Originated from the novel by Prosper Mérimée, the opera Carmen was completed in the autumn of 1874. It was the last work of Georges Bizet, and also is one of the most popular operas in the world.
In this opera, Bizet managed to create vivid dramatic melodies with Spanish elements. Some excerpts such as Habanera, Les Toreadors and the Prelude have been highly cherished by many artists and performed again and again in the past century.
Bizet, through his music, tells a tragic story behind brightness, and depicted the optimistic, straightforward but wild personality of a Gypsy girl, Carmen. The opera discloses the bald-faced passions, describes the eternal confrontation between men and women, shows the ruthless but beautiful life, and proves the perpetual co-existence between love and death.
