The recitative Carmen

Carmen (four-act opera), written in 1872. Mel Huck and Alloy are adapted from Merrimi's novel of the same name. 1875 was first performed in Paris. Plot: Carmen, a female worker in a tobacco factory, is a beautiful and strong gypsy girl. She fell in love with Sergeant Hawthorne and made Hawthorne fall in love with her rare feminine charm. Holsey not only abandoned his former lover, gentle and kind Michella, but also was arrested and imprisoned for letting Carmen who was fighting with others go. Later, he even met his boss, Major Zuega, and had to leave the army to join Carmen's smugglers. But by this time, Carmen had made a vow of eternal love with the matador Escamilio. This led to a duel between Horsey and Escamilio. In the duel, Carmen obviously defended the matador, which made Holsey unbearable. Immediately, the grand and enthusiastic bullfighting scene began. Just as Carmen was cheering for Escamilio's victory, Holsey found her. The stubborn Carmen flatly rejected his love and finally died by the sword of Hoso. This is an opera famous for its chorus, with more than ten different genres and styles of chorus. Among them, the chorus of female workers quarreling in the tobacco factory is vivid and fascinating; The mass chorus celebrating the festival is lively, warm and colorful. This opera focuses on the vivid and complex character of the heroine Carmen. Carmen's dominant motive, also known as "destiny motive", runs through the whole play and has the characteristics of Hungarian or Gypsy scale (including two increments), constantly indicating or pointing out the tragic ending of this opera at key points. In the first act, Carmen sang Habanella's Love is Like an Untrained Bird, which is a song that shows Carmen's character. Through repeatedly sliding phrases, it lingers between the keys of the same name, and always lingers within the octave of the middle and low range, showing Carmen's warm and charming image. In the first act, another song "Spanish Segidia Dance" has the nature of an aria, which further shows Carmen's provocative character with a lively rhythm and a warm and somewhat wild melody.

The second act "Song of the Matador" is a song sung by Escamilio to thank the people who welcomed and worshipped him. It adopts the form of single-part and two-part music (in the form of chorus and chorus) combined with segmented music, with magnificent timbre and powerful rhythm, just like a victorious March.

In the third act of divination, Carmen and two female companions sang a trio, which gave Carmen a profound psychological description. The song is in the form of a Rondo, and several interludes, modes, tonality and beats are in contrast with the main part, while Carmen sings "No matter how many times you wash these heartless cards, you will always be told to die!" This profound and sad inner monologue further reveals Carmen's tragic fate. The duet at the end of the fourth act, Carmen's cold and firm tone, is in sharp contrast with the melody of Hoss' enthusiasm first, then prayer, and finally despair, which has gripping tragic power and strong and tense dramatic effect. This opera is one of the most classic works staged in various countries in the past century.

Bizet's main works: Carmen, Habanella, and Girls in Alai City.