conflict with the first man over equality on earth.

The demonic nature of K. can be interpreted in different ways. The artistic heroine, constantly changing her appearance (“a real chameleon”), is not averse to “trying on” the guise of the devil, thereby causing José's superstitious horror. However, apparently, the demonic beginning of the heroine is an emblem of the primordially natural, in conflict with the Christian civilization that has enslaved Nature. The vengeful, destructive activity of the “minion of the devil” (repeatedly interpreted by Russian philology as a social protest) is carried out on behalf of nameless, but essential forces, the personification of which are the gypsies. K.'s lie in this semantic complex is an expression of her unwillingness to be included in the system of rules offered to her by a regulated state machine, whose representative, by the way, is Jose the soldier at first. The conflict of lovers, which has a complex semantic structure for Merimee, is associated with the tragic discovery of the unthinkable harmony between society and nature, and at a higher level - with the eternal antagonism of male and female principles.

The theme of love is inseparable in the short story "Carmen" from the theme of death. The image of the heroine is perceived in the context of the interdependence of the concepts of femininity, love and death, which is so characteristic of Spanish culture and so essential to the European philosophical tradition.

José buries K. in the forest (“K. told me several times that she wanted to be buried in the forest”). In mythologies, the symbolism of the forest is associated with the expression of the feminine (as, indeed, night and water are images that accompany the heroine throughout the story about her). But the forest is a model of the world, not subject to human law, not controlled by the state.

Thus, all the themes of K. are “furnished” with archetypal motifs, testifying to the deep rootedness of the image in the world humanitarian tradition. One of the consequences of this circumstance was the very rapid adaptation of the image of K. in the socio-cultural space, the transformation of the heroine Merimee into the so-called. "eternal image", comparable in this capacity to Faust and Don Giovanni. Already in 1861, Théophile Gautier published the poem "Carmen", in which the gypsy appears as an expression of the boundless female power over the world of men, both infernal and natural.

In 1874, J. Bizet wrote the opera "Carmen" to the libretto by A. Melyak and L. Halevi, later recognized as one of the pinnacles of opera art. Apparently, it is Bizet's opera that is the first stage in the transformation of K. into a transcultural image. Strong, proud, passionate K. Bizet (mezzo-soprano) is a free interpretation of the literary source, quite far from the heroine Meri-me, whose love of freedom in passion is still not an exhaustive description of her. The collision of K. and Jose acquired warmth and lyricism in Bizet's music, having lost the essential insolubility that is fundamental for the writer. The librettists of the opera removed from the biography of K. a number of circumstances that reduce the image (for example, participation in the murder). A curious literary reminiscence in the image of opera K. deserves mention: the song “Old Husband, Formidable Husband” from A.S. Pushkin’s poem “Gypsies” (1824), translated by P. Merimee, among other works of the poet, is used in the libretto. In K. Bize, the meeting of the heroine Merimee with Pushkin's Zem-fira took place. The most famous performers of the part of K. are M.P. Maksakova (1923) and I.K. Ar-khipova (1956).

K. short stories and operas left a mark in poetry: A. Blok's cycle "Carmen" (1914), "Carmen" by M. Tsvetaeva (1917). To date, there are more than ten film incarnations of the image of K. The most famous are "Carmen" by Christian Jacques (1943) and "Carmen" by K. Saura (1983). The last film was created on the basis of the flamenco ballet by A. Gades.

The paradox of the artistic fate of K. lies in the fact that the opera heroine largely obscured the image of Merimee. Meanwhile, in the stage history of the opera, there is a steady tendency to “return” the image to the literary source: the play by V.I. "The Tragedy of Carmen", 1984). The same trend is partly followed by the ballet "Carmen Suite" with M.M. Plisetskaya in the title role (musical transcription by R.K. Shchedrin, choreography by A. Alonso, 1967).

The image of K., like any cultural symbol, is used at various levels: high art, pop art, and even everyday behavior (the fashion for the “image of Carmen”).

L.E. Bazhenova

literary heroes. - Academician. 2009 .

