Product Description
This compilation, based on authoritative editions, offers full scores of two suites from Bizet’s supreme achievement: Suite No. 1, featuring the Prélude, Aragonaise, Intermezzo, Séguedille, Les Dragons d’Alcala, and Les Toréadors; and Suite No. 2, including the Marche des Contrebandiers, Habanera, Nocturne, Chanson du Toréador, La Garde Montante, and Danse Bohême. Instrumentation.
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Product Description
Bizet's Carmen is probably the best known opera of the standard repertoire, yet its very familiarity often prevents us from approaching it with the seriousness it deserves. This Handbook explores the opera in a number of contexts, bringing to the surface the controversies over gender, race, class and musical propriety. After a study of Mérimée's story Carmen by Peter Robinson, Susan McClary examines the social tensions in nineteenth-century France that inform both that story and the opera, and traces the opera through its genesis and reception. The Handbook concludes with discussions of four films based on the opera. The volume contains a bibliography, music examples, and a synopsis and will be of interest to students, scholars, and operagoers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Race, Gender, and Class are not far from
many audiences when viewing Carmen in various art forms(movies, TV,plays,opera) and in various settings.In order to understand what Bizet's Carmen was all about, we need to read and understand France's history toward its southern neighbors and the metropoles as well as its superiority and contempt the country have toward them, which continues today.

Carmen has been called many things by many people. She's been called animalistic, loose woman, tramp, predator as well as worse things that I wouldn't say, read, or print.

As for gender, French society in the 19th century experienced an upheaval in which women fought equal rights for themselves.That threatened middle class French men, who are already threatened by the demands of the working and lower classes who only wanted to better themselves and to participate in French political and social life just like their upper class counterparts.

Also, the influx of immigrants to France also upset many of its inhabitants, then and now.

Carmen exemplifies all the social disorders French society wants to control through repressive laws and customs during the course of the nineteenth century.

When the opera first premiered in 1875, it was denounced as immoral and superficial, not fit for women and families attending the opera.However, as decaded gone by, many people are attracted to the play and some artists were influenced by it.John Singer Sargent was one such person.His Spanish and flamenco paintings were partially influenced by the plain. "Carmela Bertagna", "El Jaleo", and "The Spanish Dance" are such examples.

Also, Carmen exudes strong sensuality, which was a no-no in French bourgeois society, which tried to assert itself by being the arbiter of morality. Case in point:The outrage over Manet's painting of a courtesan in 1865.Carmen elicit the same outrage in 1875 because of her strong sensuality and assertiveness.Even today, the double standard is still in operation, punishing women for being agressive, while praising the same in men.
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Product Description
The full orchestral and vocal score of what is perhaps the world’s favorite opera, in the grand opera version most commonly performed today, complete with the recitatives by Ernest Guiraud added after Bizet’s death. Reprinted from the authoritative edition published by C. F. Peters, Leipzig. French text.
Amazon.com Review
The critics at the premiere loathed it. Audiences have alwaysloved it. Members of the chorus don't like it any better than theoriginal critics, but for very different reasons. Carmen is along and difficult outing for the chorus, and critics have bashed itfor its tabloid-trash elements, but audiences love the drama and themusic.It's too bad that Georges Bizet died so soon after itpremiered, because it would have been interesting to watch his musicaldevelopment; he improved greatly from his first opera, La Joliefille de Perth (The Fair Maid of Perth), to his second, LesPecheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers), and again toCarmen. The arias, ensembles, and choruses here are almost allfirst-rate, with only occasional minor descents into the typicallyFrench and fluffy moments that so mar his earlier works; this fullorchestral score from Dover shows Bizet's accomplishment in itsentirety. The usual caveats apply: this is a reprint of anout-of-copyright score from another publisher, so it's not going to beup-to-date in terms of modern performance practice. As a full score,it won't be as handy for singers learning the music--a piano score isgenerally more useful for that purpose--but it's a tremendous bargainfor those who want to get a handle on this very popular opera. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Highly recommended..............
Dover once again gives us an affordable cleanly produced score at a cheap price.Get it before it goes the route of FAUST and gets deleted from the catalogue.

Highly recommanded by music teachers all over
Those of you who like Carmen this is a must have book, as a singer and a music teacher I have this book for exams. The music and songs and perfect and you can follow the story from the notes. This is a must have book as i've already said.

