Tag Archives: Georges Bizet

What a treat, to witness one of the great masterpieces of art! “Carmen” is one of those few operas that is so well known that there is little, if no, room for error by any performer. What magnifies this stringent demand is that Georges Bizet’s signature piece of music drama calls for far more vocalists to step into the spotlight than any opera I can think of. The instrumental forces are also needed for consistently brilliant and expressive playing throughout a rather longish composition. Fortunately, the Lyric Opera of Chicago was musically up to the challenges and once again demonstrated …

  “Carmen” has been in the very first circle of popular operas for over a century. Anyone with any level of interest in the Grand Art should develop some kind of familiarity with it. As it is with all other very beloved operas, first and foremost “Carmen” is loaded from beginning to end with beautiful and memorable music — solo arias, ensembles, choruses — and even a number of purely instrumental passages that are unforgettable. The music is the creation of composer Georges Bizet, who unfortunately died young (at 36), and before he knew what a triumph “Carmen” had become. …