See what "CARMEN" is in other dictionaries:

- (Spanish Carmen) a female name of Spanish origin, formed from the epithet of the Virgin "Madonna of Mount Carmel", where Her appearance took place. The adjective Carmel eventually separated from the main name and turned into a diminutive ... ... Wikipedia

L. O. (pseudonym of Lazar Osipovich Korenman) (1876 1920) fiction writer. The first essays and sketches of K. covered the life of the Odessa port "savages" lumpenproletarians, street children, downtrodden masons, etc. The revival of the revolutionary movement in ... ... Literary Encyclopedia

KARMEN, Russia, 2003, 113 min. Drama. He is an exemplary police officer, honest and efficient, he is expected to be promoted. She is a prisoner working her time in a tobacco factory. Everyone calls her Carmen, but no one knows her real name ... Cinema Encyclopedia

carmen- Carmen. On behalf of the Spanish heroine of Bizet's opera of the same name. 1. Tomato puree soup. Molokhovets. 2. An indispensable attribute of a summer wardrobe is a top or short blouse with an elastic band, a carmen blouse. Week 1991 26 21. 3. slang. Gypsy pocket thief. Sl… … Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

The pseudonym of Lev Osipovich Kornman (born in 1877), the author of talented stories from the life of Odessa tramps (St. Petersburg, 1910) and others ... Biographical Dictionary

- (Carmen) an enterprise for the extraction and primary processing of copper ores on about. Cebu, Philippines. Mining since 1977 on the basis of the mine of the same name opened in 1971. Includes a quarry and crushing enrichment. f ku. Main downtown Toledo City. Copper mineralization ... ... Geological Encyclopedia

Georges Bizet (years of life 1838-1875) "Carmen" based on the short story of the same name by Prosper Mérimée has now gained worldwide fame. The popularity of a piece of music is so great that in many theaters it is performed in the national language (including in Japan). The summary of the opera "Carmen" by Bizet as a whole corresponds to the plot of the novel, however, there are some differences.

Opera production

It may seem surprising to a modern listener that the first production of the opera, which took place on March 3, 1875 in Paris (the Opera-Comic), turned out to be a failure. The scandalous debut of Carmen, accompanied by an abundance of accusatory comments from French journalists, nevertheless had its positive effect. The work, which received such a wide resonance in the press, could not but attract the attention of the world. About 50 performances took place on the stage of the Opéra-Comique alone during the premiere season.

Nevertheless, after some time the opera was withdrawn from the show and returned to the stage only in 1883. The author of the opera Carmen himself did not live to see this moment - he suddenly died at the age of 36, three months after the premiere of his great work.

Opera structure

Bizet's opera "Carmen" has a four-part form, each act of which is preceded by a separate symphonic intermission. All overtures of the work in their development contain musical material that, to one degree or another, represents a given action (a general picture of events, a tragic foreboding, etc.).

The place of action and the specifics of the characters

The plot of the opera "Carmen" takes place in the city of Seville and its environs (Spain) at the beginning. 19th century. The specificity of the characters chosen by the author of the opera was, for that time, to a certain extent provocative. Images of simple tobacco factory workers acting rather cheeky (some of them smoke), soldiers, policemen, and thieves and smugglers ran counter to the strict requirements of secular society.

In order to somehow smooth the impression created by such a society (women of easy virtue, fickle in their affections; men sacrificing honor in the name of passion, etc.), the author of the opera Carmen, together with the authors of the libretto, introduces a new character into the work. This is the image of Michaela - a pure and innocent girl, which was not in the novel by Prosper Merimee. Due to this heroine, touching in her affection for Don Jose, the characters acquire greater contrast, and the work, in turn, becomes more dramatic. Thus, the summary of the libretto of the opera "Carmen" has its own specifics.

Characters

First action

Consider the summary of the opera "Carmen". Seville, town square. Hot afternoon. Off-duty soldiers stand at the barracks, next to the cigar factory, cynically discussing passers-by walking by. Michaela approaches the soldiers - she is looking for Don Jose. Upon learning that he is not now, embarrassed leaves. The changing of the guard begins, and Don José appears among the guards. Together with their commander, Captain Zuniga, they discuss the attractiveness of the cigar factory workers. The bell rings - the factory is on a break. Workers run out into the street in a crowd. They smoke and behave quite cheekily.

Carmen exits. She flirts with young men and sings her famous habanera (“Love has wings like a bird”). At the end of the song, the girl throws a flower at Jose. Laughing at his embarrassment, the workers return to the factory.