An Opera Comique--with Recits
For Carmen, Dover chose to reprint the Peters edition, a good, reliable edition, with a German translation, and the recits written for the Paris Opera premiere. Anyone who knows Carmen knows that Bizet originallyintended it for the Opera Comique, and, therefore, it was intended to beperformed with dialogue in between the set numbers. Personally, I feel thatthe score works better in this Opera Comique, number/dialogue style, thanwith these rather clunky recits. Some would disagree, saying that dialoguedoesn't carry well in an Opera house. Well, if that's true, why do Mozart'sgreat Singspiels still hold the stage, dialogue and all? Nonetheless, agood Carmen score should contain the recits in case one wants to use them.One can, after all, simply skip past them. However, the best score shouldalso contain the dialogue. This one does not. Again, Dover chose to reprintthe Peters edition. Peters was a publisher noted for his scholarship, sofrom that point of view, it's quite reliable. It's also large enough toconduct from. And, as usual, the book itself is nearly indestructable. Thisedition, for any of Carmen's lovers, is like a rose on the ground.

An Opera Comique--with Recits
For Carmen, Dover chose to reprint the Peters edition, a good, reliable edition, with a German translation, and the recits written for the Paris Opera premiere. Anyone who knows Carmen knows that Bizet originallyintended it for the Opera Comique, and, therefore, it was intended to beperformed with dialogue in between the set numbers. Personally, I feel thatthe score works better in this Opera Comique, number/dialogue style, thanwith these rather clunky recits. Some would disagree, saying that dialoguedoesn't carry well in an Opera house. Well, if that's true, why do Mozart'sgreat Singspiels still hold the stage, dialogue and all? Nonetheless, agood Carmen score should contain the recits in case one wants to use them.One can, after all, simply skip past them. However, the best score shouldalso contain the dialogue. This one does not. Again, Dover chose to reprintthe Peters edition. Peters was a publisher noted for his scholarship, sofrom that point of view, it's quite reliable. It's also large enough toconduct from. And, as usual, the book itself is nearly indestructable. Thisedition, for any of Carmen's lovers, is like a rose on the ground. ... Read more

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Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
The Black Dog Opera Library is one of the most popular,informative, and budget-friendly ways to enjoy all thegreat operas. Each book in the series includes a historyof the opera, a synopsis of the story, a complete libretto inits original language as well as in English, and dozens ofphotographs and drawings depicting great scenes,singers, performances, and more. Each book alsoincludes an excellent Angel/EMI recording of the entireopera on two CDs, as well as commentary from expertsin the field who guide you through the music as youlisten. All of this for less than twenty dollars! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Seller...really
Great seller, Shipped and arrived on time as described, doing business was a pleasure and I dont say this just because...I say it because you are a great person to buy from.

Love it!
I love the Black Dog Opera books--background information on the opera, full text and its English translation, the opera on CD.What's not to like?

With a rose in my teeth...
Complete with two CDs this is a good primer before [or rememberance after] "Carmen." The book tells you the entire story of this Opera.

After seeing Carmen at the New York City Opera, I enjoy it again and again by listening to it and somethimes reading along with the Black Dog opera series of books with CDs. ... Read more

Product Description
The Black Dog Music Library presents Georges Bizet's Carmen, featuring Grace Bumbry, Mirella Freni, and Jon Vickers and the Orchestre et Choeur du Theatre National de l'Opera, under the direction of Rafael Frubeck de Burgos. An Angel/EMI compact disc set, accompanied by the complete libretto with unabridged English translations and minute-by-minute commentary and information on the composer, the music, and the performance.Amazon.com Review
The story of Carmen, the fatalistic gypsy, and Don José, her murderoussoldier lover, is a perennial favorite of an overwhelming majority of operalovers. Carmen has it all: vivid characters, wonderful tunes, stirringcrowd scenes, and a setting that's just exotic enough without becomingoutlandish. The Black Dog Opera Library has issued a fine introduction tothis classic tragedy. This hardcover book (small enough to tuck into a handbagand take along to the opera) includes an essay that explores the opera's originsand performance history; a plot synopsis; a libretto in French and English,with a running commentary on the action; and, on two compact discs, a completerecording of the opera itself. It's a very attractive package forthe price.

