Carmen

• Bizet composed Carmen between 1873-4. The opera is based on a novella of the same name by Prosper Mérimée, which was published in 1845.
• Carmen premiered on March 3, 1875. Bizet would die only three months later, at the age of 36, when initial reviews for Carmen were still largely negative.¹
• The genre of Carmen is opéra-comique, which indicates the presence of spoken dialogue in addition to sung numbers.² These operas were often “comic” in the sense of “humorous” as well, but Carmen surprised audiences with its violent, risqué, and tragic plot.³
• Opera synopsis

Carmen Suites

• The Carmen Suites nos. 1 & 2 were arranged for orchestra after Bizet’s death (pub. 1887) by his friend Ernest Guiraud (1837-1892).⁴

“Nocturne”

• The movement entitled “Nocturne” in the Carmen orchestral arrangements is Micaëla’s Act III aria, Je dis que rien ne m’épourante (“I say that nothing can frighten me”). In this aria, Micaëla searches for beloved Don Jose, who has deserted her for Carmen; alone in the mountains, Micaëla prays for courage and protection. Aria text.⁶

1. Hugh Macdonald, “Bizet, Georges,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed February 17, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051829.
2. Harvard Dictionary of Music, 4^th ed., s.v. “Opéra-comique” (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003).
3. Macdonald, “Bizet, Georges,” Grove Music Online.
4. “Carmen Suite no. 2,” International Music Score Library Project, accessed July 25, 2019, https://imslp.org/wiki/Carmen_Suite_No.2_(Bizet%2C_Georges).
6. ⁵ “Je dis que rien ne m’épouvente,” The Aria Database, accessed July 25, 2019, http://www.aria-database.com/search.php?individualAria=41.