Michaela reappears with a letter and a hotel for José. Their duet "What relatives said" sounds. At this time, a terrible noise begins at the factory. It turns out that Carmen slashed one of the girls with a knife. Jose receives an order from the commander to arrest Carmen and take him to the barracks. José and Carmen are left alone. The seguidilla "Near the Bastion in Seville" sounds, in which the girl promises to love José. The young corporal is completely fascinated. However, on the way to the barracks, Carmen manages to push him away and escape. As a result, Jose himself is taken into custody.

Second act

We continue to describe the summary of the opera "Carmen". Two months later. The tavern of Lillas Pastia, Carmen's friend, is the very place where the young gypsy promised to sing and dance for José. Here reigns unbridled fun. Among the most important visitors is Captain Zuniga, Commander José. He tries to woo Carmen, but he doesn't succeed. At the same time, the girl learns that Jose's detention period is ending, and this pleases her.

The bullfighter Escamillo appears, he performs the famous couplets "Toast, friends, I accept yours." The patrons of the tavern chorus join in his singing. Escamillo is also fascinated by Carmen, but she does not reciprocate.

It's getting late. José appears. Delighted by his arrival, Carmen escorts the remaining visitors from the tavern - four smugglers (bandits El Dancairo and El Remendado, as well as girls - Mercedes and Frasquita). A young gypsy performs a dance for José, as promised before his arrest. However, the appearance of Captain Zunig, who also came on a date with Carmen, destroys the romantic atmosphere. A quarrel breaks out between rivals, ready to escalate into bloodshed. However, the gypsies arrived in time to disarm the captain. Don Jose has no choice but to give up his military career. He joins a gang of smugglers, much to Carmen's delight.

Third act

What else does the summary of the opera Carmen tell about? An idyllic picture of nature, in a secluded place among the mountains. The smugglers have a short halt. Don Jose yearns for home, for peasant life, the trade of smugglers does not seduce him at all - only Carmen and passionate love for her seduces. However, the young gypsy no longer loves him, the case is nearing a break. According to Mercedes and Franchita's divination, Carmen is in danger of death.

The halt is over, the smugglers go to work, only José remains to look after the abandoned goods. Mikaela appears unexpectedly. She continues to look for José. Her aria “In vain I assure myself” sounds.

At this time, the sound of a shot is heard. Frightened, Michaela hides. It turns out that it was Jose who shot when he saw Escamillo. The bullfighter, in love with Carmen, is looking for her. A fight begins between the rivals, which inevitably threatens Escamillo with death, but Carmen, who arrived in time, manages to intervene and save the bullfighter. Escamillo leaves, finally inviting everyone to his performance in Seville.

The next moment, José discovers Michaela. The girl gives him sad news - his mother is dying and wants to say goodbye to her son before her death. Carmen contemptuously agrees that José is better off leaving. In anger, he warns her that they will meet again, and only death can separate them. Roughly pushing Carmen away, José leaves. The musical motif of the bullfighter sounds ominously.

Fourth act

The following is a summary of the opera "Carmen" about the festive festivities in Seville. Residents of the city in smart clothes are all in anticipation of the bullfight performance. Escamillo is to perform in the arena. Soon the bullfighter himself appears arm in arm with Carmen. The young gypsy is also dressed with great luxury. A duet of two lovers.

Escamillo, and after him all the spectators rush to the theater. Only Carmen remains, despite the fact that Mercedes and Francquita manage to warn her about Jose hiding nearby. The girl with a challenge says that she is not afraid of him.

José enters. He is wounded, his clothes turned into tatters. Jose begs the girl to return to him, but in response he receives only a contemptuous refusal. The young man continues to insist. Enraged, Carmen throws the golden ring he gave him. At this time, a choir sounds behind the scenes, praising the victory of the bullfighter - Jose's happy rival. Jose, who has lost his mind, takes out a dagger and plunges it into his beloved just at the moment when the enthusiastic crowd in the theater welcomes Escamillo, the winner of the bullfight.

The festive crowd pours out of the theater into the street, where a terrible picture opens up to their eyes. Mentally broken Jose with the words: “I killed her! Oh, my Carmen!..” - falls at the feet of his dead lover.

Thus, "Carmen" is an opera, the summary of which can be described in almost two sentences. However, the gamut of human feelings and passions that the heroes of the work experience cannot be conveyed in any words - only with music and theatrical acting, which Georges Bizet and the opera actors managed to masterfully accomplish.