The recording, made in 1969-70, stars mezzo-soprano Grace Bumbry as theeponymous gypsy; an incredibly intense Jon Vickers as Don José; sopranoMirella Freni, in melting voice, as his would-be wife; and Kostas Paskalis asa dark-voiced Escamillo. Rafael Fruehbeck de Burgos conducts his soloists, the chorus, and the orchestra of the Theatre National de l'Opera in idiosyncraticfashion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

An Introduction To Opera, A Monumental Recording
I have said it before and I will say it again. The Black Dog Opera Library series contains quality opera recordings, top-notch singers and orchestras, and as a bonus, liner notes and commentary on the opera, providing background information on the composer and the time period. In this remarkable book, we are treated to the greatest recording of Bizet's opera, Carmen. It was recorded 1969-70, and stars Jon Vickers, Grace Bumbry and Kostas Paskalis. The opera is timeless and has retained its popularity for more than a century. MTV has produced its own version, calling it a hip-hop-opera, there is talk of doing a musical-style rendition, and in the 50's, Carmen Jones with an all black cast did an incredible job of translating the songs into English with the help of Rogers and Hammestein. Carmen is based on the French writer Prosper Merimme's dark novella. It tells the story of a Spanish Gypsy woman who works undercover as a cigarette maker in Seville. In reality, she works for contraband smugglers who are constantly on the road. Don Jose is the soldier whose regiment is stationed by the factory. After arresting Carmen for a catfight, she seduces him and he falls madly in love with her, a love that later becomes consumed with obscession. Carmen convinces Don Jose to join her fellow smugglers and they travel across Spain. For love of her, Don Jose has abandoned his regiment and his fiancee, Micaela, the polar opposite of Carmen- she is a Christian-bred, homely woman. When Carmen tires of Don Jose, she abandons him for the more attractive champion bullfighter Escamillo. During a bullfight, Carmen confronts Don Jose and makes it clear she no longer loves him. In a jealous crime of passion, Don Jose stabs Carmen to death.

Rafael Burgos conducts a supremely effective orchestra who truly brings out the originality, drama, melody and intensity of Bizet's score. From the Overture, which concludes with its fatalistic theme, to each of the Spanish-style dances, among them Habanera, Seguidilla and Gypsy Song (all arias for Carmen), the soft melody of the Prelude to the final act and the concluding final scene, are all magnificent interpretation. The singers, individually, are fine actor/singers. Tenor Jon Vickers, who has a vast repertoire, including Wagner, brings a more realistic approach to Don Jose. He is passionate, he is obscessed and determined to have Carmen come what may. His Wagnerian intensity are self-evident in his arguments with Carmen and in the final scene of her murder, especially striking in his "Ainsi, le salut de mon ame" "And so I am to lose my heart". His Flower Song "La Fleur" is a fresh new rendition, not ending with a high, strong note as typical tenors do, but a soft high, B-flat, effectively producing the effect that he is genuinely in love, but obscessed and haunted by, Carmen.

Grace Bumbry's Carmen is her best role. She is assertive, she is seductive, flirtatious and dangerous. She is the original femme fatale. But it's clear that Bizet intended for Carmen to bring about her own fate. Her signature aria, "Habanera" compares her to a rebellious bird of freedom, a lawless Gypsy child and boasts that her love belongs to no one man. Her Gypsy Song is full of fire and mischief. But aside from these playful arias, Carmen has serious moments in the opera. Among them is the scene in which she reads the death card. "Toujours, Le Morte" (Always death) is the refrain and the lush lyricism and seriousness of her aria equals to any soprano aria that was in vogue even during Bizet's time. Her final scene, in which she is stabbed by the angry Don Jose, is her best moment. She confronts him with dignity and strength. If she is to die, she will die because she has willed it, in fact, she states it so expressively in the lines "Je sais bien que tu me tueras, mas que je vive ou que je muere, non, non, je ne tu cedarai pas ! (I know that you are going to kill me, but whether I live or I die, no, no, I will never give in to you!) Note her dramatic high register on the words "non, non,". She again asserts her free will when she says to Don Jose "Jamais Carmen ne cedera! Libre elle est nee et libre elle mourra ! ( Never will Carmen yield! She was born free and she will die free!). Kostas Paskalis, a Greek baritone, was overlooked as a fine singer during his time, for he was shadowed by baritones such as Sherril Milnes; but Paskalis is a fine interpretor of Escamillo, full of bravado and masculine energy. His crowning moment is not in "Toreador" but in the duel with Don Jose in the last act. This opera has it all. And I recommend this particular product to those interested in opera for the first time. For opera buffs this is also a treat.

