Carmen. Opera (opéra-comique) in 4 acts by Bizet to libretto by Meilhac and Halévy after Mérimée nouvelle (1845). Comp. 1873–4. Sometimes perf. with orig. spoken dialogue replaced by recitatives composed by Ernest Guiraud. Prod. Paris 1875, Vienna (with Guiraud recit.) 1875, London and NY 1878. The famous Habanera may have been inspired (consciously or unconsciously) by a chanson havanaise by, or collected by, Sebastian Yradier, Sp. composer (1809–65). The Fritz Oeser edn. of the score (1964), used in most modern perfs., controversially includes mus. Bizet rejected in his own edn. of vocal score pubd. by Choudens in 1875.

Carmen ★★★ 1983 (R)

Choreographer casts Carmen and finds life imitates art when he falls under the spell of the devohotblooded Latin siren. Bizet's opera lends itself to erotically charged flamenco context. Well acted, impressive scenes including cigarette girls' dance fight and romance between Carmen and Don Jose. In Spanish with English subtitles. 99m/C VHS . SP Antonio Gades, Laura Del Sol, Paco de Lucia, Cristina Hoyos; D: Carlos Saura; W: Antonio Gades, Carlos Saura; C: Teodoro Escamilla. British Acad. '84: Foreign Film.

carmen (Lat.).
1. Tune, song, strain, poem.

2. (in 14th- and 15th-cent. parlance; plural carmina) V. part of a comp. (as distinguished from the instr. parts), or uppermost part of a choral comp.

Carmen the seductive Spanish gipsy girl who is the eponymous heroine of Bizet's opera (1875).