The action takes place in Spain, circa 1845.

Act one

In Seville, near the cigar factory, a squadron of dragoons stopped. The soldiers admire the beautiful girls - factory workers. Michaela arrives looking for José's dragoon, but the soldiers tell her that José is in another squadron and that that squadron will soon come to replace them. Michaela leaves. Soon there is a change of squadron. Captain Zuniga, talking with Sergeant Jose, expresses admiration for the workers of the cigarette factory, but Jose is the only one who is not interested in them - he has a bride, Michaela, who is dearest to him. A factory bell is heard and the girls go outside for a break. They all have cigarettes in their mouths. They are immediately surrounded by men. But then one of them appears, which they are waiting with special impatience - the burning gypsy Carmen. She is used to the fact that all the men around do not take their eyes off her, but she herself enjoys mocking them, their feelings. No one, and she herself, can know who will be the object of her attention today, and who tomorrow. However, she does not like that Jose is the only one who does not pay any attention to her, and she throws a flower at his feet. The bell rings again and the girls go back to work.

Michaela returns and conveys greetings to Jose from his mother, who is waiting for him in the village. Between them there is a mutual love confession. After Michaela leaves the factory, a noise is heard. It turned out that among the workers there was a quarrel with stabbing, one of them injured the other. The culprit is Carmen. Captain Zuniga orders Jose to guard Carmen, and he himself goes to get a warrant for her arrest. However, during this time, Carmen succeeds, using all her charm, to seduce Jose, and he relaxes. When Zuniga brings a warrant for Carmen's arrest, José helps her escape from custody.

Action two

Two months have passed. In Lilas Pastia's tavern, Carmen dances with her friends Frasquita and Mercedes. Captain Zuniga is also here. He reports that Jose, for helping her escape, served a prison sentence and was demoted to the soldiers, and now he has been released and will soon come to Carmen. Accompanied by a crowd of admirers, the bullfighter Escamillo enters and sings the bullfighter's couplets. The beauty and charm of Carmen do not escape the attention of Escamillo. After the tavern is closed for ordinary visitors, only smugglers remain in it - Dancairo, Remendado, Carmen, Frasquita and Mercedes. They are going to go on another case, only Carmen refuses. She wants to wait for Jose, whom she is now in love with. Then the smugglers offer her to involve Jose in their affairs. Jose comes, but soon the sound of a trumpet was heard from afar, calling him to the barracks for evening verification. Carmen once again applies all her acting skills so that Jose stays with her. He hesitates for a long time between soldier's duty and love for her. But then a case turns up that puts everything in its place: Captain Zuniga returns and orders José to return to the barracks. Jose refuses to obey the order and draws his sword. So he becomes a deserter and is forced to stay with Carmen and with the smugglers. Dancairo and Remendado disarm Zuniga and take him away so he doesn't raise the alarm and thereby upset their smuggling business.

Act Three

In the mountains near the border after some more time. Smugglers on the next case. However, Carmen has already lost interest in Jose, and he himself does not like such a craft. Between him and Carmen started a quarrel. The smugglers leave for the border, leaving Jose on guard here. Overcoming fear, Michaela comes to the mountains in search of José. She sees Jose shooting at someone and hiding. However, Jose missed, and Escamillo appears before him, who confesses to him that he is also looking for Carmen and that he knows everything about Jose himself. The rivals are ready to sort things out with daggers, but at this time the smugglers return for the abandoned goods and the duel has to be stopped. Having taken the goods, the smugglers want to leave, but they notice Michaela and want to kill the girl, but José saves her. Between Jose and Escamillo there is a stormy showdown, but Michaela reports that Jose's mother is dying and waiting for him, and he stops. Now he will go to his mother, but then he vows to find Carmen and bring this conversation to an end.

Escamillo leaves, inviting everyone to Seville for a bullfight, which he will dedicate to Carmen.

act four

Square in front of the circus in Seville. Preparations are underway for a bullfight. The square is full of people, fun reigns all around. Finally, Escamillo appears. The crowd almost in their arms brings him to the circus. Frasquita and Mercedes warn Carmen that Jose is following her. But she is not afraid of meeting him. Everyone goes to the circus, and José finds Carmen and blocks her way. He reminds her of how she used to love him and asks her to come back to him, then tearfully pleads and finally threatens. But it's all in vain. Carmen doesn't love him anymore. And in the end, this finally brings José to complete despair: he kills Carmen. He is arrested.