The Greatet Carmen Of Them All
Carmen is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable operas in the world. There have been many fine recordings in the 20th century and even in the 19th century. Maria Callas (considered by many to be the greatest soprano ever sang the role), Teresa Berganza has sang the role, Tatiana Troyanos, Jessie Norman and various other sopranos who are drawn to the terrific role. Georges Bizet is remembered for this masterpiece, which he intended to be an opera-comique. It was not meant to be a comedy, for the intensity of the fatal tragedy of Prosper Merimee's short novel is superbly captured. Rather, it was meant to be taken as a form of drama, with spoken dialogue, song and dance, and no recitatives. Today, the leading opera houses accomodate this original intended version but many still keep the recitatives that later revisers added, making Carmen more in lines with Italian grand opera. Nevertheless, this fine recording is the best and the original Carmen. Grace Bumbry (mezzo-soprano), whose debut as Venus in the Salzburg Festival presentation of Wagner's Tannhauser made headlines, is the ultimate Carmen. Her voice is rich, dark, powerful, lyric and intense. She is Carmen, and I can think of no other singer who can better fit the role. John Vickers sings Don Jose with passion, elegance and intense emotions, although many will argue that Placido Domingo sings the role better. Vickers still pulls a superb performance. Kostas Paskalis, a Greek baritone, is a terrific bullfighter Escamillo. The conductor Raphael Burgos is wondrous in his orchestration of the score, intense in the fatalism of the fate theme, the dynamic overture, the tender moments between Don Jose and Micaela (Mirella Freni who does a passable performance). the choruses, and the Gypsy/Spanish folk melodies, among them Habanera and Seguidilla. This is a must have for avid Carmen lovers. The story will stay with us always. A seductive Gypsy in 19th century Spain seduces a gentleman soldier Don Jose, engaged to marry the good-hearted Micaela, but he abandons her, his regiment, and follows Carmen and her merry band of smugglers. Soon, Carmen tires of Don Jose and sets her eyes on the dashing bullfighter champion, Escamillo. At the bullfight, Carmen and Don Jose confront for a final scene, in which, against the background of the bullfight and a swirling score, Carmen declares her independence and tells Don Jose she wants nothing with him. The obscessed and mad Don Jose stabs her, appropriately enough when the bull in the arena is slaughtered. The opera comes to an end and we the audience are left with the first verisimo and realistic opera of intense tragedy, loving the music and worshipping the grandeur of the whole thing. Five Stars For this Black Dog Opera Library Recording. Also to be recommended in the series are La Boheme, Aida, The Flying Dutchman, The Magic Flute and La Traviata.

Highly Recommended
This is a terrific value.Gives you a complete understanding of the opera, libretto and music.

Terrific Package and a Bargain
The Black Dog Opera Library series are beautifully packaged and way underpriced. They each contain 2 CDs of the complete opera in the inside covers of a compact hardcover book whcih contains photos and commentary, as well as an annotated libretto in the original language and English translation, referenced to the CD, and notes and photos of the main performers and conductor. The performances are usually classic ones and though not necessarily recorded in the digital age they all sound gorgeous. I have only been able to find 4 (Magic Flute, Aida, La Boheme, and Carmen) and wish there were more. The only flaws in my opinion are that there is no information regarding the date or location of the performances nor is there a complete cast listing. This Carmen features legendary opera star Grace Bumbry in the title role ... Read more

Product Description
This Book Is In French. ... Read more

Product Description
Georges Bizet's final opera, Carmen, has become one of the best-known plots with the most memorable of music, despite its initial rejection by Paris critics following its "scandalous" 1875 premiere at the OpŽra-Comique, a theater known for works of a lighter flavor. Basing their work on Prosper MŽrimŽe's novella, talented librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic HalŽvy fashioned a timeless story of love, jealousy, and violence in the Spanish city of Seville, all set into motion by Carmen, a seductive, free-spirited femme fatale.

For this new edition of Carmen, artist Davide Pizzigoni once again creates a stage for the imagination with richly allusive illustrations that capture the exotic spirit of the Spanish setting. J. D. McClatchy's fluid and rhythmic translation of the libretto allows the listener full appreciation of Bizet's swift and lustrous score as it is exquisitely performed in this 1950 recording of AndrŽ Cluytens conducting the Orchestre du ThŽ‰tre del'OpŽra-Comique. A truly symphonic experience of song, poetry, and art, Carmen is the perfect gift for any opera fan.

Other Details:
270 full-color illustrations. 200 pages. 9 7/8 x 9 7/8" trim size. Published in 2001. ... Read more

Product Description
Ideal opera-lover’s companion contains complete French libretto alongside English translation; alternate opening of Act Four, with translation; plot summary; list of characters; informative introduction. Revised republication (1983) of the work originally published by Dover Publications, New York, 1970. Introduction. Plot Summary. List of Characters.
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Product Description
Jeux d'enfants, Bizet's last and finest piano work, is one of the gems of piano duet literature. These 12 colorful pieces describe various children's activities. This edition, based on the first edition and the autograph, includes editorial fingering and pedal markings that are clearly differentiated from Bizet's minimal indications. Interesting historical information on Bizet and his music is also included. ... Read more