As a result, he rewrote sections of his work in order to make the opera more acceptable to polite society.

When Bizet was casting the title role in Carmen for the first production, many of the leading operatic performers of the day turned him down. Nevertheless, the opera has gone on to be considered a masterpiece, unrivalled by anything else written by the French composer. As such, the themes of working-class passions were already known to many in nineteenth-century society who considered it inappropriate to be the subject of a public performance. The libretto for the opera, by Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac, was based on a novella of the same name written in 1845 by Prosper Mérimée. However, it was not like that when the first production had its premiere at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875. Today, the prelude in Carmen is actually played at the end of every Formula One race as the winners celebrate on the podium.Carmen, a four-act opera by Georges Bizet, is one of the most-loved theatrical stagings around the world. It was only after his death that his music received the acclaim it deserved, with Claude Debussy adamant at the time that it would go on to become one of the greatest opera songs of all time. Our List of the Best Opera Songs of All Time Habanera – Bizet (Carmen)Įven those who aren’t a fan of opera are aware of this classic, given its worldwide popularity.įrench composer Georges Bizet tragically died of a heart attack at the age of 36, with his loved opera debut seen largely as a flop at the time. The Mad Scene – Salvadore Cammarano (Lucia Di Lammermoor).

Ride of the Valkyries – Wagner (Der Ring Des Nibelungen).

Je veux vivre – Gounod (Romeo and Juliet).

Ombra Mai Fu – Georg Friedrich Handel (Xerxes).

Un bel di vedremo – Puccini (Madame Butterfly).

Libiamo ne’ lieti calici – Verdi (La Traviata).

Voi che sapete – Mozart (Marriage of Figaro).

La donne è mobile – Giuseppe Verdi (Rigoletto).

Nessun Dorma – Giacomo Puccini (Turandot).

Largo al Factotum – Rossini (The Barber of Seville).

Dido’s Lament – Henry Purcell (Dido and Aeneas).

Tatiana’s Letter Scene – Tchaikovsky (Eugene Onegin).

Che gelida manina – Puccini (La Bohème).

Deh vieni, non tardar – Mozart (Marriage of Figaro).

The Queen of the Night’s Aria – Mozart (The Magic Flute).

Our List of the Best Opera Songs of All Time.

Carmen opera famous songs