Prosper Merimee

French writer and translator, one of the first masters of the short story in France. As chief inspector of historical monuments, he was in charge of compiling the register of historical monuments.

He was born in Paris in the family of an artist. Thanks to his parents, Prosper was fond of art from childhood, drew well, spoke English fluently. After graduating from college, the young man wanted to become an artist, but his father convinced him to take up law.

In 1820, he entered the law faculty of the Sorbonne, where he began to study not only law, but also classical and modern languages. During this period, he became interested in history, archeology and literature. Merimee met Stendhal, who was 20 years older than him. Friendship with the great writer had a great influence on the formation of Merimee's views.

After completing a law course in Paris, he was appointed secretary of the Comte d'Argoux, one of the ministers of the July monarchy, and then the chief inspector of historical monuments in France, until now their list bears his name. In this post, Merimee contributed a lot to the preservation of historical monuments.

It was Merimee who appreciated the drawings and measurements of the gothic researcher Viollet-le-Duc and involved him in the restoration work, thanks to which the “barbarian” style was rehabilitated, and today we see masterpieces of French medieval architecture without “layering” added to buildings during the years of enthusiasm for classicism.

Enrolling in 1825 to serve in one of the ministries. he devoted himself entirely to literature. His debut as a writer was successful - he immediately became famous. His first work was published in 1825. It was a collection of plays under the general title "The Theater of Clara Gazul".

In 1853, Merimee was elevated to the rank of senator and enjoyed the full confidence and personal friendship of Napoleon III.

In 1828-1829, the dramas Jacquerie and The Family of Carvajal, the historical novel Chronicle of the Times of Charles IX, and the short story Matteo Falcone were published. Merimee at this time actively collaborated in the publications "Revue de Paris" and "National". The life of large cities, centers of civilization, polished according to a common pattern, was disgusting to Merimee. At the end of 1839 he made a trip to Corsica. The result of this trip was a travel journal and the story "Colombes".

Perhaps the most famous novel is Carmen.

Novella "Carmen"

A short story written by the French writer Prosper Mérimée in 1845. The work consists of 4 chapters. It formed the basis of the famous opera by Georges Bizet. The short story tells about the passionate love of the Basque José for the gypsy Carmencita.

In 1945, when Prosper Mérimée's short story came out, Carmen made an even less favorable impression on the "decent gentlemen" than in 1875 the Frenchman Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. Carmencita behaved as if the sexual revolution of the 20th century had already happened.

In the literature of the century before last, of course, there were images of the fatal temptress. Merimee pity caused the killer Jose, and not his unfaithful lover. Then, of course, there were quite a few professional priestesses of love. There were also brothels. But Polite Society considered sex to be a concession of a woman to a man. Mothers urged their daughters to endure this.

The short story tells about the passionate love of the Basque José for the gypsy Carmencita. Robbery life, customs and culture of the Spanish gypsies are described in detail. Jose demanded complete submission from Carmen, but Carmen, a freedom-loving gypsy, refused to submit at the cost of her own life.

The introduction and the last chapter of the novel are ethnographic and archaeological essays that are in no way related to the main storyline. Perhaps in this way the author wanted to shade the main storyline, which keeps the reader in a strong emotional tension. Also, the last chapter tells about the life, culture, language of the gypsies, which helps the reader to get to know them better.

Literary critic G. Brandes suggested that Merimee turned to the gypsy theme after getting acquainted with Pushkin's poem "Gypsies", which he later (in 1852) even translated into French.

BUT . S. Pushkin poem "Gypsies"

Prosper Merimee knew Russian well. He was inspired to create "Carmen" not only by Spanish folklore, but also by Pushkin's poem "Gypsies". According to the plot of the poem, the young man Aleko falls in love with the gypsy Zemfira and travels with her camp. But the young man is horrified by the infidelity of his beloved. Zemfira's father is trying to explain to Aleko that freedom of morals is a common thing for gypsies. But the young man, finding Zemfira with her lover, decreases both.

The poem "Gypsies" was written in 1824. Prosper Merimee always considered it his favorite work of Pushkin. Only a blind person cannot notice the similarity of plots ...

The last southern romantic poem by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. After spending several days in the camp of the Bessarabian gypsies, the poet worked on the poem from January to October 1824, first in Odessa, then in Mikhailovsky. The final edition is dated the last months of the same year. In 1892, S. Rachmaninov wrote his first opera Aleko based on the plot of the poem.

FROM . Rachmaninoff opera "Aleko"

Sergei Rachmaninoff's first opera, based on Alexander Pushkin's poem The Gypsies, as a graduation work at the Moscow Conservatory, from which Rachmaninoff graduated in piano in 1891 and in composition in 1892. At the end of the conservatory, Rachmaninov was awarded the "Big Gold Medal".

Georges Bizet

Alexandre Cesar Leopold Bizet

Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet

French composer of the Romantic period, author of orchestral works, romances, piano pieces, and operas, the most famous of which was Carmen.

Born October 25, 1838 in Paris in the family of a singing teacher. He was registered under the name Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet, but at baptism received the name Georges, by which he was known in the future. Bizet entered the Paris Conservatoire two weeks before he turned 10.

Already while studying at the conservatory (1848-1857), Bizet tried himself as a composer. During this period, he brilliantly mastered the composing technique and performing skills.

In 1857, he shared with Charles Lecoq the prize in a competition organized by Jacques Offenbach for the operetta Doctor Miracle and received the Prix de Rome. In the same year, Bizet submitted the cantata Clovis and Clotilde to the competition, for which he also received the Prix de Rome, which allowed him to live in Rome for three years, composing music and pursuing his education. The work of account (writing which was mandatory for all laureates of the Rome Prize) was the opera Don Procopio. With the exception of a period spent in Rome, Bizet lived his entire life in Paris.

After a stay in Rome, he returned to Paris, where he devoted himself to writing music. In 1863 he wrote the opera The Pearl Seekers. During the same period, he wrote The Beauty of Perth (1867), the music for Alphonse Daudet's play The Arlesian (1872) and the piano work Children's Games (1870). He also wrote the romantic opera Djamile (1870), usually regarded as the forerunner of Carmen, and the symphony in C major.

After Bizet's death, his works, with the exception of "Carmen", generally did not receive wide recognition, their manuscripts were distributed or lost, and the published versions of the works were often revised and changed by other authors. Only after many years of oblivion, his works began to be performed more and more often, and only from the 20th century the name of Georges Bizet deservedly stood on a par with the names of other outstanding composers. In his 36 years of life, he did not have time to create his own music school and did not have any obvious students or followers.

K armen (opera)

Opera by Georges Bizet in 4 acts, libretto by Meilhac and Halévy based on the short story of the same name by Prosper Mérimée.

Georges Bizet began work on the colloquial opera Carmen in 1874. The premiere of "Carmen" took place in France in Paris at the Opéra-Comique on March 3, 1875 and ended in complete failure. Even the Parisians, who were considered sophisticated spectators, were not ready for such realism on stage. Metropolitan French newspapers competed in biting critical reviews of the opera Carmen.

At least fifty performances took place on the stage of the Paris Opera-Comique alone, and only in the premiere season. Nevertheless, Carmen disappeared from the Parisian stage for a long time. When the opera Carmen returned to the stage in 1883, it was a resounding success. Shortly before his death, J. Bizet signed a contract with the Vienna State Opera for the production of Carmen. Despite some edits and differences from the author's original, the performance was a huge success. "Carmen" won praise not only from ordinary viewers, but also from such prominent composers as Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner. This was the first serious success of the creation of J. Bizet on the way to world recognition.

As far back as 1880, Tchaikovsky wrote about this work:

“Bizet's opera is a masterpiece, one of those few things that is destined to reflect the musical aspirations of an entire era to the strongest degree. In ten years, Carmen will be the most popular opera in the world.” The words of Pyotr Ilyich turned out to be prophetic.

Even the famous German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was present under various circumstances at the Carmen show 27 times.

Source - biography-peoples.ru, Wikipedia, Riddles of History magazine, Olga Sokolovskaya.

Georges Bizet opera “Carmen”, Prosper Mérimée short story “Carmen” and A. S. Pushkin poem “Gypsies” updated: December 6, 2018 by: website